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Philocles
Philocles (), was an Athens, Athenian tragic poet during the 5th century BC. Through his mother, Philopatho (), he had three famous uncles: Aeschylus, the famous poet, Cynaegirus, hero of the battle of Marathon, and Ameinias of Athens, Ameinias, hero of the battle of Salamis. The ''Suda'' claims that Philocles was the father of the tragic playwright Morsimus, who was in turn the father of the tragedian Astydamas the Elder and was in his turn the father of the tragedian Astydamas, Astydamas the Younger.Suda φ 378 Works According to the ''Suda'', Philocles wrote 100 tragedies. Philocles is best known for winning first prize in the competition against Sophocles' ''Oedipus Rex''. Philocles also wrote a play on the subject of Tereus, which was parodied in Aristophanes' ''The Birds (play), The Birds'' along with Sophocles' Tereus (Sophocles), treatment of the same subject. A scholiast has noted that Philocles' ''Tereus'' was part of his ''Pandion I, Pandionis'' tetralogy. An extan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astydamas The Elder
Astydamas () was a tragic poet of ancient Greece who lived around the turn of 4th century BCE, from roughly 423 to 363 BCE. He is very often confounded in ancient sources with his more well known and successful son Astydamas, Astydamas the Younger, who was also a tragic poet.Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca historica'' xiv. p. 676 Astydamas was a member of a large, multigenerational theatre dynasty. He was the son of Morsimus, grandson of Philocles, and nephew of Aeschylus (by way of Morsimus's wife, who was Aeschylus's sister), all of whom were renowned tragic poets. Astydamas's sons, Astydamas and Philocles, were both also tragic poets, and there is a later, more obscure tragic poet named Astydamas who may have been this Astydamas's grandson or great-grandson. All of his works are lost and we do not even have any of the titles of his plays. He had two sons, Astydamas, Astydamas the Younger and Philocles the Younger. References {{DEFAULTSORT:Astydamas the E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astydamas
Astydamas (), or sometimes Astydamas the Younger or Astydamas Minor, was a tragic poet of ancient Greece, who lived at Athens and was by far the most celebrated and prolific dramatist of the 4th century BCE. He was active from roughly 373 BCE to 340 BCE. Life Astydamas was part of a sprawling, multi-generational theatre family. He was the son of Astydamas the Elder, who was also a dramatist, albeit a lesser known one, and with whom he is very often confused by many ancient sources. This would make him a grandnephew of the renowned tragedian Aeschylus, as well as great-grandson of the tragedian Philocles. He also had a brother named Philocles the Younger, who was also a tragic poet. His grandfather Morsimus was also a tragic poet. The family is often described as "one of the most remarkable theatrical families in Attic history". Astydamas was the pupil of the rhetorician Isocrates, and wrote 240 tragedies and took the top prize a virtually unprecedented fifteen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morsimus
Morsimus or Morsimos () was a tragic poet of the 5th century BCE, around 450 to 400 BCE, and the member of a large dynasty of tragic poets. None of his plays survive. He was the son of Philocles, brother of Melanthius (tragic poet), Melanthius, grandnephew of Aeschylus, the father of Astydamas the Elder, grandfather of both Astydamas, Astydamas the Younger and Philocles the Younger. All of these were tragic poets of some renown. Unlike most of his tragic poet family, Morsimus does not appear to have been very successful as a playwright. His plays are described in some sources as "wretched". He is attacked and ridiculed several times by the comic playwright Aristophanes, whose cutting criticisms are probably in large part responsible for Morsimus's negative reputation. Aristophanes wrote a character who describes the experience of performing in one of Morsimus's plays as being comparable to being "drenched in urine", and describes anyone who ever helped distribute th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is largely based on inferences made from reading his surviving plays. According to Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in the theatre and allowed conflict among them. Formerly, characters interacted only with the Greek chorus, chorus.The remnant of a commemorative inscription, dated to the 3rd century BC, lists four, possibly eight, dramatic poets (probably including Choerilus, Phrynichus, and Pratinas) who had won Dionysia#Known winners of the City Dionysia, tragic victories at the Dionysia before Aeschylus had. Thespis was traditionally regarded the inventor of tragedy. According to another tradition, tragedy was established in Athens in the late 530s BC, but that may simply reflect an absence of records. Major innovations in dramatic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tereus (Sophocles)
''Tereus'' (, ''Tēreus'') is a lost Greek play by the Athenian poet Sophocles. Although fragments have long been known, the discovery of a synopsis among the Oxyrhynchus Papyri has allowed an attempt at a reconstruction. Although the date that the play was first produced is not known, it is known that it was produced before 414 BCE, because the Greek comedic playwright Aristophanes referenced ''Tereus'' in his play '' The Birds'', which was first performed in 414. Thomas B. L. Webster dates the play to near but before 431 BCE, based on circumstantial evidence from a comment Thucydides made in 431 about the need to distinguish between Tereus and the King of Thrace, Teres, which Webster believes was made necessary by the popularity of Sophocles's play around this time causing confusion between the two names. Based on references in ''The Birds'' it is also known that another Greek playwright, Philocles, had also written a play on the subject of Tereus, and there is evidence both ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ameinias Of Athens
