Alexis

Alexis (Ancient Greek:polytonic|Ἄλεξις, c. 375 BC – c. 275 BC) was a Greek comic poet of the Middle Comedy, born at Thurii and taken early to Athens, ["Suda" "s.v." polytonic|Ἄλεξις] where he became a citizen, of the deme "Oion" (polytonic|Οἶον), and the tribe Leontides. [Stephanus of Byzantium, "s.v." polytonic|Ἄλεξις] cite encyclopedia | last = Greenhill | first = William Alexander | authorlink = | title = Alexis (1) | editor = William Smith | encyclopedia = Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology | volume = 1 | pages = 128-129 | publisher = Little, Brown and Company | location = Boston | year = 1867 | url = http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;idno=acl3129.0001.001;q1=demosthenes;size=l;frm=frameset;seq=143]

He won his first Lenaean victory in the 350s BC, most likely, where he was sixth after Eubulus, and fourth after Antiphanes.

Plutarch says that he lived to the age of 106, and that he died on the stage while being crowned. [Plutarch, "Defect. Orac." p. 420 e] According to the "Suda", he wrote 245 comedies, of which some 130 titles are preserved. Only fragments of any of the plays have survived - about 340 in all, totaling about 1,000 lines. They attest to the wit and refinement of the author. [Theodor Kock, "Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta"] The "Suda" also calls him Zoe's uncle, but an anonymous tractate on comedy more plausibly states that Menander was his pupil. Alexis was known in Roman times; Aulus Gellius noted that Alexis' poetry was used by Roman comedians, including Turpilius and possibly Plautus.

References

Other sources

*Arnott, W. Geoffrey. Alexis: The Fragments. A Commentary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.