The
Alcaic stanza is a
Greek lyrical meter, an
Aeolic verse form traditionally believed to have been invented by
Alcaeus, a lyric
poet from Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, about 600 BC. The Alcaic stanza and the
Sapphic stanza named for Alcaeus' contemporary,
Sappho, are two important forms of Classical poetry. The Alcaic stanza consists of two Alcaic
hendecasyllables, followed by an Alcaic enneasyllable and an Alcaic decasyllable.