Eupolis

Eupolis (Greek: Εὔπολις; c. 446 – c. 411 BC) was an Athenian poet of the Old Comedy, who flourished during the time of the Peloponnesian War.

Nothing whatsoever is known of his personal history. There are few sources on when he first appeared on the stage. A short history of Greek Comedy, written by an anonymous writer of antiquity, reports that Eupolis first produced in the year where Apollodorus was the Eponymous archon, which would be 430/429 BC. The same source claims Phrynichus also debuted that year. The Chronicon of Eusebius of Caesarea instead places his debut in 428/427 BC and adds that Aristophanes also started producing that year. This is the version preserved in the Latin translation by Jerome. But the Armenian translation places the event in 427/426 BC.

Cyril of Alexandria placed the debut of Eupolis at some point between 428 and 424 BC. Placing the debuts of Aristophanes and Plato the comic poet within the same period. George Syncellus gives the same dates, but merely states that Eupolis and Aristophanes were becoming prominent, not when they debuted. Syncellus extends the phrase to include Sophocles. Sophocles had actually become the pre-eminent playwright in Athens c. 456 BC, when Aeschylus died.

Based on the primary sources above, modern historians conclude that Eupolis debuted in the 420s BC, probably in 429 BC. His first production was probably at the Lenaia, the lesser theatrical festival of his time. The Lenaia are thought to have allowed novices to compete, so they could prove themselves before presenting plays at the Dionysia festival. His first known play was either Prospaltioi or Heilotes. Surviving fragments from the Prospaltioi include allusions to, and near-quotations of, Sophocles' Antigone (442 BC). Scholars are convinced the play targeted Pericles, due to a famous reference to Aspasia. This makes it likely that Pericles, who died in 429 BC, was still alive when Eupolis was working on the text.

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