From the 7th century and until the end of the classical period, choral lyric was an important literary genre, connected to religious festivals, public ceremonies and important events in the life of the people. It expressed the moral and cultural values of the community, and thus its character is more public than individual. Its first forms have already been presented in Homer, who mentions wedding songs (hymenaioi), dance songs, dirges and honours addressed to gods (paeans). Other forms of the choral lyric poetry were the hymn and the dithyramb (the former generally honorary for the other gods, and the latter especially addressed to Dionysus), the maiden-song (partheneion), the processional song (prosodion), the song of praise (encomion) (honorary for people) and the skolion (song of symposium).

The choral songs were performed on the occasion of local religious festivals, like Karneia, the Hyacinthia, the Adrasteia, the Iolaia and the Adonia. Furthermore, they acquired a special place at the Olympia and the Pythia, festivals with a panhellenic character, which also influenced the forming of the language that was used (literary Doric with borrowed elements from the epic Ionic and with a few Aeolic features). The chorus, which performed these songs, and often danced, could have from seven to fifty members. The poet, who besides verses also composed the music, also led the chorus. Only a few things are known about the first lyric poets, Terpandrus and Arion of Lesbos, and the surviving extracts that are attributed to them are of doubtful authenticity.

We know more about Alcman of Laconia, who lived most probably towards the end of the 7th century B.C. He was eminent for his erotic poetry, often interspersed with a playful grace and bold, original expressions. His partheneion, the so-called "of Louvre" because of the place where the papyrus is kept, is very famous. In that he alternates pictures of the natural world with descriptions of girls. Furthermore,it is obvious that he elaborated on known cosmogonic and homeric myths. Finally, he had an acute sense of detail, which he uses even when he rendered prosaic subjects, such as food.
Another important choral poet was Stesichorus, of Imera in Sicily. He lived at the end of the 7th and during the first half of the 6th century B.C. and his work was greatly admired during antiquity. Some extracts still survive from Nostoi, the Palinodie about Helen, the Oresteia, the Boar hunters, the Geryoneis, the Iliu Persis and the Eriphylle. The Palinodie is perhaps his most famous work, since according to the legend, the bad character that he attributed to Helen in Iliu Persis infuriated Aphrodite, who punished him with blindness. Supposedly, with the Palinodie the poet retracted everything he had said and narrated the story of the image that went to Troy, whereas the real Helen was in Egypt. Contemporary studies interpret these two versions, taking into consideration the fact that the negative view about Helen was widely spread among Aeolians; however, according to Dorians, Helen was a person to whom they attributed honours and worship.