PHILEMON

Philemon was a poet of the Athenian New Comedy.He was noted for his neatly contrived plots , vivid description ,dramatic surprises,and moralizing .by 328.b.c, he was producing plays in Athens ,where he eventually became a citizen .Of the 97 comedies he wrote.some 60 titles survive in Greek fragments and Latin adaptations.Philemon was contemporary and rival for Menander ,whom he is said to have vanquished in poetical contests.Of the ninety-seven plays which he is said to have composed, the titles of fifty-seven and considerable fragments have been preserved. Some of these may have been the work of his son, the younger Philemon, who is said to have composed fifty-four comedies. The Merchant and The Treasure of Philemon were the originals respectively of the Mercator and Trinummus of Plautus. The fragments preserved by Stobaeus, Athenaeus and other writers contain much wit and good sense. Quintilian assigned the second place among the poets of the New Comedy to Philemon, and Apuleius, who had a high opinion of him, has drawn a comparison between him and Menander. As a boy, Philemon spent many summers at his grandpa's house in Bristol, Rhode Island, where he fell in love with boats and the sea. After a four-year Navy stint in Japan, he moved back to Rhode Island. When he wasn't working on the development of downtown Providence, the waterfront of Newport, or the boat basin on Nantucket, he spent his time sailing, clamming, and riding the waves in his dory, the Dawn Treader. He even spent a year living on an old ferryboat moored in Providence Harbor. Currently, Philemon splits his time between the city and the country. He can be found at home in the heart of Boston's South End (in a brownstone he redesigned) or out in the charming country town of Princeton, Massachusetts. He lives with his wife, Judy Sue, and his two dogs, Rufina and Giotto. Wherever he is, Philemon enjoys cooking and eating and spending time with friends. (Rufina and Giotto love his leftovers!) He must have enjoyed remarkable popularity, for he repeatedly won victories over his younger contemporary and rival Menander, whose delicate wit was apparently less to the taste of the Athenians of the time than Philemon's more showy comedy. To later times his successes over Menander were so unintelligible as to be ascribed to the influence of malice and intrigue. Except for a short sojourn in Egypt with Ptolemy II Philadelphus, he passed his life at Athens. He there died, nearly a hundred years old, but with mental vigour unimpaired, about the year 262 BC, according to the story, at the moment of his being crowned on the stage. Greek poet of the New Comedy, was born at Soli in Cilicia, or at Syracuse. He settled at Athens early in life, and his first play was produced in 330. He was a contemporary and rival of Menander, whom he frequently vanquished in poetical contests. Posterity reversed the verdict and attributed Philemon's successes to unfair influence. He made a journey to the east, and resided at the court of Ptolemy, king of Egypt, for some time. Plutarch (De Cohibenda Ira, 9) relates that on his journey he was driven by a storm to Cyrene, and fell into the hands of its king Magas, whom he had formerly satirized. Magas treated him with contempt, and finally dismissed him with a present of toys. Various accounts of his death are given; a violent outburst of laughter, excess of joy at a dramatic victory, or a peaceful end while engaged in composing his last work (Apuleius, Florida, 16; Lucian, Macrob. 25; Plutarch, An Seni, p. 725). Of the ninety-seven plays which he is said to have composed, the titles of fifty-seven and considerable fragments have been preserved. Some of these may have been the work of his son, the younger Philemon, who is said to have composed fifty-four comedies. The Merchant and The Treasure of Philemon were the originals respectively of the Mercator and Trinummus of Plautus. The fragments preserved by Stobaeus, Athenaeus and other writers contain much wit and good sense. Quintilian (Instit x. 1, 72) assigned the second place among the poets of the New Comedy to Philemon, and Apuleius, who had a high opinion of him, has drawn a comparison between him and Menander.