Panyassis was the son of Polyarchus (Ancient Greek: Πολύαρχος) from Halicarnassus,[1] but the historian Duris of Samos claimed that Panyasis was the son of Diocles (Ancient Greek: Διοκλῆς) and from Samos.

[3] There was also another person of the same name, possibly the grandson of the poet, who wrote a work in two books on dreams.

[4] In 454 BC, Panyassis was executed for political activities by the tyrant of Halicarnassus and grandson of Artemisia, Lygdamis ΙΙ (Λύγδαμις), after an unsuccessful uprising against him.

[3] Panyasis was ranked by the Alexandrian School with the great epic poets.

Panyassis enjoyed relatively little critical appreciation during his lifetime, but was posthumously recognised as one of the greatest poets of archaic Greece.