reports that his mother was a slave, named Enipo, that he left Paros to escape poverty, or that he became a mercenary soldier - the slave background is probably inferred from a misreading of his verses; archaeology indicates that life on Paros, which he associated with "figs and seafaring", was quite prosperous; and though he frequently refers to the rough life of a soldier, warfare was a function of the aristocracy in the archaic period and there is no indication that he fought for pay.

The life of Archilochus was marked by conflicts.