Showing revision 1ALCAEUS (ALKAIOS), Greek lyric poet, an older contemporary
of Sappho, was a native of Mytilene in Lesbos and flourished
about 600 B.C. His life was greatly mixed up with
the political disputes and internal feuds of his native
city. He belonged to one of the noble families, and sided
with his class against the "tyrants" who at that time set
themselves up in Mytilene. He was in consequence obliged to
leave his native country, and spent a considerable time in
exile. He is said to have become reconciled to Pittacus, the
ruler set up by the popular party, and to have returned to
Lesbos. The date of his death is unknown. The subjects of
his poems, which were composed in the Aeolic dialect, were
of various kinds: some were hymns to the gods