Nine lyric poets

They were:

• Alcman (choral lyric, seventh century BC)
• Sappho (monodic lyric, c. 600 BC)
• Alcaeus (monodic lyric, c. 600 BC)
• Anacreon (monodic lyric, sixth century BC)
• Stesichorus (choral lyric, sixth century BC)
• Ibycus (choral lyric, sixth century BC)
• Simonides (choral lyric, sixth century BC)
• Pindar (choral lyric, fifth century BC)
• Bacchylides (choral lyric, fifth century BC)

In most Greek sources the word, melikos, is used (from melos "song"), but some authors have, lyrikos, which eventually becomes the regular word in Latin (lyricus) and in the modern languages.

The ancient scholars defined the genre on the basis of the metrical form, not the content. Thus some types of poetry which would be included under the label lyric in modern literary criticism are nevertheless excluded, namely the elegy and the iambus.

The poetry of these poets is traditionally divided into choral poetry and monodic lyric. This division is, however, contested by some modern scholars.

Footnotes