Cratinus (redirected from Kratinos)

Cratinus (krətī`nəs), d. c.419 B.C., Athenian comic dramatist. He won the prize at the Athenian drama contest when Aristophanes competed with The Clouds and was regarded with Aristophanes and Eupolis as one of the greatest comic dramatists. He attacked Pericles violently in his plays. Fragments of his plays survive.

Bibliography

See R. Rosen, Old Comedy and the Iambographic Tradition (1988).

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Cratinus 

Born circa 420 B.C., birthplace unknown. Greek writer of comedies.

One of the outstanding representatives of the Attic comic tradition, Cratinus was the first to endow comedy with a harmonious artistic form. His comedies were directed against the leaders of the Athenian slaveholding democracy. Only fragments have been preserved. Cratinus wrote at least 27 comedies, of which several have been dated: Caught in the Tempest (425), The Satyrs (424), and The Bottle (423).

WORKS

Edmonds, J. M. The Fragments of Attic Comedy, vol. 1. Leiden, 1957. REFERENCES Korte, A. “Kratinos.” In Paulys-Wissowa Realencyclopddie der Altertumswissenschaft, vol. 11 (2). Stuttgart, 1922. Columns 1647–54.