Terpander
7th-century BC Greek poet
- Lived
- 711 BC–644 BC
Updated September 2026
About Terpander
Terpander, of Antissa in Lesbos, was a Greek poet and citharede who lived about the first half of the 7th century BC. He was the father of Greek music and through it, of lyric poetry, although his own poetical compositions were few and in extremely simple rhythms. He simplified rules of the modes of singing of other neighboring countries and islands and formed, out of these syncopated variants, a conceptual system. Though endowed with an inventive mind, and the commencer of a new era of music, he attempted no more than to systematize the musical styles that existed in the music of Greece and Anatolia. Terpander is perhaps the earliest historically certain figure in the music of Ancient Greece.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.