Alcman

Alcman ălk´mən [key], fl. 620 BC, Greek lyric poet of Sparta. He was the earliest writer of Dorian choral poetry whose work has survived. Short choral fragments and a longer one (part of a parthenion or choir song for girls) are extant. His verse, simple, clear, and musical, was often sung at festivals.

See his Partheneion (ed. by D. L. Page, 1951); Archilochos, Sappho, Alkman (tr. by G. Davenport, 1980).

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