Antiphanes
(Ἀντιφάνης), of Argos, a sculptor, the disciple of Pericleitus, and teacher of Cleon. Since Cleon flourished B. C. 380, Antiphanes may be placed at 400 B. C. Pausanias mentions several of his works, which were at Delphi, especially a horse in bronze. (Paus. 5.17, 10.9.) [P.S]
(Ἀντιφάνης), of Berga in Thrace, a Greek writer on marvellous and incredible things. (Ἄπιστα, Scymnius Chius, 657, &c.) From the manner in which he is mentioned by Strabo (i. p.47, ii. pp. 102, 104; comp. Plb. 33.12), it would seem that he wrote his stories with a view that they should be believed as history, and that consequently he was an impostor. It was owing to Antiphanes that the verb βεργαΐζειν was used in the sense of telling stories. (Steph. Byz. s. v. Βέργη, who however confounds our Antiphanes with the comic writer of Rhodes; comp. Clem. Al. Strom. i. p. 133; Phot. Bibl. 166.) Most writers agree in believing, that Antiphanes of Berga is the same as the Antiphanes who wrote a work on courtezans (περὶ ἑταιρῶν), and whom some writers call Antiphanes the Younger. (Athen. 13.586; Harpocrat. s. vv. Νάννιον, Ἀντίκυρα; Suid. s. v. Νάνιον.) [L.S]
(Ἀντιφάνης), a Comic poet, the earliest and one of the most celebrated Athenian poets of the middle comedy, was born, according to Suidas (s. v.), in the 93rd Olympiad, and died in the 112th, at the age of 74. But Athenaeus (iv. p. 156,c.) quotes a fragment in which Antiphanes mentions " King Seleucus," and Seleucus was not king till Ol. 118. 2. The true explanation of the difficulty is in all probability that suggested by Clinton, namely, that in this instance, as in others, Antiphanes has been confounded with Alexis, and that the fragment in Athenaeus belongs to the latter poet. (Clinton, in the Philological Museum, i. p. 607; Meineke, Frag. Com. i. pp. 304-7.) The above dates are given us in Olympiads, without the exact years being specified, but we may safely place the life of Antiphanes between 404 and 330 B. C., and his first exhibition about B. C. 383.
The parentage and birthplace of Antiphanes are doubtful. His father's name was Demophanes, or Stephanus, probably the latter, since he had a son named Stephanus, in accordance with the Athenian custom of naming a child after his grandfather. As his birthplace are mentioned Cios on the Hellespont, Smyrna, Rhodes, and Larissa; but the last statement deserves little credit. (Meineke, 1.308.) Works
Antiphanes was the most highly esteemed writer of the middle comedy, excepting Alexis, who shared that honour with him. The fragments which remain prove that Athenaeus was right in praising him for the elegance of his language (Meineke, i. pp. 27, 156, 168), though he uses some words and phrases which are not found in older writers. (See for examples Meineke, i. p.309.) He was one of the most fertile dramatic authors that ever lived, for his plays amounted, on the largest computation, to 365, on the least to 260. We still possess the titles of about 130. It is probable, however, that some of the comedies ascribed to him were by other writers, for the grammarians frequently confound him, not only, as remarked above, with Alexis, but also with Antiphon, Apollophanes, Antisthenes, and Aristophanes. Some of his plays were on mythological subjects, others had reference to particular persons, others to characters, personal, professional, and national, while others seem to have been wholly occupied with the intrigues of private life. In these classes of subjects we see, as in all the comedians of the period, the gradual transition of the middle comedy into the new.
He gained the prize 30 times. Editions
The fragments of Antiphanes are collected by Clinton (Philol. Mus. l.c.), and more fully by Meineke (Frag. Comic. vol. iii.). Other authors named Antiphanes Antiaphanes of Berge
Another Antiphanes, of Berge in Thrace, is mentioned by Stephanus Byzantinus as a comic poet (s. v. Βέργη); but this was the writer cited by Strabo (p. 102) and Antonius Diogenes (apud Phot. Cod. 166, p. 112, Bekker), as the author of marvellous stories respecting distant countries: he is spoken of in the preceding article. Another Athenian Comic Poet later than Panaetius
Suidas mentions " another Antiphanes, an Athenian comic poet, later than Panaetius," who is mentioned by no other writer, unless he be the Antiphanes who wrote a work Περὶ Ἑταιρῶν. (Suidas, s. v. Νάνιον; Athen. 13.586.) Antiphanes Carystius
Antiphanes Carystius, who is called by Eudocia (p. 61) a comic poet, was really a tragedian, contemporary with Thespis. (Suidas, s. v.) [P.S]
(Ἀντιφάνης), an Epigrammatic poet, several of whose epigrams are still extant in the Greek anthology. He lived after the time of Meleager (i.e. after B. C. 100), but before the time of Philip of Thessalonica, that is, about the reign of Augustus; for Philip incorporated the epigrams of Antiphanes in his Anthology, by which means they have come down to our times. (Jacobs, ad Anthol. Graec. xiii. p. 850, &c.) [L.S]
(Ἀντιφάνης), a Physician of Delos, who is quoted by Caelius Aurelianus (De Morb. Chron. 4.8, p. 537), and Galen (De Compos. Medicam. sec. Locos, 5.5, vol. xii. p. 877), and must therefore have lived some time in or before the second century after Christ. He is mentioned by St. Clement of Alexandria (Paedag. 2.1, p. 140) as having said, that the sole cause of diseases in man was the too great variety of his food. [W.A.G]
(Ἀντιφάνης). (1) A comic poet of Rhodes, Smyrna, or Carystus, born B.C. 408, of parents in the low condition of slaves. This most prolific writer (he is said to have composed upwards of three hundred dramas), notwithstanding the meanness of his origin, was so popular in Athens that on his decease a decree was passed to remove his remains from Chios to that city, where they were interred with public honours (Suidas, s. v.).
(2) A statuary of Argos, the pupil of Pericletus, one of those who had studied under Polycletus. He flourished about B.C. 400. Several works of this artist are mentioned by Pausanias (x. 9). He formed statues of the Dioscuri and other heroes; and he made also a brazen horse, in imitation of the horse said to have been constructed by the Greeks before Troy. The inhabitants of Argos sent it as a present to Delphi.
(3) A poet of Macedonia, nine of whose epigrams are preserved in the Anthology. He flourished between B.C. 100 and the reign of Augustus.
- Paus. 5.17.4, Paus. 10.9.6, 8, 12
- Paus. 8.48.1