CRATINUS

Form: Kratinos

was, with Eupolis and Aristophanes, a chief representative of the Old Comedy at Athens. He was born in 520 B.C., and died in 423, thus flourishing in the age of Pericles,, who was the special object of his attacks. He wrote twenty-one pieces, and gained the prize nine times. The last occasion on which he was victor was shortly before his death, and the defeated comedy was The Clouds of Aristophanes. Cratinus' play was the Pytine or "Wineflask," in which the poet courted the ridicule of the public by confessing himself a hard drinker. His wit was brilliant, but more caustic than humorous. He may be regarded as the founder of political comedy. Only the titles and a few fragments of his plays have survived