Phrynichus

=Phrynichus= **Phrynichus**, son of Polyphradmon and pupil of Thespis, was one of the earliest of the Greek tragedians. Some of the ancients regarded him as the real founder of tragedy. Phrynichus is said to have died in Sicily. He gained his first victory in a drama contest in 511 BC. His famous play, the //Capture of Miletus//, was probably composed shortly after the conquest of that city by the Persians during the Ionian Revolt. Miletus was a colony of Athens and therefore traditionally held especially dear to the mother city. The audience was moved to tears by Phrynichus' tragedy, with the poet being fined "ὡς ὑπομνήσας οἰκεῖα κακά", "for reminding familiar misfortunes". As a result, it was decreed that no play on the subject should be produced again.

In 476 BC Phrynichus was successful with the //Phoenissae//, called after the Phoenician women who formed the chorus. This drama celebrated the defeat of Xerxes I at the Battle of Salamis four years earlier. Themistocles provided the funds as //Choregos// (producer), and one of the objectives of the play was to remind the Athenians of his great deeds. The //Persians// of Aeschylus (472 BC) was an imitation of the //Phoenissae//. Some of the titles of his plays, show that he dealt with mythological as well as contemporary subjects. He introduced a separate actor, as distinct from the leader of the chorus, and thus laid the foundation for theatrical dialogue. But in his plays, as in the early tragedies generally, the dramatic element was subordinate to the lyric element as represented by the chorus and the dance. According to the //Suda//, Phrynichus first introduced female characters on the stage (played by men in masks), and made special use of the trochaic tetrameter.

Aelian (Claudius Aelianus), in his //Varia Historia// says that Phrynichus' martial verses so stirred the people of Sparta, they made him a general, which may reflect some conferred on the poet. Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrynichus_(tragic_poet).

Drawing of Phrynichus and others in Ancient Greece

=Plays= //Capture of Miletus// // Phoenissae // //Danaides// //Actaeon// //Alcestis// //Tantalus//

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