Plato (also Plato Comicus;
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
: Πλάτων Κωμικός) was an
Athenian comic poet and contemporary of
Aristophanes
Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...
. None of his plays survive intact, but the titles of thirty of them are known, including a ''Hyperbolus'' (c. 420–416 BC), ''Victories'' (after 421), ''Cleophon'' (in 405), and ''Phaon'' (probably in 391). The titles suggest that his themes were often political. In 410 BC, one of his plays took first prize at the City
Dionysia
The Dionysia (, , ; Greek: Διονύσια) was a large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central events of which were the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and, from 487 BC, comedies. It was the sec ...
.
''Phaon'' included a scene (quoted in the ''
Deipnosophistae
The ''Deipnosophistae'' is an early 3rd-century AD Greek work ( grc, Δειπνοσοφισταί, ''Deipnosophistaí'', lit. "The Dinner Sophists/Philosophers/Experts") by the Greek author Athenaeus of Naucratis. It is a long work of liter ...
'' of
Athenaeus
Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of th ...
) in which a character sits down to study a poem about
gastronomy
Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastr ...
(in fact mostly about
aphrodisiac
An aphrodisiac is a substance that increases sexual desire, sexual attraction, sexual pleasure, or sexual behavior. Substances range from a variety of plants, spices, foods, and synthetic chemicals. Natural aphrodisiacs like cannabis or cocain ...
s) and reads some of it aloud: "In ashes first your onions roast, Till they are brown as toast, Then with sauce and gravy cover; Eat them, you'll be strong all over." The poem is in hexameters, and therefore sounds like a lampoon of the work of
Archestratus
Archestratus ( grc-gre, Ἀρχέστρατος ''Archestratos'') was an ancient Greek poet of Gela or Syracuse, in Sicily, who wrote some time in the mid 4th century BCE, and was known as "the Daedalus of tasty dishes". His humorous didactic poe ...
, although the speaker calls it "a book by Philoxenus", meaning either the poet
Philoxenus of Cythera
Philoxenus of Cythera ( el, Φιλόξενος ὁ Κυθήριος; c. 435/4 – 380/79 BC) was a Greek dithyrambic poet, an exponent of the "New Music". He was one of the most important dithyrambic poets of ancient Greece.
Life
A few details of ...
, the glutton
Philoxenus of Leucas, or both indiscriminately.
Surviving titles and fragments
Of Plato's plays only the following thirty titles have come down to us, along with 292 associated fragments.
*''Adonis''
*''The Alliance''
*''Ambassadors''
*''Amphiareos''
*''Ants''
*''Cleophon''
*''Daidalus''
*''Europe''
*''Festivals''
*''Greece, or the Islands''
*''Griffins''
*''Hyperbolus''
*''Io''
*''Laius''
*''Laconians, or Poets''
*''Little Child''
*''The Long Night''
*''Meneleos''
*''Peisander''
*''Perialges''
*''Phaon''
*''Pieces of Furniture''
*''The Poet''
*''The Resident Aliens''
*''The Sophists''
*''Syrphex''
*''Victories''
*''The Women from the Temples''
*''Xantriai, or Kerkopes''
*''Zeus Being Wronged''
References
*''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'', p. 1193.
*Rosen, Ralph M. (1995
Plato Comicus and the Evolution of Greek Comedy Published in ''Beyond Aristophanes: Transition and Diversity in Greek Comedy'' (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995), pages 119-137.
External links
*
Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights
Ancient Greek poets
Old Comic poets
5th-century BC Athenians
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
{{AncientGreece-poet-stub