BY CHRISTIAN ROUILLIER
I am the servant of Ares,
Lord of Battle,
Poetry is considered a Greek perfection. In ancient Greece, poetry was used in art, music, and education. Think how easy it is to remember the lyrics to your favorite songs... This is how the Greeks taught their children.
Back then, even though most of what we know about their poetry was written down, most people couldn't read or write so everything was memorized. What better way to learn about things than by singing about them?! Also, most of the time a poet was reciting, he was accompanied by instruments. The Greeks used the aulos, which is an early version of the recorder, and the lyre, which is an early guitar.
Besides being blessed by the muses with the gift of verse ( this means the creative writing of words into patterns to fit styles of poetry), almost all the ancient poets had other occupations. Some were teachers, others philosophers, and some were soldiers. Even the government hired poets to write words praising the rulers to try to get people to follow their every whim. This is known today as propaganda.
As you can see, poets come from
all walks of life and the good ones were usually recognized and
rewarded, kind of like musicians and songwriters today. But, just
like now, anyone can write a poem, but not everyone can write a good poem!
To learn more about poetry, and
a few of the poets, click on the underlined topic headings;