IBYCUS

flourished 6th century BC, , Samos, Ionia lyric poet from the Greek colony of Rhegium in Italy, one of the nine lyric poets recognized by later Greek criticism. Ibycus left Sicily for the Aegean island of Samos, where the tyrant Polycrates became his patron. Ancient authorities found it hard to distinguish his early work from that of Stesichorus, but even in the few surviving fragments of Ibycus' lyrics there are signs of marked individuality. The most prominent fragments describe the charms of handsome youths and reveal the aging poet's fear of falling in love. Cicero regarded him as more devoted to love poetry than Alcaeus and Anacreon. A late legend relates how Ibycus called a flock of cranes passing overhead to witness as he was being murdered by robbers near Corinth. One of the robbers later saw the cranes over Corinth and involuntarily referred to them as the avengers of Ibycus, a remark that led to the unmasking of the murderers.