Eunicus (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

: ) is the name of two different people in Classical history: *Eunicus, an

Athenian 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 ...

comic poet of the

Old Comedy Old Comedy (''archaia'') 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 thei ...

, contemporary with

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...

and

Philyllius Philyllius ( grc, Φιλύλλιος), also called Phillylius, Phlaeus, Philolaus, or Phillydeus, was an ancient Athenian comic poet. He was contemporary with Diocles and Sannyrion. He belonged to the latter part of the Old Comedy tradition and th ...

. Only one line of his is preserved, from his play ''Anteia'' (), which was also attributed to Philyllius. The title is taken from the courtesan, Anteia, who is mentioned by

Demosthenes Demosthenes (; el, Δημοσθένης, translit=Dēmosthénēs; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prow ...

and Anaxandrides and who was also made the subject of comedies by Alexis and Antiphanes. There was also a comedy, entitled ''Poleis'' () which was variously ascribed to Aristophanes, Philyllius, and Eunicus. The

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...

mentions an "Aenicus" () as the author of a play called ''Anteia'', although this is probably the same person. *Eunicus was a distinguished

statuary A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

and silversmith of Mytilene. He seems, from the order in which he is mentioned by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

, to have lived not long before the time of

Pompey the Great Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

.Plin. xxxiii. 12. s. 55; xxxiv. 8. s. 19. § 25

References

Sources

*{{SmithDGRBM Ancient Athenians Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights 2nd-century BC Greek sculptors Ancient Mytileneans