Philocles

Philocles
Native name Φιλοκλῆς
Born 5th century BC
Athens
Died 5th century BC
Ethnicity Greek
Occupation Poet
Parent(s) Philopatho (mother)
Relatives

Philocles (Greek: Φιλοκλῆς), was an Athenian tragic poet during the 5th century BCE. He was the nephew of the famous poet Aeschylus, the hero of the battle of Marathon Cynaegirus and the hero of the battle of Salamis Ameinias, as he was the son of their sister, Philopatho (Greek: Φιλοπαθώ). He is best known for winning first prize in the competition against Sophocles' Oedipus Rex.[1][2] Philocles also wrote a play on the subject of Tereus, which was parodied in Aristophanes' The Birds along with Sophocles' treatment of the same subject.[3] A scholiast has noted that Philocles' Tereus was part of his Pandionis tetralogy.[3] An extant fragment shows that Philocles wrote a play covering the story of Hermione, Neoptolemus and Orestes, a story also addressed by Euripides in his play Andromache and by Sophocles in his Hermione.[4] In Pholocles' version of the Hermione myth, Hermione is betrothed to Neoptolemus by her father Menelaus while she is pregnant with Orestes' child.[4] Philocles also wrote plays entitled Oedipus and Philoctetes.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Kopff, E. Christian (1997). Ancient Greek Authors. Gale. ISBN 978-0-8103-9939-6.
  2. ↑ Smith, Helaine (2005). Masterpieces of Classic Greek Drama. Greenwood. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-313-33268-5.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 March, J. (2000). "Vases and Tragic Drama". In Rutter, N.K. & Sparkes, B.A. Word and Image in Ancient Greece. University of Edinburgh. pp. 121–123. ISBN 978-0-7486-1405-9.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sommerstein, A.H., Fitzpatrick, D. & Talboy, T. (2006). Sophocles: Selected Fragmentary Plays Volume I. Aris & Phillips. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-85668-766-2.
  5. ↑ Collard, C., Cropp, M.J. & Gilbert, J. (2004). Euripides: Selected Fragmentary Plays Volume II. Aris & Phillips. pp. 113, 373. ISBN 978-0-85668-621-4.