Cephisodorus, Caphisodorus or Kephisodoros (; English translation: "gift of the Cephisus") was a male Greek name. 1. Cephisodorus, an Athenian dramatist 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 ...

. According to

Lysias Lysias (; ; c. 445 – c. 380 BC) was a Logographer (legal), logographer (speech writer) in ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrac ...

, he was a comic poet who won a victory in 402 BC. This victory was probably in the Lenaea; around the same time Cephisodorus appears on the surviving victory lists for 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 ...

. The

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

says that he was a tragedian, and credits him with four plays: ''Antilais'', ''Amazons'', ''Trophonius'', and ''The Hog''. The titles quoted by the Suda are comic, and so the identification of Cephisodorus as a tragedian is likely to be an error. 2. Cephisodorus, a Theban rebel and exile who accompanied

Pelopidas Pelopidas (; ; died 364 BC) was an important Theban statesman and general in Greece, instrumental in establishing the mid-fourth century Theban hegemony. Biography Athlete and warrior Pelopidas was a member of a distinguished family and p ...

to the house of the pro-Spartan polemarch Leontidas to kill him during the recapture of

Cadmea The Cadmea, or Cadmeia (Greek: Καδμεία, ''Kadmía''), was the citadel of ancient Thebes, Greece, which was named after Cadmus, the legendary founder of Thebes. The area is thought to have been settled since at least the early Bronze Age, a ...

from Spartan forces, but, being the first to encounter him, was killed by him, but Leontidas was subsequently killed by Pelopidas. 3. Cephisodorus, a military commander who fought and died with

Gryllus, son of Xenophon Gryllus () was the elder son of Xenophon. When the war, which broke out between Elis and Arcadia in 365 BC, on the subject of the Triphylian towns, had rendered a residence at Scillus no longer safe, Gryllus and his brother Diodorus were sent by X ...

in the Battle of Mantineia in 362 BC. 4. Caphisodorus, Theban soldier and lover of General

Epaminondas Epaminondas (; ; 419/411–362 BC) was a Greeks, Greek general and statesman of the 4th century BC who transformed the Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek polis, city-state of Thebes, Greece, Thebes, leading it out of Spartan subjugation into a pre ...

, both killed at the Battle of Mantinea and buried together. 5. Kephisodoros, an Athenian leader who opposed

Philip V Philip V may refer to: * Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) * Philip V of France (1293–1322) * Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598) * Philip V of Spain Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was List of Sp ...

during the Second Makedonian War. After allying Athens to fellow Greek powers including

Attalus I Attalus I ( ), surnamed ''Soter'' (, ; 269–197 BC), was the ruler of the Greek polis of Pergamon (modern-day Bergama, Turkey) and the larger Pergamene Kingdom from 241 BC to 197 BC. He was the adopted son of King Eumenes I ...

of Pergamon,

Ptolemy V Ptolemy V Epiphanes Eucharistus (, ''Ptolemaĩos Epiphanḗs Eukháristos'' "Ptolemy the Manifest, the Beneficent"; 9 October 210–September 180 BC) was the King of Ptolemaic Egypt from July or August 204 BC until his death in 180 BC. Ptolemy ...

of Egypt, the

Aetolian League The Aetolian (or Aitolian) League () was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered in Aetolia in Central Greece. It was probably established during the early Hellenistic era, in opposition to Macedon and the Ac ...

, Crete, and Rhodes, he travelled to Rome to request the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for further aid against Makedon. The Romans sent

Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus (fl. late 3rd to early 2nd century BC) was a Roman military officer and Senator who was elected Roman consul twice, and appointed dictator once. He fought in the Second Punic War and the First and Second Macedonian ...

Publius Villius Tappulus Publius Villius Tappulus was a politician of the Roman Republic. Biography In 204 BC Tappulus was appointed plebeian aedile. In the following two years, he was elected as a praetor and then served as a propraetor in Sicily. After his time as a ...

(who Pausanias calls Otilios),Pausanias. ''Description of Greece'', 7.7.8 and

Titus Quinctius Flamininus Titus Quinctius Flamininus (229 – 174 BC) was a Roman politician and general instrumental in the Roman conquest of Greece. Family background Flamininus belonged to the minor patrician ''gens'' Quinctia. The family had a glorious place in ...

who defeated Philip V at the

Battle of Cynoscephalae The Battle of Cynoscephalae () was an encounter battle fought in Thessaly in 197 BC between the Roman army, led by Titus Quinctius Flamininus, and the Antigonid dynasty of Macedon, led by Philip V, during the Second Macedonian War. It was ...

References

{{authority control Ancient Athenian dramatists and playwrights Ancient Greeks killed in battle Ancient Greek LGBTQ people 5th-century BC Greek poets Greek male poets Old Comic poets