Crates (comic poet) facts for kids

Crates was a famous ancient Greek writer of funny plays, called comedies. He lived in Athens, a big city in Greece, a long, long time ago. He was one of the first poets to write plays that told a complete story, instead of just making fun of people.

Crates won first prize three times at a big festival in Athens called the City Dionysia. This festival was a huge event where people showed off their plays. His first win was probably around 450 BC. It seems his career as a playwright ended by 424 BC. Another famous Greek playwright, Aristophanes, even mentioned Crates in one of his plays, The Knights, as someone from the past. Before Crates started writing his own plays, he was an actor for another playwright named Cratinus.

What Made Crates' Plays Special?

The famous Greek thinker Aristotle wrote in his book Poetics that Crates was the first comic poet to create plays with full, proper stories. Before Crates, many comedies were mostly about making fun of specific people or current events. But Crates focused on telling a story with a beginning, middle, and end.

This means Crates' style of comedy was quite different from plays by writers like Aristophanes, whose works often talked about politics and news of the day. By the end of the 4th century BC, Crates' style of storytelling comedy became very popular.

Crates' Plays and Fragments

Today, we have about sixty small pieces, or "fragments," of Crates' plays. These are like tiny clues that help us understand his work. Some ancient sources say he wrote seven plays, while others say eight.

We know the titles of eleven plays that are believed to be by Crates:

Sometimes, it's a bit tricky to be sure about these titles. For example, the play Feasts might actually be a play by a different writer named Plato Comicus. Also, Men in Chains might be confused with a play by Callias, or even with Crates' own play Games. The play Politicians is only mentioned in one small fragment, so it might be a mistake for Heroes or Neighbours.

Another play, Metics, is only known from one small piece of writing. Other playwrights like Pherecrates and Plato Comicus also wrote plays with the same name, so it's hard to know if they are all different plays or if there's some confusion.

See also

In Spanish: Crates (comediógrafo) para niños