Phrynichus (; ), son of Polyphradmon and pupil of Thespis, was one of the earliest of the Greek tragedians. Some ancients regarded him as the real founder of tragedy. Phrynichus is said to have died in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. His son Polyphrasmon was also a playwright. Phrynichus wrote two out of the three known Greek tragedies that dealt with contemporary history from episodes from the Persian Wars (no longer extant).

Works

He gained his first victory in a drama contest in 511 BC. His famous play, the ''Capture of Miletus'' or the ''Sack of Miletus'', was probably composed shortly after the conquest of that city by the

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ns during the Ionian Revolt.

Miletus Miletus (Ancient Greek: Μίλητος, Mílētos) was an influential ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in present day Turkey. Renowned in antiquity for its wealth, maritime power, and ex ...

was a

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

of Athens and therefore traditionally held especially dear to the mother city. The audience was moved to tears by Phrynichus' tragedy, with the poet being fined "", "for reminding familiar misfortunes". As a result, the play was banned from being performed again. (

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

6.21.10) In 476 BC, Phrynichus was successful with the ''Phoenissae'', called after the

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

n women who formed the chorus. This drama celebrated the defeat of Xerxes I at the Battle of Salamis four years earlier. Themistocles provided the funds as '' choregos'' (producer), and one of the objectives of the play was to remind the Athenians of his great deeds. The ''Persians'' of

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 large ...

(472 BC) was modeled after the ''Phoenissae''. The titles of his other known plays (''Actaeon'', ''Alcestis'', ''Antaeus'', ''Daughters of Danaus'', ''Egyptians'', ''Pleuroniai'', and ''Tantalus'') show that he dealt with mythological as well as contemporary subjects. He introduced a separate actor, as distinct from the leader of the chorus, and thus laid the foundation for theatrical dialogue. But in his plays, as in the early tragedies generally, the dramatic element was subordinate to the lyric element as represented by the chorus and the dance. According to 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 ...

'', Phrynichus first introduced female characters on the stage (played by men in masks), and made special use of the trochaic tetrameter.

Recognition

Aelian (

Claudius Aelianus Claudius Aelianus (; ), commonly Aelian (), born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severus and probably outlived Elagabalus, who died in 222. He spoke Greek so fluently that he was called "h ...

), in his ''Varia Historia'' (3.8), says that Phrynichus' martial verses so stirred the people of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, they made him a general. Fragments of his work exist in Johann August Nauck's ''Tragicorum graecorum fragmenta'' (1887), pp 720–725.

Notes

# Buckham, p. 108: "The honour of introducing Tragedy in its later acceptation was reserved for a scholar of Thespis in 511 BC, Polyphradmon's son, Phrynichus; he dropped the light and ludicrous cast of the original drama and dismissing Bacchus and the Satyrs formed his plays from the more grave and elevated events recorded in mythology and history of his country." # Plato, ''Minos'' 321a: "Now tragedy is a thing of ancient standing here; it did not begin, as people suppose, from Thespis or from Phrynicus, but if you will reflect, you will find it is a very ancient invention of our city." # Suda φ 762

References

* * * *''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'', p. 1177. *

External links

''Tragicorum graecorum fragmenta''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phrynichus 6th-century BC Athenians 5th-century BC Athenians 6th-century BC Greek poets 5th-century BC Greek poets 6th-century BC births 5th-century BC deaths Ancient Athenian dramatists and playwrights Ancient Greek tragic poets Ionian Revolt

Works

Recognition

See also

Notes

References

External links