Philyllius ( grc, Φιλύλλιος), also called Phillylius, Phlaeus, Philolaus, or Phillydeus, was an ancient
Athenian
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
comic poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
. He was contemporary with
Diocles and
Sannyrion
Sannyrion ( grc, Σαννυρίων) was an Athenian comic poet of the late 5th century BC, and a contemporary of Diocles and Philyllius, according to the Suda. He belonged to the later years of Old Comedy and the start of Middle Comedy.
Works
...
. He belonged to the latter part of the
Old Comedy
Old Comedy (''archaia'') is the first period of the ancient Greek comedy, according to the canonical division by the Alexandrian grammarians.Mastromarco (1994) p.12 The most important Old Comic playwright is Aristophanes – whose works, with the ...
tradition and the beginning of the
Middle Comedy
Ancient Greek comedy was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece (the others being tragedy and the satyr play). Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods: Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, an ...
tradition. He seems to have attained to some distinction before 392 BC, when the ''
Ecclesiazusae
''Assemblywomen'' ( grc-gre, Ἐκκλησιάζουσαι ''Ekklesiazousai''; also translated as, ''Congresswomen'', ''Women in Parliament'', ''Women in Power'', and ''A Parliament of Women'') is a comedy written by the Greek playwright Aristo ...
'' of
Aristophanes
Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his for ...
was acted.
All titles of his
plays
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
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* P ...
evidently belong to Middle Comedy. He is said to have introduced some scenic innovations, such as bringing lighted torches on the stage. With regard to his language,
Augustus Meineke
Johann Albrecht Friedrich August Meineke (also ''Augustus Meineke''; ; 8 December 179012 December 1870), German classical scholar, was born at Soest in the Duchy of Westphalia. He was father-in-law to philologist Theodor Bergk. mentions a few words and phrases in his plays, which are not pure Attic.
List of plays
The ''
Suda'' and Eudocia gave titles of his plays:
[Suda φ 457]
Notes
:α. The last two titles are suspicious.
References
Bibliography
* Meineke, Frag. Com. Graec. vol. i. pp. 258–26], ii. pp. 857–866.
* Bergk, Comment, de Reliq. Com. Ait. Ant. p. 428.
{{authority control
Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights
4th-century BC Athenians
Old Comic poets
Middle Comic poets