Testimonia (test. 39)

81

But when evil-doing advanced, the wealthy and the office-holders, being
unwilling to be made fun of in comedy, prevented this from happening openly
and ordered (that it be done) in a riddling fashion. And then in fact they
actually prevented this, and (the poets) began to direct their mockery against
foreigners and beggars, and no longer against the rich and well-known. The
best craftsman of the first (variety of) comedy is the Aristophanes mentioned
earlier, along with Eupolis; of the second Plato; and of the third Menander
c. Anon, περί Κωμωδίας (An. Par. Cramer I p. 4.12-18 = Proleg. de com.
XIIb.33-8, p. 40 Koster)
τρεις διαφοράς έδοξεν έχειν ή κωμωδία· ή μέν γάρ καλείται παλαιά ή έξ
αρχής φανερώς έλέγχουσα· ή δέ μέση ή αίνιγματωδώς· ή δέ νέα ή επί ξένων
ή δούλων ή πτωχών, ώς ε’ίρηται. γέγονε δέ τής μέν πρώτης κωμωδίας άριστος
τεχνίτης ούτός τε ό Αριστοφάνης καί Ευπολις καί Κρατϊνος· τής δέ δευτέρας
Πλάτων· τής δέ νέας Μένανδρος
Comedy apparently had three varieties, for there is one variety called “Old”
that offered open criticism from the beginning; and the Middle variety that
(criticized) in a riddling fashion; and the New variety that was directed
against foreigners, slaves or beggars, as has been noted. The best craftsman
of the first (variety of) comedy is the Aristophanes mentioned earlier, along
with Eupolis and Cratinus; of the second, Plato; and of the New, Menander
Citation context Portions of three different histories of the comic genre—the
second far and away the shortest—offering overlapping versions of the same
material as reworked by different Byzantine scholars.
Interpretation See test. 35 n. None of these passages suggest direct knowl-
edge of Eupolis’ comedies.

test. 39 K.-A. (= test, xxx.c Storey)
= Cratin. test. 23 = Ar. test. 85
Tzetzes, Scholia onLycophron, Prolegomenon 66-9 (p. 3.8-11 Scheer = Proleg.
de com. XXIIb.39-41, p. 113 Koster)
κωμωδοί πραττόμενοί είσιν ούτοι οίοι Αριστοφάνης, Κρατϊνος, Πλάτων (test.
15), Ευπολις, Φερεκράτης (test. 8) καί έτεροι, νέοι Μένανδρος (test. 150),
Φιλήμων (test. 31), Φιλιστίων καί πλήθος πολύ
Comic poets who are the object of study are these: e. g. Aristophanes, Cratinus,
Plato (test. 15), Eupolis, Pherecrates (test. 8) and others; New poets Menander
(test. 150), Philemon (test. 31), Philistion and an enormous host (of others)