Nine lyric poets



The nine lyric poets (nine melic poets) were a canon of archaic Greek composers esteemed by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria as worthy of critical study. They were:
 * Alcman (choral lyric, seventh century BC) of Sparta
 * Sappho (monodic lyric, c. 600 BC) of Lesbos
 * Alcaeus (monodic lyric, c. 600 BC) of Lesbos
 * Anacreon (monodic lyric, sixth century BC) of Teos
 * Stesichorus (choral lyric, sixth century BC) of Himera
 * Ibycus (choral lyric, sixth century BC) of Rhegium
 * Simonides (choral lyric, sixth century BC) of Ceos
 * Bacchylides (choral lyric, fifth century BC) of Ceos
 * Pindar (choral lyric, fifth century BC) of Thebes

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

Their poetry is traditionally divided into choral poetry and monodic lyric. This division is, however, contested by some modern scholars.