Anthos (play)

Anthos
Written byAgathon
Date premiered5th century BCE
Place premieredAthens
Original languageAncient Greek
GenreAthenian tragedy

Anthos or Antheus (Flower) is a play by the 5th century BCE Athenian dramatist Agathon. The play has been lost. The play is mentioned by Aristotle in his Poetics (1451b) as an example of a tragedy with a plot which gives pleasure despite the incidents and characters being entirely made up.[1][2] Anthos is the only known Greek tragedy play whose plot was entirely invented by the poet.[3] Other 5th century tragedies were based on myth, or less frequently on actual history.[3]

  1. ^ Aristotle (2000). "Poetics". Classical Literary Criticism. Translated by Dorsch, T.S. Penguin Classics. p. 69. ISBN 9780140446517.
  2. ^ Wright, W.C.F. (1907). A short history of Greek literature from Homer to Julian. University of California. p. 269.
  3. ^ a b Austin, N. (2011). Sophocles' Philoctetes and the Great Soul Robbery. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 25. ISBN 9780299282745.