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{{Short description|Athenian Old Comedy poet (519–422 BC)}}
{{For|the fish genus|Cratinus (fish)}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=June 2022}}

'''Cratinus''' ({{langx|grc|Κρατῖνος}}; {{Circa}} 519 BC – {{Circa}} 422 BC) was an [[Athenian]] comic [[poet]] of the [[Ancient greek comedy#Old Comedy|Old Comedy]].

==Life==
Cratinus won prizes for his plays on 27 known occasions, eight<ref>Erich Segal (2003), ''The Death of Comedy'', p. 37</ref> times at the [[Dionysia|City Dionysia]], first probably in the mid-to-late 450s BCE (IG II2 2325. 50), and three times at the [[Lenaia]], first probably in the early 430s (IG II2 2325. 121; just before [[Pherecrates]] and [[Hermippus]]). He was still competing in 423 BC, when his ''Pytine'' took the prize at the City Dionysia; he died shortly thereafter, at a very advanced age, about 97 years (test. 3).

Little is known of his personal history. His father's name was Callimedes, and he himself was a [[taxiarch]]. The ''[[Suda]]'' accuses Cratinus of immorality, excessive cowardice, and habitual intemperance. His contemporaries offer no corroboration, except for the third charge, which is sustained by many passages of [[Aristophanes]] and other writers. They also refer the "Confession of Cratinus", which Cratinus himself seems to have treated the subject in a very amusing way, especially in his ''Pytine''.

That he was related to the 4th-century comic poet [[Cratinus Junior]] is a reasonable hypothesis but cannot be proven.

==Works==
Cratinus was regarded as one of the three great masters of Athenian [[Ancient greek comedy#Old Comedy (archàia)|Old Comedy]] (the others being [[Aristophanes]] and [[Eupolis]]). Although his poetry is several times described as relatively graceless, harsh, and crudely abusive (test. 17; 19), his plays continued to be read and studied in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. He wrote 21 comedies.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}} They were chiefly distinguished by their direct and vigorous political satire.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=381}} 514 fragments (including ten dubia) of his comedies survive, along with 29 titles. His most famous play is the ''Pytine''.

===''Pytine''===
The ''Pytine'' (The Wineflask) was Cratinus' most famous play. A grammarian describes the background of the play as follows: In 424 BC, [[Aristophanes]] produced ''[[The Knights]]'', in which he described Cratinus "as a drivelling old man,  wandering about with his crown withered, and so utterly neglected by his former admirers that he could not even procure to quench the thirst of which he was perishing"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;idno=acl3129.0001.001;q1=Cratinus;size=l;frm=frameset;seq=901 |title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood |publisher=Quod.lib.umich.edu |date= |accessdate=2021-03-12}}</ref><ref>Ar. Eq. 526-536: "Next, remembering Cratinus, who formerly having flowed with a full stream of praise used to flow through the level plains, and carrying away from their places, used to bear away the oaks and the plane-trees, and his enemies by the roots. And it was not permitted to sing any thing at a banquet except " Oh fig-sandaled Doro," and " builders of ingenious songs;" so much did he flourish. But now, when you see him in his dotage, you do not pity him, since the pegs fall out, and the tone is no longer there, and the harmony is dissonant. But old as he is, he wanders about like Connas, having, it is true, a withered chaplet, but dying with thirst ; who ought to drink in the Prytaneum on account of his former victories..."</ref> Soon after that play, Cratinus responded by producing a play called ''Pytine'' (The Wineflask) in 423 BC, which defeated the ''Connus'' of [[Ameipsias]] and ''[[The Clouds]]'' of Aristophanes, which was produced in the same year.<ref>Aristoph. ad Equit. 528: "After Cratinus had heard these things (the taunts by Aristophanes), he wrote the Pytine, to show, that he did not blather about these things, which speak ill of Aristophanes, just like the things, which speak ill of Eupolis."</ref>

