The Most Famous

Writers from Greece

Icon of occuation in country

This page contains a list of the greatest Greeks Writers. The pantheon dataset contains 7,302 Writers, 94 of which were born in Greece. This makes Greece the birth place of the 15th most number of Writers behind Japan and Sweden.

Top 10 Greek Writers

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Greeks Writers of all time. This list of famous Greeks Writers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Greeks Writers.

  1. #1
    Photo of Homer

    Homer

    800 BC - 750 BC

    HPI 95.41194 langs

    Homer is most famous for his epic poem, The Odyssey.

  2. #2
    Photo of Sophocles

    Sophocles

    497 BC - 406 BC

    HPI 89.32148 langs

    Sophocles is most famous for writing the three Theban plays: "Oedipus Rex", "Oedipus at Colonus", and "Antigone".

  3. #3
    Photo of Aristophanes

    Aristophanes

    448 BC - 386 BC

    HPI 84.4797 langs

    Aristophanes is most famous for his comedies. He wrote many plays, but he is most famous for "The Knights," "The Clouds," and "The Frogs."

  4. #4
    Photo of Euripides

    Euripides

    480 BC - 406 BC

    HPI 84.1298 langs
    Euripides is most famous for his tragedy, "Medea," which tells the story of a woman who kills her children in revenge against her husband...Read moreShow less

    Euripides is most famous for his tragedy, "Medea," which tells the story of a woman who kills her children in revenge against her husband for leaving her.

  5. #5
    Photo of Aeschylus

    Aeschylus

    525 BC - 456 BC

    HPI 83.66102 langs
    Aeschylus is most famous for his tragedies, which are often called the "Oresteia" trilogy. The three tragedies are Agamemnon, The Libation...Read moreShow less

    Aeschylus is most famous for his tragedies, which are often called the "Oresteia" trilogy. The three tragedies are Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides.

  6. #6
    Photo of Sappho

    Sappho

    630 BC - 570 BC

    HPI 83.03109 langs
    Sappho was an ancient Greek poet, renowned for her lyric poetry that expressed deep emotions, particularly love and desire, often directed...Read moreShow less

    Sappho was an ancient Greek poet, renowned for her lyric poetry that expressed deep emotions, particularly love and desire, often directed toward women. Her work, though mostly surviving in fragments, has made her an enduring symbol of female creativity and LGBTQ+ identity throughout history.

  7. #7
    Photo of Pindar

    Pindar

    517 BC - 437 BC

    HPI 79.0368 langs

    Pindar is most famous for his odes, a type of lyric poetry.

  8. #8
    Photo of Menander

    Menander

    342 BC - 291 BC

    HPI 78.3769 langs

    Menander is most famous for his plays, which were the first comedies written in Ancient Greece.

  9. #9
    Photo of Nikos Kazantzakis

    Nikos Kazantzakis

    1883 - 1957

    HPI 76.7059 langs

    Nikos Kazantzakis is most famous for his novel Zorba the Greek.

  10. #10
    Photo of Alcaeus of Mytilene

    Alcaeus of Mytilene

    620 BC - 560 BC

    HPI 76.6247 langs

    Alcaeus of Mytilene is most famous for being a lyric poet in ancient Greece. He was born in Mytilene and was one of the Nine Lyric Poets.

People by Birth Decade

Browse notable Greeks Writers grouped by birth decade. Each decade shows the top 10 by HPI; expand to see everyone.

1920s(1)

1770s(1)

530s(1)

210s(1)

110s(1)

-20s(1)

-250s(1)

-260s(1)

-280s(1)

-310s(1)

-390s(1)

-420s(1)

-480s(1)

-510s(1)

-520s(1)

-540s(1)

-600s(1)

-630s(1)

-680s(1)

-800s(1)

Overlapping Lives

Which Writers were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 25 most globally memorable Writers since 1700.

العربية中文NederlandsEnglishFrançaisDeutschMagyarItaliano日本語PolskiPortuguêsРусскийEspañol