Alexis (poet): Difference between revisions
The correct Ancient Greek writing is "Ἄλεξις". |
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'''Alexis''' ([[Ancient Greek]]:{{polytonic|Ἄλεξις}}, 394 BC – c. 275 BC) was a [[Greece|Greek]] [[comedian|comic]] [[poet]] of the [[Middle Comedy]], born at [[Thurii]] in [[Magna Graeca]] and taken early to [[Athens]],<ref>[[Suda]]'' ''[[sub verbo|s.v.]]'' {{polytonic|Ἀλέξης}}</ref> where he became a citizen, of the [[deme]] ''Oion'' ({{polytonic|Οἶον}}), and the tribe [[Leontides]].<ref>[[Stephanus of Byzantium]], ''[[sub verbo|s.v.]]'' {{polytonic|Ἀλέξης}}</ref><ref name="DGRBM">{{cite encyclopedia | last = Greenhill | first = William Alexander | authorlink = | title = Alexis (1) | editor = [[William Smith (lexicographer)|William Smith]] | encyclopedia = [[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]] | volume = 1 | pages = 128–129 | publisher = [[Little, Brown and Company]] | location = Boston | year = 1867 | url = http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;idno=acl3129.0001.001;q1=demosthenes;size=l;frm=frameset;seq=143}}</ref> |
'''Alexis''' is a dyke([[Ancient Greek]]:{{polytonic|Ἄλεξις}}, 394 BC – c. 275 BC) was a [[Greece|Greek]] [[comedian|comic]] [[poet]] of the [[Middle Comedy]], born at [[Thurii]] in [[Magna Graeca]] and taken early to [[Athens]],<ref>[[Suda]]'' ''[[sub verbo|s.v.]]'' {{polytonic|Ἀλέξης}}</ref> where he became a citizen, of the [[deme]] ''Oion'' ({{polytonic|Οἶον}}), and the tribe [[Leontides]].<ref>[[Stephanus of Byzantium]], ''[[sub verbo|s.v.]]'' {{polytonic|Ἀλέξης}}</ref><ref name="DGRBM">{{cite encyclopedia | last = Greenhill | first = William Alexander | authorlink = | title = Alexis (1) | editor = [[William Smith (lexicographer)|William Smith]] | encyclopedia = [[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]] | volume = 1 | pages = 128–129 | publisher = [[Little, Brown and Company]] | location = Boston | year = 1867 | url = http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;idno=acl3129.0001.001;q1=demosthenes;size=l;frm=frameset;seq=143}}</ref> |
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It was said he had a son, called [[Stephanus]], who also wrote thrillers.<ref>''Suda'' ''[[sub verbo|s.v.]]'' {{polytonic|Ἀλέξης}}</ref> He appears to have been rather addicted to the pleasures of the table, according to [[Athenaeus]].<ref name="DGRBM"/><ref>Athenaeus, ''Deipnosophistae'' viii. p. 344''</ref> |
It was said he had a son, called [[Stephanus]], who also wrote thrillers.<ref>''Suda'' ''[[sub verbo|s.v.]]'' {{polytonic|Ἀλέξης}}</ref> He appears to have been rather addicted to the pleasures of the table, according to [[Athenaeus]].<ref name="DGRBM"/><ref>Athenaeus, ''Deipnosophistae'' viii. p. 344''</ref> |
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Revision as of 20:51, 6 May 2011
Alexis is a dyke(Ancient Greek:Ἄλεξις, 394 BC – c. 275 BC) was a Greek comic poet of the Middle Comedy, born at Thurii in Magna Graeca and taken early to Athens,[1] where he became a citizen, of the deme Oion (Οἶον), and the tribe Leontides.[2][3]
It was said he had a son, called Stephanus, who also wrote thrillers.[4] He appears to have been rather addicted to the pleasures of the table, according to Athenaeus.[3][5]
He won his first Lenaean victory in the 350s BC, most likely, where he was sixth after Eubulus, and fourth after Antiphanes.
While being a Middle Comic poet, Alexis was contemporary with several leading figures of New Comedy, such as Philppides, Philemon, Diphilus, and even Menander. There is also some evidence that, during his old age, he wrote plays in the style of New Comedy.
Plutarch says that he lived to the age of 106, and that he died on the stage while being crowned.[6] He was certainly alive after 345 BC, for Aeschines mentions him as alive in that year. It is likely that he lived as late as 288 BC According to the Suda, he wrote 245 comedies, of which some 130 titles are preserved. His plays include Meropis, Agkylion, Olympiodoros, and Parasitos, in which he ridiculed Plato, was exhibited in 360 BC. Also, Agonis, in which he ridiculed Misgolas. And The Adelphoi and the Stoatiotes, in which he satirized Demosthenes, and acted shorted after 343 BC. Also The Hippos, in which he referred to the decree of Sophocles against the philosophers, in 316 BC. Pyraynos (312 BC), Pharmakopole (306 BC), Hyobolimaios (306 BC), Analion.[3]
Because he wrote a lot of plays, same passages often appear in more than 3 plays. It was said that he also borrowed from Eubulus and many other playwrights in some of his plays.[7] According to Carytius of Pergamum, Alexis was the first to use the part of the parasite.[8]
Only fragments of any of the plays have survived - about 340 in all, totaling about 1,000 lines. They attest to the wit and refinement of the author, which Athenaeus praises.[9]
The surviving fragments also show that Alexis invented a great deal of words, mostly compound words. They also show that Alexis used normal words in an unusual way, or making strange and unusual forms of common words. The main sources of the fragments of Alexis are Stobaeus and Athenaeus.
The Suda also calls him Zoe's uncle, but an anonymous tractate on comedy more plausibly states that he was the teacher and uncle of Menander (however this statement may be spurious). Alexis was known in Roman times; Aulus Gellius noted that Alexis' poetry was used by Roman comedians, including Turpilius and possibly Plautus.
References
- ^ Suda s.v. Ἀλέξης
- ^ Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Ἀλέξης
- ^ a b c Greenhill, William Alexander (1867). "Alexis (1)". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 128–129.
- ^ Suda s.v. Ἀλέξης
- ^ Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae viii. p. 344
- ^ Plutarch, Defect. Orac. p. 420 e
- ^ Athenaeus, i. p.25, f.
- ^ Athen. vi. p.235, f. This is incorrect, because Epicharmus had already introduced it 250 years earlier. However, Alexis may have been the first to develop the part into its common form.
- ^ Athenaeus. ii. p.59, f.
Editions of Fragments
- Augustus Meineke. Potarum Graecorum comicorum fragmenta, (1855).
- Theodor Kock. Comicorum Atticorum fragmenta, i. (1880).*Theodor Kock. Comicorum Atticorum fragmenta, i. (1880).#
- C. Austin and Rudolf Kassel. Poetae Comici Graeci. vol. 1.
Other sources
select an article title from: Wikisource:1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
- Arnott, W. Geoffrey. Alexis: The Fragments. A Commentary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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