Ameipsias (,

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

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 classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

comic poet, a contemporary of

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

, 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 processions and sacrifices in honor of Dionysus, the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and ...

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

The Clouds ''The Clouds'' (, ''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 as well received as th ...

''. ''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'' (; , 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 Athens, in 405 BC and received first place. The pla ...

'', 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 ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

, 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 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 their daring pol ...

, 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 Athenian dramatists and playwrights Ancient Greek satirists Old Comic poets 5th-century BC Greek poets