Epicrates of Ambracia ( el, Ἐπικράτης Ἀμβρακιώτης), was an Ambraciote who lived in

Athens 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 a ...

, a comic poet 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 ...

, according to the testimony 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 ...

(x. p. 422, f.). This is confirmed by extant fragments of his plays, in which he ridicules

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

and his disciples,

Speusippus Speusippus (; grc-gre, Σπεύσιππος; c. 408 – 339/8 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher. Speusippus was Plato's nephew by his sister Potone. After Plato's death, c. 348 BC, Speusippus inherited the Academy, near age 60, and remaine ...

and

Menedemus Menedemus of Eretria ( grc-gre, Μενέδημος ὁ Ἐρετριεύς; 345/44 – 261/60 BC) was a Greek philosopher and founder of the Eretrian school. He learned philosophy first in Athens, and then, with his friend Asclepiades, he subseq ...

, and in which he refers to the courtesan

Lais of Corinth Lais of Corinth ( grc, Λαΐς and Λαΐδα) (fl. 425 BC) was a famous hetaira or courtesan of ancient Greece, who was probably born in Corinth. She shared a name with the younger hetaira Lais of Hyccara; as ancient authors (in their usually ...

, as being now far advanced in years. (Athen. ii. p. 59, d., xiii. p. 570, b.) From these indications,

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.

infers that he flourished between the 101st and 108th Olympiads (376–348 BC).

Surviving titles and fragments

Two plays of Epicrates, ''Emporos'' (Merchant) and ''Antilais'' (Against Lais), are mentioned by Suidas (s. «.), and are quoted by

(xiv. p. 655, f., xiii. pp. 570, b., 605, e.), who also quotes his ''Amazones'' (x. p. 422, f.) and ''Dyspratos'' (Hard to Sell) (vi. p. 262, d.), and informs us that in the latter play Epicrates copied some things from the ''Dyspratos'' of Antiphanes. Aelian (N.A.xii. 10) quotes another play by Epicrates titled ''Choros'' (Dance).

References

(ii. p. 59, c.) (xiii. p. 570, b.) (xi. p. 782, f) (xiv. p. 655, f.) *

Julius Pollux Julius Pollux ( el, Ἰούλιος Πολυδεύκης, ''Ioulios Polydeukes''; fl. 2nd century) was a Greek scholar and rhetorician from Naucratis, Ancient Egypt.Andrew Dalby, ''Food in the Ancient World: From A to Z'', p.265, Routledge, 2003 E ...

(iv. 121) *

, Frag. Com. Graec. vol. i. pp. 414, 415, vol. iii. pp. 365–373 * Fabricius. Bibl. Graec. vol. ii. pp. 440, 441.
Epicrates of Ambracia
Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights Writers of lost works Ancient Epirotes 4th-century BC Greek people 4th-century BC writers Metics in Classical Athens Middle Comic poets {{AncientGreece-writer-stub