Platonius (, ''Platonios'') is the author of two writings on

Greek comedy Ancient Greek comedy () was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece; the others being tragedy and the satyr play. Greek comedy was distinguished from tragedy by its happy endings and use of comically ex ...

, which have been preserved in excerpts: ''On the Characteristics of Comedies'' (Περὶ διαφορᾶς κωμῳδιῶν) and ''On the Characteristics of Styles'' (Περὶ διαφορᾶς χαρακτήρων), which today form part of the collection ''

Prolegomena de comoedia ''Prolegomena de comoedia'' () is a modern collective name for several short ancient Greek and Byzantine writings in Greek that are mostly found in the manuscripts of Aristophanes' comedies or taken as excerpts from other texts. These writings ar ...

''. The time of his life is unknown;

Georg Kaibel Georg Kaibel (30 October 1849 – 12 October 1901) was a German classical philologist born in Lübeck. He was a leading authority of Greek epigraphy and epigrammatics. Biography Kaibel studied classical philology at the universities of Göttinge ...

has speculated that Platonius lived in the 9th or 10th century. In his writings, Platonius talks about the differences between the old,

middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

and

new comedy Ancient Greek comedy () was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece; the others being tragedy and the satyr play. Greek comedy was distinguished from tragedy by its happy endings and use of comically ...

. Among other things, he claims that the old Attic comedy gave way to the middle one due to the suppression of political freedoms in

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 ...

in the 4th century BC, but he does not name any poet of the middle comedy.

Simon Hornblower Simon Hornblower, FBA (born 29 May 1949) is an English classicist and academic. He was Professor of Classics and Ancient History in the University of Oxford and, before retiring, was most recently a senior research fellow at All Souls College, O ...

& Antony Spawforth, ''

The Oxford Classical Dictionary The ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'' (''OCD'') is generally considered "the best one-volume dictionary on antiquity," an encyclopædic work in English consisting of articles relating to classical antiquity and its civilizations. It was first pub ...

'' (3rd ed.), 2003, s.v. "Platonius".

References

Greek classical scholars {{Classical-scholar-stub