» For the hummingbird genus, see Archilochus. Archilochus (Greek: Ἀρχίλοχος) (c. 680 BC – c. 645 BC) was a Greek poet and supposed mercenary. Life and poetry The details of his life are inferred from his poetry, doubtless including details that were traditional in Antiquity: "it's often easiest and certainly entertaining to imagine that the words spoken in a poem are those of real persons, or at least a stylized description of an actual encoun… (More on Archilochos)