ANTIPHON

Comic poet. He was born in Rhodes or Smyrna. Named for his multitude of comedies. At the suggestion of Demosthenes, he acquired the status of an Athenian citizen, even though he was from Asia Minor. He also wrote comedies for foreign theaters. He is said to have written 260, and according to others 365, a great part of which were performed in the theaters of the Greek colonies. His comedies had more rhetorical passion than poetic value, and he often repeated the same themes. Although not an Athenian by birth, he handled the Attic dialect with skill and grace. Only fragments of his works have survived.