Ameinias or Aminias () was a younger brother of the playwright Aeschylus and of a hero of the battle of Marathon named Cynaegirus. He also had a sister, named Philopatho, who was the mother of the Athenian tragic poet Philocles. His father was Euphorion. Ameinias was from the Attica deme of Pallene according to Herodotus, or of that of Decelea according to Plutarch. He distinguished himself at the battle of Salamis as a trireme commander. His brother Aeschylus also fought at the battle. According to Diodorus Siculus, Ameinias was the first to ram the flagship of the Persians, sinking it and killing the admiral. Herodotus writes that Athenians said that Ameinias charged one of the enemy vessels and his ship was entangled in combat and his men were not being able to get away, so the other Greek ships joined in the fight to assist Ameinias and this is how the battle started, but the Aeginetans say that one of their ships was the first to attack the Persian fleet. He also pursued ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cynaegirus
Cynegirus or Cynaegirus ( ''Kunégeiros'' or ''Kunaígeiros''; died 490 BC) was an ancient Greek general of Athens and had three siblings. His two brothers were the playwright Aeschylus and Ameinias, hero of the battle of Salamis, while his sister was Philopatho (), the mother of the Athenian tragic poet Philokles. He was the son of Euphorion () from Eleusis and member of the Eupatridae, the ancient nobility of Attica. The Battle of Marathon In 490 BC, Cynegeirus and his brothers Aeschylus and Ameinias fought to defend Athens against Darius's invading Persian army at the Battle of Marathon. According to Plutarch, Cynegeirus was one of the Athenian Generals. Despite their numerical superiority, the Persians were routed and fled to their ships. The Athenians pursued them, and Cynegeirus in his attempt to hold on the stern of a Persian ship with his bare hands had his hand cut off with an axe and died. According to another version of his death, recorded by the Roman his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oedipus Rex
''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' (, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. While some scholars have argued that the play was first performed , this is highly uncertain. Originally, to the ancient Greeks, the title was simply ''Oedipus'' (), as it is referred to by Aristotle in the '' Poetics''. It is thought to have been renamed ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' to distinguish it from '' Oedipus at Colonus'', a later play by Sophocles. In antiquity, the term " tyrant" referred to a ruler with no legitimate claim to rule, but it did not necessarily have a negative connotation. Of Sophocles's three Theban plays that have survived, and that deal with the story of Oedipus, ''Oedipus Rex'' was the second to be written, following '' Antigone'' by about a dozen years. However, in terms of the chronology of events described by the plays, it comes first, followed by ''Oedipus at Colonus'' and then ''Antigone''. Prior to the start of ''Oe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tereus
In Greek mythology, Tereus (; Ancient Greek: Τηρεύς) was a Thracian king,Thucydides: ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' 2:29 the son of Ares and the naiad Bistonis. He was the brother of Dryas. Tereus was the husband of the Athenian princess Procne and the father of Itys. Mythology When Tereus desired his wife's sister, Philomela, he came to Athens to his father-in-law Pandion to ask for his other daughter in marriage, stating that Procne had died. Pandion granted him the favour, and sent Philomela and guards along with her. But Tereus threw the guards into the sea, and finding Philomela on a mountain, forced himself upon her. He then cut her tongue out and held her captive so she could never tell anyone. After he returned to Thrace, Tereus gave Philomela to King Lynceus and told his wife that her sister had died. Philomela wove letters in a tapestry depicting Tereus's crime and sent it secretly to Procne. Lynceus' wife Lathusa who was a friend of Procne, at once ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Birds (play)
''The Birds'' () is a comedy by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed in 414 BC at the City Dionysia in Athens where it won second place. It has been acclaimed by modern critics as a perfectly realized fantasy remarkable for its mimicry of birds and for the gaiety of its songs. Unlike the author's other early plays, it includes no direct mention of the Peloponnesian War and there are few references to Athenian politics, and yet it was staged not long after the commencement of the Sicilian Expedition, an ambitious military campaign that greatly increased Athenian commitment to the war effort. In spite of that, the play has many indirect references to Athenian political and social life. It is the longest of Aristophanes's surviving plays and yet it is a fairly conventional example of Old Comedy. The plot of the play revolves around Pisthetaerus, an Athenian who convinces the birds to create a great city in the sky, and thus regain their status as the original ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oedipus
Oedipus (, ; "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family. The story of Oedipus is the subject of Sophocles' tragedy ''Oedipus Rex'', which is followed in the narrative sequence by '' Oedipus at Colonus'' and then '' Antigone''. Together, these plays make up Sophocles' three Theban plays. Oedipus represents two enduring themes of Greek myth and drama: the flawed nature of humanity and an individual's role in the course of destiny in a harsh universe. In the best-known version of the myth, Oedipus was born to King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes. Laius wished to thwart the prophecy, so he sent a shepherd-servant to leave Oedipus to die on a mountainside. However, the shepherd took pity on the baby and passed him to another shepherd who gave Oedipus to King Polybus and Queen Merope to raise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orestes
In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; ) was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the brother of Electra and Iphigenia. He was also known by the patronymic Agamemnonides (), meaning "son of Agamemnon." He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness, revenge, and purification, which retain obscure threads of much older works. In particular Orestes plays a main role in Aeschylus' '' Oresteia.'' Etymology The Greek name Ὀρέστης, having become "Orestēs" in Latin and its descendants, is derived from Greek ὄρος (óros, "mountain") and ἵστημι (hístēmi, "to stand"), and so can be thought to have the meaning "stands on a mountain". Greek literature Homer In the Homeric telling of the story, Orestes is a member of the doomed house of Atreus, which is descended from Tantalus and Niobe. He is absent from Mycenae when his father, Agamemnon, returns from the Trojan War with the Trojan princess Cass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
