Testimonia (test. 2)

27

Since I mentioned this comic author and I know that his play Tereus was
not among those awarded first place, I will set out for your judgement, my
friends, the things that Chamaeleon the Herakleote has said about him in the
sixth book of his On Comedy, writing as follows (fr. 43). ‘Anaxandrides, once
when he was producing a dithyramb at Athens, entered on horseback and
recited something from the song. In appearance he was handsome and tall
and grew his hair long and wore a purple robe with a golden border. Since
he was spiteful in character, he did some such thing (as follows) concerning
his comedies. When he did not win, he took (the play) and gave it to the
frankincense-market (for the people there) to cut up and he did not revise
it as most do. And so he destroyed many clever plays, being peeved at the
audience because of his old age.’ In nationality, he is said to have been a
Rhodian from Kameiros. Therefore I am amazed that both Tereus, although it
did not receive a victory, was preserved and his other plays which are similar
to it [i. e. in not winning].
Citation Context Athenaeus cites this excerpt from Chamaeleon (fr. 43) as
a short digression immediately after quoting Anaxandr. fr. 48 (see ad loc.\
Interpretation The source for this story is presumably the same as that for
the biographical information given in test. 1; see ad loc. But the ultimate source
is most likely a comedy by a rival of Anaxandrides, or perhaps one of his own
comedies or a conflation of the two. The story says little about the historical
Anaxandrides, but offers insight into the sorts of claims made by one comic
poet about another or by a comic poet about his audience. As such, it provides
important evidence that abuse of comic rivals and assertions of originality and
an insufficiently appreciative audience, all familiar from fifth-century com-
edy, continued to be made by comic poets at least through the middle of the
fourth century BC. The story has been taken seriously by a number of modern
scholars (e. g. Gataker 1659. 77; Koraes 1822 on Arist. EN 7.1152a; Bergk 1872
1.251 n. 163), who connected it with Anaxandrides’ apparent criticism of the
Athenians in fr. 66 (see ad loc.\ which modern readers have tended to view as
a result of Anaxandrides’ failure to win in a dramatic competition.
Discussion Meineke 1839 1.368, 373-4; Meineke 1857 V. clxxix; Bergk 1872
1.251 n. 163; 1883 11.534; 1884 III.56; Sutton 1989. 90 (#50)