138

Timokles

On the other hand, the surviving fragments of fourth-century satyr plays do
not constitute a sufficient sample of the shape and content of the particular genre,
making comparisons with contemporary comedy very difficult. Python’s Agen
(324 BC), the first known satyr play to draw its plot from contemporary politics,
is probably not a representative example, since it was staged under special cir-
cumstances and is mentioned as a σατυρικόν δραμάτιον (short satyr play) in Ath.
13.596d, while Lycophrons Menedemos (dated to the early third century) does not
have the same sharpness.
More significantly, all surviving fragments of Ikarioi Satyroi include pointed
personal satire of known personalities and politicians of the moment. Some of
these politicians are also satirized in other plays by Timocles: Hyperides in Delos,
Aristomedes in Heroes, Telemachus in Lethe and in Dionysos. Timocles’ satire re-
sembles that of Old Comedy in many points: e. g. Hyperides’ description brings to
mind the satire of Cleon in Aristophanes’ Knights; cf. also the vulgarity of the jokes
in fr. 18 (βδέων, έπέρδετο, and the “ass” Cephisodorus). Also typical of Timocles’
comedy is the association of contemporary personalities with legendary figures
in fr. 19 (Autocles-Marsyas and Tereus-Aristomedes; cf. Demosthenes-Briareos
in fr. 12 and Autocleides-Orestes in fr. 27). The courtesan Pythionice, satirized in
fr. 16 in connection with Chaerephilus’ sons, also appears in Antiph. fr. 27 in the
very same way: she is ready to devour the τάριχος, i. e. she has love affairs with
Chaerephilus’ sons. Also, the metres in the surviving fragments (iambic trimeter
in frr. 16 and 17 and trochaic tetrameter in frr. 18 and 19) are more compatible
with comedy than satyr play.* * 158 Moreover, σκόμβροι έν τοϊς σατύροις in Alex. fr.
77 do not seem to allude to a specific satyr play composed by Timocles, but should
rather be taken as an ironical comment; see below, on fr. 15. Finally, concerning
Timocles’ activity, it seems that Athenaeus’ note, that he had written both comedies
and tragedies, is wrong (see above, Commentary on test. 2) and, therefore, it is not
necessary to connect titles of tragedy and satyr play with the comic Timocles. To
sum up, the close examination of the surviving fragments, in combination with
the interpretation of the external indications, seems to support the opinion that
Icarian Satyrs is a comedy, not a satyr play.
Content The title and the surviving fragments indicate a plot including both
mythological elements and satirical attacks on contemporary Athenians, especially
politicians. Frr. 16 and 17 probably belong to the same context. In both a character
is given instructions (in iambic trimeter) for a journey he has to undertake, and is
informed that he has to confront two voracious figures: the courtesan Pythionice

Rooy 1965, 124-202; Constantinides 1969, 49-61; Sutton 1980, 75-85; Storey 2005,
201-218; Bakola 2010, 81-112; Shaw 2010, 1-22.
158 Wilamowitz’s reconstruction of fr. 15 into ionics, a metre appropriate to a satyr drama, is
arbitrary; see below on fr. 15, under Interpretation. Also the metatheatrical apostrophe
in 19.6-7 έπίσχητε, μηδέ συρίξητε, which is comparable with a passage in Sophocles’
Ichneutai (Zagagi 1999, 187-8), is more typical of comedy than satyr play.