Philostrate

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Philostrate is the master of revels at Theseus' court in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He advises the betrothed king not to choose "The Mechanicals'" (the workers') play because it is badly rehearsed. Philostrate: "I have heard it over, / And it is nothing, nothing in the world, / Unless you can find sport in their (The Mechanical's) intents, / Extremely stretched, & conned (learnt) with cruel pain, / To do you service." (Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream Act 5 Scene 1 Lines 76-81).

It is also the pseudonym adopted by Arcite upon covertly returning to Athens in Chaucer's The Knight's Tale (dramatized by Shakespeare as The Two Noble Kinsmen). As Arcite adopts this identity to become a servant at Theseus' court, it is possible that the Midsummer Night's Dream character is meant to be the same person.