Nicochares

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Nicochares (Greek: Νικοχαρηs) (d. c. 345 BC) was an Athenian poet of the Old Comedy, son of Philonides and contemporary with Aristophanes.

The titles of Nicochares' plays, as enumerated by Suidas, are, Αμυμωνη, Πελοφ, Γαλατεια, Ηρακληs χορηγυs, Κμητεs, Λακωνεs, Λημνιαι, Κενταυροι, Χειρογαστορεs. Although, as Augustus Meineke had ingeniously conjectured, the two first titles may merely be two different names from the same comedy considering that Πελοφ does not occur in its alphabetical place, and from the name Oenomaüs which occurs in quotations from Αμυμωνη, as given by Athenaeus.

From the extant fragments of Nicochares' work, one can only infer that he treated in the style of the Old Comedy—occasionally rising into tragic dignity—the legends and local traditions of his country, no doubt ridiculing the pecliarities of the neighboring states.

[edit] Criticisms

In Aristotle's Poetics, Aristotle states, "Homer, for example, makes men better than they are; Cleophon as they are; Hegemon the Thasian, the inventor of parodies, and Nicochares, the author of the Deiliad, worse than they are."

[edit] External links

• The Ancient Library, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.