Bacchylĭdes
(
Βακχυλίδης). A Greek lyric poet who flourished in the
middle of the fifth century B.C. He was a native of Iulis in the island of Ceos, the nephew
and pupil of Simonides, and a contemporary of Pindar. For a long time he lived with his uncle
at the court of Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse. He also resided for a considerable time at Athens,
where he won many victories in the dithyrambic contests. Later on his home
was in the Peloponnesus. It would appear that he attempted to rival the many-sided talent of
his uncle, but was inferior to him in sublimity and force. He attempted a great variety of
styles: hymns, paeans, dithyrambs, drinking-songs, love-songs, and epigrams. Only fragments
were known to exist until 1897, when the British Museum announced the discovery on an Egyptian
papyrus of some 15 to 20 lyrics varying in length from 14 to 200 lines, but with serious
lacunae.