Epicharmus (c. 540–450 BC), Greek comic poet, was born in the island of Cos. Early in life he went to Megara in Sicily, and after its destruction by Gelo (484) removed to Syracuse, where he spent the rest of his life at the court of Hiero, and died at the age of ninety or (according to a statement in Lucian, Macrobii, 25) ninety-seven. A brazen statue was set up in his honor by the inhabitants, for which Theocritus composed an inscription (Epigr. 17). Epicharmus was the chief representative of the Sicilian or Dorian comedy. Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 590s BC - 580s BC - 570s BC - 560s BC - 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC Events and Trends 548 BC -- Croesus, Lydian king, defeated by Cyrus. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 500s BC 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC - 450s BC - 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC Years: 455 BC 454 BC 453 BC 452 BC 451 BC - 450 BC - 449 BC 448 BC... The acronym COS may have one of several meanings, the majority having to do with computer operating systems (OSs): Card Operating System (OS, ICC) Cassette Operating System (OS) CoS, or COS, Church of Satan Class of Service Clip-On Socket (CPU) Commercial Operating System (OS, DEC PDP-11) Concurrent Operating... Megara (Greek: Μέγαρα) is an ancient city in Attica, Greece, on the Saronic Gulf opposite the island of Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken by Athens. ... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,700 sq. ... Gelo, son of Deinomenes, was a 5th century BC ruler of Gela and Syracuse. ... Syracuse, Italy Syracuse, New York Syracuse is the name of two major cities in the world. ... Lucian Lucian of Samosata (greek Λουκιανὸς Σαμοσατεύς, latin Lucianus; c. ... Theocritus, the creator of bucolic poetry, flourished in the 3rd century BC. Little is known of him beyond what can be inferred from his writings. ...
He was the son of Elotheles, a physician.
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EPICHARMUS, the son of Helothales, whom Theocritus calls the inventor of Comedy, and who, according to Plato, bore the same relation to Comedy that Homer did to Tragedy, was a native of Cos, and went to Sicily with Cadmus, the son of Scythes, about the year 485 B.C. after residing a short time at Megara.
The comedies of Epicharmus were partly parodies of mythological subjects, and as such, not very different from the dialogue of the satyrical Drama; partly political, and in this respect may have furnished a model for the dialogue of the Athenian Comedy.
Although Epicharmus is mentioned as the inventor of comedy, it is probable that Phormis, or Phormus, preceded him by a few Olympiads; for he was the tutor to the children of Gelon, Hiero's predecessor.
From his short bu invaluable notice we learn that Epicharmus was the son of Elotheles, a physician of Cos, in which island his famous son was born in about 540 B.C., and whence when but three months old he passed with his father to Sicilian Megara.
But as Epicharmus is said to have created the character of the conventional parasite in his Elpis, he was also the founder of the comedy of manners as well as of the burlesque.
As Epicharmus was born about 540 B.C., and lived to be ninety, his death may be placed about 450 B.C., a date which tallies well with a statement respecting an attack made on him by Magnes the Attic comedian, then a young man.
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