Epicharmus of Kos (c.550–c.460 BCE,) fully Epicharmus Comicus Syracusanus, was an ancient Greek dramatist and philosopher, credited as one of the first comedic writers and a pioneer of Doric comedy. His works blended satire, mythological burlesque, and philosophy, shaping Greek comedy.
Born in Astypalea, Kos, he moved to Sicily as a child, raised in the Asclepiad tradition before following Pythagoras. In Syracuse, he served as a poet for tyrants Gelo and Hiero I, creating plays combining myth, ethics, and social commentary.
Epicharmus authored over 50 plays, though only fragments remain. Notable works include The Marriage of Hebe, The Muses, The Logicians, and The Land and the Sea. Aristotle credited him with inventing comic plots.
His philosophy promoted virtue, self-improvement, and knowledge, teaching that heredity could be overcome through moral exercise. Plato called him “the prince of Comedy,” alongside Homer as “the prince of Tragedy.”
David Konstan’s Epicharmus and Early Greek Comedy (1983) explores his comedic influence, while Franco Montanari’s Philosophy and Rhetoric in Epicharmus (1995) examines his philosophical themes.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Epicharmus of Kos
The gods sell to us all the goods which they give us.
—Epicharmus of Kos
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