According to the theory of E. Campanile, the original figure of the Indo-European poet was the professional of the word in all its applications: the study and the comparison of the various Indo-European figures of poet calls into question this perspective. What emerges is rather the possibility of two parallel lines in the poetic tradition: that of the sapiential religious poetry and that of the epic narrative poetry, connected with two distinct figures of poets. The present article develops an analysis of the figure of the poet in the vedic, greek and roman archaic culture, observing affinities and differences, and the glimmers they can offer for the reconstruction of the Indo-European poetic culture, disclosing also some analogies with the poetic and shamanistic culture of central Asia.