"The gods never forget the important people even after they die. Archilochus at any rate was a noble poet in most respects, if one overlooks his shameful speech and his foul utterances, just as one might wash away a stain.[1] The Pythian god[2] took pity on him even when he was dead, and even though [he died] in war, where supposedly Enyalios[3] was even-handed. When the one who had killed him, Kalondas by name, but nicknamed Crow [Korax], came [to Delphi] to ask the god about what he needed, the Pythia[4] would not approach him, as he was accursed, but instead pronounced, allegedly, those frequently-quoted verses. He, however, put forward an argument about the fortunes of war and said that what he did came at a turning point between taking action or being acted upon. He asked that the god not be hostile to him if he lived by his own spirit, and he swore that it was more a case of him not dying than of killing anyone. And at this the god took pity on him and bade him go to Tainaron,[5] where Tettix[6] was buried, and to appease the soul of the son of Telesikles[7] and conciliate him with libations. He followed these instructions and gained freedom from the wrath of the god."
And [there is] a proverb: "you are treading on Archilochus", in reference to those who engage in foul speech and abuse.[8]