Image: Wikimedia Commons

Tyrtaeus

Greek lyric poet

PersonhumanQ316094

Also known as Tyrtæus

Born: 7th century BCE
Died: 7th century BCE
Birthplace: Sparta
, Athens
Place of death: Sparta
Citizenship: Sparta
Occupation: poet
, writer
1
Sources
1.Stated in Library of the World's Best Literature
View statement on Wikidata ↗
, elegist
1
Sources
1.Stated in Perseus Digital Librarycatalog.perseus.tufts.edu/catalog/urn:cite:perseus:author.1442Retrieved 2020-01-10
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Languages spoken, written or signed: Ancient Greek
1
Sources
1.Stated in CONOR.SI
View statement on Wikidata ↗

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Tyrtaeus was a Greek elegiac poet from Sparta whose works were speculated to fill five books. His works survive from quotations and papyri, and include 250 lines or parts of lines. He wrote at a time of two crises affecting the city: a civic unrest threatening the authority of kings and elders, later recalled in a poem named Eunomia, where he reminded citizens to respect the divine and constitutional roles of kings, council, and demos; and the Second Messenian War, during which he served as a sort of "state poet", exhorting Spartans to fight to the death for their city. In the 4th century BC, when Tyrtaeus was an established classic, Spartan armies on campaign were made to listen to his poetry. The Suda states that he wrote martial songs; these were important in Spartan festivals and were done through anapaestic and iambic chants that accompanied armed dances and processions.

Overview

Author of

1 linked to Tyrtaeus in Wikidata

PPoètes Moralistes de la Grèce1892

All data

131 statements · 17% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Sex or gender: male
Commons Creator page: Tyrtaeus
Writing language: Ancient Greek
Copyright status as a creator: copyrights on works have expired applies to jurisdiction: worldwide

On other databases

94 identifiers linking Tyrtaeus across the web's reference databases

Data quality

131

statements

17%

externally sourced

Source last edited September 19, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). Tyrtaeus (Q316094). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/tyrtaeus-Q316094