Ameipsias ( grc, , fl. late 5th century BC) of Athens was an

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 p ...

comic poet, a contemporary 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 ...

, whom he twice bested in the dramatic contests. His ''Konnos'' () gained a second 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 s ...

in 423, when Aristophanes won the third prize with ''

The Clouds ''The Clouds'' ( grc, Νεφέλαι ''Nephelai'') is a Greek comedy play written by the playwright Aristophanes. A lampooning of intellectual fashions in classical Athens, it was originally produced at the City Dionysia in 423BC and was not ...

''. ''Konnos'' appears to have had the same subject and aim as ''Clouds''. It is at least certain that Socrates appeared in the play, and that the Chorus consisted of . Aristophanes alludes to Ameipsias in ''

The Frogs ''The Frogs'' ( grc-gre, Βάτραχοι, Bátrakhoi, Frogs; la, Ranae, often abbreviated ''Ran.'' or ''Ra.'') is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus in ...

'', and we are told in the anonymous life of Aristophanes, that when Aristophanes first exhibited his plays under the names of other poets, Ameipsias applied to him the Greek proverb , which means "a person who labours for others," an allusion to

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

, who was born on the fourth of the month.

Works

Ameipsias wrote many comedies, out of which there remain only a few fragments of the following six plays: * (''Men Playing Kottabos'') * (although this attribution is considered doubtful by many scholars) * (423 BC) * (''Adulterers'') * (''Sappho'') * (''The Sling'') We also know he wrote other plays, although their names are now lost. Most of his plays were 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 ...

, but some, in all probability, were of the Middle Comedy.Meineke, ''Frag. Com.'' i. p. 199, ii. p. 701

References

{{Authority control 5th-century BC Athenians Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights Ancient Greek satirists Old Comic poets