Autocrates
Who was Autocrates?
Athenian poet of Old Comedy and tragic poet
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Autocrates (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Autocrates (Ancient Greek: Αὐτοκράτης) was an Athenian poet who wrote both comedies and tragedies during Classical Athens, around the late fifth and early fourth centuries BCE. He's considered part of Old Comedy, a form of Athenian theatrical comedy that thrived from about 450 BCE until the end of the Peloponnesian War and into the early fourth century. Old Comedy featured sharp political satire, elaborate choral elements, and unrestrained mockery of public figures, gods, and social institutions. Autocrates wrote in this vein along with better-known writers like Aristophanes and Eupolis.
The main ancient sources that mention Autocrates are the Suda, a Byzantine encyclopedia, and the works of Aelian, a Roman author from the second and third centuries CE. At least one of his comedies is noted in these texts, but no large fragments of his comedy have survived today. Because of the lack of surviving material, we know little about the themes, titles, and content of his plays beyond these brief mentions. However, his work was known well enough to be listed and cited in later antiquity, indicating he was recognized in Athenian comic poetry.
Alongside his comedic work, Autocrates also wrote tragedies, making him one of the ancient Greek poets who worked in both dramatic styles. While writing tragedies and comedies was generally seen as separate activities in Classical Athens, some poets crossed over between them, and Autocrates seems to have been one of those. Like his comedies, his tragedies haven't survived in any significant form, and details about them, such as their number, titles, or how they were received, are unknown.
Scholars have pointed out that an Autocrates quoted by Athenaeus in "The Deipnosophistae" appears to be a different person from the comic and tragic poet. It's important not to mix these two up when looking at ancient records, as they might have been active in different areas or at different times. The available evidence doesn't support calling them the same person. Confusion between similarly named ancient figures is a common issue in classical studies.
Before Fame
Autocrates was born in Athens, the clear hub of theatrical culture in Greece during the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. Growing up there meant being exposed early on to dramatic festivals, especially the City Dionysia and the Lenaia, where tragedies, comedies, and satyr plays were a key part of civic and religious life. These festivals weren't just entertainment; they were major social events where thousands of citizens gathered and dramatists competed for public recognition and prizes.
The road to success for a comic or tragic poet in Classical Athens went through these festivals. Poets had to submit works for selection by archons and secure funding from wealthy citizens known as choregoi, who sponsored productions. For Autocrates, like any other Athenian dramatist of the time, winning a spot in these competitions was crucial for achieving professional status and sharing his work with a large audience. Athens during this era, with its mix of philosophy, rhetoric, and dramatic art, provided the environment in which his career unfolded.
Key Achievements
- Recognized as a poet of Old Comedy in Classical Athens and recorded as such in the Suda.
- Composed tragedies in addition to comedies, demonstrating range across the two principal dramatic genres of ancient Athens.
- Sufficiently notable in antiquity to be mentioned by both the Suda and Aelian in their respective works.
- Maintained a distinct identity in the ancient record, with scholars differentiating him from a separate Autocrates cited by Athenaeus.
Did You Know?
- 01.Autocrates is one of the few ancient Athenian poets documented as having written in both Old Comedy and tragedy, two genres that demanded very different stylistic and structural approaches.
- 02.His work is preserved only as a bare mention in the Suda and in Aelian, meaning not a single complete line of his comedy or tragedy has survived to the modern era.
- 03.A separate figure named Autocrates is quoted by Athenaeus in the Deipnosophistae, and ancient scholarship has concluded this was a distinct person rather than the same comic and tragic poet.
- 04.Old Comedy, the genre in which Autocrates worked, was so politically charged that it frequently lampooned living Athenian politicians and generals by name, a practice largely absent from later Middle and New Comedy.
- 05.The Lenaia festival, one of the main venues for Athenian comedy, was held in winter and drew a predominantly local Athenian audience, as opposed to the more internationally attended City Dionysia.