An haifi Archimedes ne a shekara ta 287 kafin haihuwar Kristi a garin Syracuse, Sicily, a wancan lokacin wani yanki ne mai cin gashin kansa a Magna Graecia. Ranar haihuwar ta dogara ne akan wata sanarwa da masanin tarihin Girka na Byzantine John Tzetzes ya yi cewa Archimedes ya rayu har shekaru 75. A cikin Sand Reckoner, Archimedes ya ba da sunan mahaifinsa a matsayin Phidias, masanin astronomer wanda ba a san komai ba. Plutarch ya rubuta a cikin Parallel Lives cewa Archimedes yana da alaƙa da Sarki Hiero II, mai mulkin Syuse. Wani tarihin rayuwar Archimedes da abokinsa Heracleides ya rubuta amma wannan aikin ya ɓace, yana barin cikakkun bayanai game da rayuwarsa. Ba a sani ba, alal misali, ko ya taɓa yin aure ko ya haifi yara. A lokacin ƙuruciyarsa, Archimedes na iya yin karatu a Alexandria a Misira, inda Archimedes ya yi nazarin Eratos, Eratos na Misira, da Eratos na Misira.
Heracleides