Carcinus (writer)

Template:Short description Template:About Carcinus (Template:Langx) was an Ancient Greek tragedian from Thoricus, the son of the playwright Xenocles and grandson of Carcinus.<ref name=BNP>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> Another Xenocles, mentioned by a scholiast on Aristophanes' Frogs, may have been Carcinus' son.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The Suda records that he wrote one hundred and sixty plays. He won eleven victories at the Dionysia.<ref name=OCD>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> His exact dates are uncertain, though he was certainly active in the 370s BC. According to the Suda, his floruit was in the 100th Olympiad (380–377 BC);<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and his first victory at the Dionysia can be dated to before 372.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Dionysius II of Syracuse was a patron of Carcinus.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Nine or ten titles of his plays are known: Aerope, Ajax, Alope, Amphiaraus, Medea, Oedipus, Orestes, Semele, Thyestes, and possibly Tyro.<ref name=OCD/> His work survives only in fragments.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Carcinus is mentioned briefly by Aristotle. In the Poetics, Chapter 17 (1455a lines 22 to 29), Aristotle discusses the necessity for a playwright to see the composition on the stage, rather than just in print, in order to weed out any inconsistencies. Aristotle points to an unnamed play of Carcinus which had a character, Amphiaraus, exit a temple. For some reason this seemed outrageously inconsistent when viewed on the stage, and the audience "hissed" the actors right off the stage.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 2004, Annie Bélis published a fragment of a musical papyrus written by Carcinus that contains parts of his Medea (Louvre E 10534). It was identified thanks to a quote by Aristotle. It contains two arias, one by Medea and one by Jason. In this version, Medea did not kill her children, but is unable to prove it.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

References

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