Philippides
(Φιλιππίδης), of Athens, the son of Pliilocles, is mentioned as one of the six principal comic poets of the New Comedy by the grammarians (Proleg. ad Aristoph. p. 30; Tzetz. Prole. ad Lycohr. p. 257, with the emendation of Φιλιππίδης for Φιλιστίων, see Philistion). According to Suidas, he flourished in the 111th Olympiad, or B. C. 335, a date which would throw him back rather into the period of the Middle Comedy. There are, however, several indications in the fragments of his plays that he flourished under the successors of Alexander; such as, first, his attacks on Stratocles, the flatterer of Demetrius and Antigonus, which would place him between Ol. 118 and 122 (Plut. Demrtr. 12, 26, pp. 894, 100.900, f., Amator. p. 730f.), and more particularly his ridicule of the honours which were paid to Demetrius through the influence of Stratocles, in B. C. 301 (Clinton, F. H. sub ann.); again, his friendship with king Lysimachus, who was induced by him to confer various favours on the Athenians, and who assumed the royal title in Ol. 118. 2, B. C. 306 (Plut. Demetr. 12); and the statements of Plutarch (l.c.) and Diodorus (20.110), that he ridiculed the Eleusinian mysteries, into which he had been initiated in the archonship of Nicocles, B. C. 302. It is true, as Clinton remarks (F.H. vol. ii. introd. p. xlv), that these indications may be reconciled with the possibility of his having flourished at the date given by Suidas; but a sounder criticism requires us to alter that date to suit these indications, which may easily be done, as Meineke proposes, by changing ριαʼ, 111, into ριδʼ, 114, the latter Olympiad corresponding to B. C. 323 (Meineke, Menand. et Philem. Reliq. p. 44, Hist. Crit. Com. Graec. p. 471; in the latter passage Meineke explains that the emendation of Suidas proposed by him in the former, ρκδʼ, was a misprint for ριδʼ). It is a confirmation of this date, that in the list above referred to of the six chief poets of the New Comedy, Philippides comes, not first, but after Philemon, Menander, and Diphilus : for if the list had been in order of merit, and not of time, Menander would have stood first. The mistake of Suidas may be explained by his confounding Philippides, the comic poet, with the demagogue Philippides, against whom Hyperides composed an oration, and who is ridiculed for his leanness by Alexis, Aristophon, and other poets of the Middle Comedy; an error into which other writers also have fallen, and which Clinton (l.c.) has satisfactorily refuted.
Philippides seems to have deserved the rank assigned to him, as one of the best poets of the New Comedy. He attacked the luxury and corruptions of his age, defended the privileges of his art, and made use of personal satire with a spirit approaching to that of the Old Comedy (see Meineke, Hist. Crit. pp. 437, 471). Plutarch eulogizes him highly (Demetr. l.c.). His death is said to have been caused by excessive joy at an unexpected victory (Gel. 3.15) : similar tales are told of the deaths of other poets, as for example, Sophocles, Alexis, and Philemon. It appears, from the passage of Gellius just quoted, that Philippides lived to an advanced age.
The number of his dramas is stated by Suidas at forty-five. There are fifteen titles extant, namely : --Ἀδωνιάζουσαι, Ἀμφιόραος, Ἀνανέωσις, Ἀργυρίου ἀφανισμός, Αὐλοί, Βασανιζομένη, Λακιάδαι, Μαστροπός, Ὀλυνθία, Συμπλέουσαι, or perhaps Συνεκπλέουσαι, Φιλάδελφοι, Φιλαθήναιος, Φιλάργυρος Φίλαρχος, Φιλευριπίδης. In the Ἀμφιάραος we have one of those titles which show that the poets of the New Comedy did not abstain from mythological subjects. To the above list should perhaps be added the Τρίοδοι ἢ Ῥωποπώλης. The Κόθορνοι of Philonides, and the Νάννιον of Eubulus or Philippus, are erroneously ascribed to Philippides. The latter is only one of several instances in which the names of Philippides and Philippus are confounded (see Meineke, Hist. Crit. pp. 341, 342, 343). Some of the ancient critics charge Philippides with infringing upon the purity of the Attic dialect (Phryn. Ecl. p. 365; Pollux, 9.30), and Meineke produces several words from his fragments as examples. (Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. ii. pp. 479, 480 ; Meineke, Frag. Com. Graec. vol. i. pp. 470-475, vol. iv. pp. 467-478, 833, 834; Bernhardy, Gesch. d. Griech. Lit. vol. ii. p. 1017.) [P.S]
(Φιλιππίδης). (1) See Phidippides.
(2) An Athenian, one of the six great poets of the New Comedy, though his personal satire recalled the freedom of the Old Comedy (Plut. Demetr. 12, 36). He wrote about B.C. 323. The number of his plays is said to have been forty-five (Suidas, s. h. v.). Gellius (iii. 15) says that he died of joy over the unexpected success of one of his comedies.
- Paus. 1.28.4, Paus. 8.54.6