Diphilus (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Δίφιλος), of Sinope, was a poet of the new Attic

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

and a contemporary of Menander (342–291 BC). He is frequently listed together with Menander and Philemon, considered the three greatest poets of

New 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 ...

. He was victorious at least three times at the

Lenaia The Lenaia ( grc, Λήναια) was an annual Athenian festival with a dramatic competition. It was one of the lesser festivals of Athens and Ionia in ancient Greece. The Lenaia took place in Athens in Gamelion, roughly corresponding to January. T ...

, placing him third before Philemon and Menander. Although most of his plays were written and acted at

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 ...

he died at

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

. His body was returned and buried in Athens. According to

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 ...

, he was on intimate terms with the famous courtesan Gnathaena. Athenaeus quotes the comic poet Machon in support of this claim. Machon is also the source for the claim that Diphilus acted in his own plays. An anonymous essay on comedy from antiquity reports that Diphilus wrote 100 plays. Of these 100 plays, 59 titles, and 137 fragments (or quotations) survive. From the extant fragments, Diphilus' plays seem to have featured many of the

stock characters A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a fictional character in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film whom audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition. There is a wide range of st ...

now primarily associated with the

comedies Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term origin ...

of the Roman playwright

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the ...

, who translated and adapted a number of Diphilus' plays. Swaggering soldiers, verbose cooks, courtesans, and parasites, all feature in the fragments. In contrast to his more successful contemporaries, Menander and Philemon, Diphilus seems to have had a preference for the mythological subjects so popular in Middle Comedy. To judge from the imitations of

(''Casina'' from the Κληρούμενοι, ''Asinaria'' from the Ὀναγός, ''Rudens'' from some other play), he was very skillful in the construction of his plots.

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...

also tells us that he introduced into the ''Adelphi'' (ii. I) a scene from the Συναποθνήσκοντες, which had been omitted by Plautus in his adaptation (''Commorientes'') of the same play. According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition:

Surviving titles and fragments

*''Adelphoi'' ("Brothers") *''Agnoia'' ("Ignorance," possibly written by Calliades) *''Airesiteiches'' *''Aleiptria'' ("The Female Oiler," or "Masseuse") *''Amastris'' (" Amastris"), or ''Athenaeus'' *''Anagyros'' *''Anasozomenoi'' ("The Rescued Men") *''Aplestos'' ("Insatiable") *''Apobates'' (" The Trick-Rider") *''Apolipousa'' ("The Woman Who Leaves") *''Balaneion'' ("The Bath-house") *''Boiotios'' ("The Man From Boeotia") *''Chrysochoos'' ("The Goldsmith") *''Gamos'' ("Marriage") *''Danaides'' ("The Daughters of Danaus") *''Diamartanousa'' ("The Woman Who Is Failing Utterly") *''Elaion'' ("The Olive-Grove") or ''Phrourountes'' ("The Watchers") *''Emporos'' ("The Merchant") *''Enagismata'' ("Offerings to the Dead") *''Enkalountes'' ("The Accusers") *''Epidikazomenos'' ("The Claimant") *''Epikleros'' ("The Heiress") *''Epitrope'', or ''Epitropeus'' *''Hecate'' ("

Hecate Hecate or Hekate, , ; grc-dor, Ἑκάτᾱ, Hekátā, ; la, Hecatē or . is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depict ...

") *''Helenephorountes'' *''Helleborizomenoi'' ("People Taking Hellebore") *''Herakles'' ("

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

") *''Heros'' ("The Hero") *''Kitharodos'' ("The Citharode") *''Kleroumenoi'' ("Those Casting Lots") *''Lemniai'' ("Women from Lemnos") *''Mainomenos'' ("The Madman") *''Mnemation'' ("The Little Tomb," or "The Monument") *''Onagros'' ("The Wild Donkey") *''Paiderastai'' ("The Pederasts") *''Pallake'' ("The Concubine") *''Parasitos'' ("The Parasite") *''Peliades'' ("Daughters of

Pelias Pelias ( ; Ancient Greek: Πελίας) was king of Iolcus in Greek mythology. He was the one who sent Jason on the quest for the Golden Fleece. Family Pelias was the son of Tyro and Poseidon. His wife is recorded as either Anaxibia, daughte ...

") *''Philadelphos'' ("The Brother-Loving Man") *''Phrear'' ("The Well") *''Pithraustes'' (possibly ''Tithraustes'') *''Plinthophoros'' ("The Brick-Carrier") *''Polypragmon'' ("The Busybody") *''Pyrrha'' ("The Red-Haired Woman," or "

Pyrrha In Greek mythology, Pyrrha (; Ancient Greek: Πύρρα) was the daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora and wife of Deucalion of whom she had three sons, Hellen, Amphictyon, Orestheus; and three daughters Protogeneia, Pandora II and Thyia. Accordi ...

") *''Sappho'' ("Sappho") *''Sikelikos'' ("The Sicilian Man," possibly belongs to Philemon) *''Schedia'' ("The Raft") *''Synapothneskontes'' ("Men Dying Together") *''Syntrophroi'' *''Synoris'' *''Telesias'' *''Thesaurus'' ("The Treasure") *''Theseus'' *''Zographos'' ("The Painter") Fragments in R. Kassel-C. Austin, "Poetae Comici Graeci" (PCG) vol. 5 (previously in T. Kock, ''Comicorum Atticorum fragmenta'' ii; see J. Denis, ''La Comédie grecque'' (1886), ii. p. 414; R.W. Bond in "Classical Review" 24(1) (February 1910) with trans. of ''Emporos'' fragm.).

References

* William Smith, ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...

'' (1870), v. 1, p. 1055. {{authority control Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights Ancient Pontic Greeks 4th-century BC Greek people 4th-century BC writers New Comic poets Ancient Smyrna