Introduction to this wide-ranging body of poetry, which includes work by such famous poets as Sappho and Pindar.

1. Introducing Greek lyric Felix Budelmann; Part I. Contexts and Topics: 2. Genre, occasion and performance Chris Carey; 3. Greek lyric and the politics and sociologies of archaic and classical Greek communities Simon Hornblower; 4. Greek lyric and gender Eva Stehle; 5. Greek lyric and the place of humans in the world Mark Griffith; 6. Greek lyric and early Greek literary history Barbara Graziosi and Johannes Haubold; 7. Language and pragmatics Giovan Battista D'Alessio; 8. Metre and music Luigi Battezzato; Part II. Poets and Traditions: 9. Iambos Chris Carey; 10. Elegy Antonio Aloni; 11. Alcman, Stesichorus and Ibycus Eveline Krummen; 12. Alcaeus and Sappho Dimitrios Yatromanolakis; 13. Anacreon and the Anacreontea Felix Budelmann; 14. Simonides, Pindar and Bacchylides Hayden Pelliccia; 15. Ancient Greek popular song Dimitrios Yatromanolakis; 16. Timotheus the New Musician Eric Csapo and Peter Wilson; Part III. Reception: 17. Lyric in the Hellenistic period and beyond Silvia Barbantani; 18. Lyric in Rome Alessandro Barchiesi; 19. Greek lyric from the Renaissance to the eighteenth century Pantelis Michelakis; 20. Sappho and Pindar the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Margaret Williamson; 21. Lyric and lyrics: perspectives, ancient and modern Michael Silk.