===Other plays===
In Grenfell and Hunt's ''Oxyrhynchus Papyri'', iv. (1904), containing a further instalment of their edition of the ''Behnesa papyri'' discovered by them in 1896–1897, one of the greatest curiosities is a scrap of paper bearing the argument of a play by Cratinus, the ''Dionysalexandros'' (i.e. [[Dionysus]] in the part of [[Paris (mythology)|Paris]]), aimed against [[Pericles]]; and the [[epitome]] reveals something of its wit and point.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=382}} Other plays of Cratinus include

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
*''Archilochoi'' ("The Archilochuses") (c. 448 BC)
*''Boukoloi'' ("The Cow-Herds")
*''Bousiris'' ("[[Busiris (Greek mythology)|Busiris]]")
*''Deliades'' ("Women From Delos")
*''Didaskaliai'' ("The Rehearsals")
*''Drapetides'' ("Female Runaways")
*''Empipramenoi'' ("Men On Fire") or ''Idaioi'' ("The Idaeans")
*''Euneidai'' ("Children of Euneus")
*''Thrattai'' ("Women From Thrace")
*''Kleoboulinai'' ("The Cleobulines")
*''Lakones'' ("The Laconians")
*''Malthakoi'' ("The Soft Ones")
*''Nemesis'' ("[[Nemesis (mythology)|Nemesis]]")
*''Nomoi'' ("The Laws")
*''Odysseis'' ("The Odysseuses")
*''Panoptai'' ("The All-Seers")
*''Ploutoi'' ("The Gods of Wealth")
*''Pylaia'' ("The Meeting At [[Pylae]]")
*''Satyroi'' ("Satyrs"), won 2nd prize at the Lenaea of 424 BC<ref>''[[The Knights|Knights]]'', Introduction</ref>
*''Seriphioi'' ("Men From [[Serifos|Seriphus]]")
*''Trophonios'' ("[[Trophonius]]")
*''Cheimazomenoi'' ("Storm-Tossed Men"), won 2nd prize at Lenaea of 425 BC<ref>''[[Acharnians]]'', Introduction</ref>
*''Cheirones'' ("The Chirons")
*''Horai'' ("The Hours")
{{div col end}}

462 fragments of Cratinus survive.

==Style==
The style of Cratinus has been likened to that of [[Aeschylus]]. He appears to have been fond of lofty diction and bold figures, and was most successful in the lyrical parts of his dramas, his choruses being the popular festal songs of his day. According to the statement of a doubtful authority, not borne out by [[Aristotle]], Cratinus increased the number of actors in comedy to three.

==Standard edition==

The standard edition of the fragments and testimonia is in [[Rudolf Kassel]] and [[Colin François Lloyd Austin]]'s ''Poetae Comici Graeci'' Vol. IV. The eight-volume ''Poetae Comici Graeci'' produced from 1983 to 2001 replaces the outdated collections {{interlanguage link|Fragmenta Comicorum Graecorum|lt=''Fragmenta comicorum graecorum''|de||fr}} by [[August Meineke]] (1839-1857), ''Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta'' by [[Theodor Kock]] (1880-1888) and ''Comicorum Graecorum Fragmenta'' by [[Georg Kaibel]] (1899).

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Meineke, Frag. Com. Grace, i. pp.&nbsp;43–58, ii. pp.&nbsp;13–232.
*Bergk, Comment, de Rdiq. Com. Alt. Ant.
*Kock, Com. Attic. Frag., i. pp.&nbsp;11–130.

==External links==
{{wikisource|works=or}}
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Cratinus|volume=7|pages=381–382}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090625034018/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0895.html Ancient Library]}}
* [https://archive.org/stream/p1fragmentacomic02meinuoft#page/15/mode/1up Fragmenta Comicorum Graecorum (ed. Meineke)]
* [https://archive.org/stream/comicorumatticor01kockuoft#page/11/mode/1up Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta (ed. Kock)]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:510s BC births]]
[[Category:420s BC deaths]]
[[Category:Ancient Athenian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:5th-century BC Athenians]]
[[Category:5th-century BC Greek poets]]
[[Category:Old Comic poets]]