Eubu'lus(Εὔβουλος), an Athenian, the son
of Euphranor, of the Cettian demus, was a very distinguished comic poet of the middle comedy,
flourished, according to Suidas (s. v.), in the 101st Olympiad, B. C. 376/5. If this date be correct (and it is confirmed by the
statement that Philip, the son of Aristophanes, was one of his rivals), Eubulus must have
exhibited comedies for a long series of years; for he ridiculed Callimedon, the contemporary
of Demosthenes. (Athen. 8.340d.) It is clear, therefore, that
Suidas is wrong in placing Eubulus on the confines of the Old and the Middle Comedy. He is
expressly assigned by the author of the
Etymologicon Magnum (p. 451. 30) and by
Ammonius (
s. v. *e)/ndon) to the Middle Comedy, the duration of which
begins very little before him, and extends to a period very little, if at all, after him.
Works
His plays were chiefly on mythological subjects. Several of them contained parodies of
passages from the tragic poets, and especially from Euripides. There are a few instances of
his attacking eminent individuals by name, as Philocrates, Cydias, Callimedon, Dionysius the
tyrant of Syracuse, and Callistratus. He sometimes ridicules classes of persons,
as the Thebans in his
Ἀντιόπη.
His language is simple, elegant, and generally pure, containing, few words which are not
found in writers of the best period. Like Antiphanes, he was extensively pillaged by later
poets, as, for example, by Alexis, Ophelion, and Ephippus.
Titles
Suidas gives the number of the plays of Eubulus at 104, of which there are extant more
than 50 titles, namely: ἈγκυλίωνἈγχίσηςἈμάλθειαἈνασωζωζόμενοιἈντιόπηἌστυτοιΑὔγηΒελλεροφόντηςΓανυμήδηςΓλαῦκος ΔαίδαλοςΔαμαλίας is a corrupt title (Suid. s. v.
Ἀσκωλιάζειν), for which Meineke would read ΔαμασίαςΔευκαλιωνΔιονύσιος, in which he appears to have
ridiculed the confusion which prevailed in all the arrangements of the palace of Dionysius
Schol. ad Aristoph. Thesm. 136Διόνυσος, or, according to the fuller
titleAthen. 11.460e.Σεμέλη ἢ ΔιόνυσοςΔόλωνΕἰρήνη Εὐρψ́πηἨχὼἸξίωνἼων, ΚαλαθηφόροιΚαμπυλίων (doubtful)Κατακολλώμενυς (doubtful)ΚερκῶπεςΚλεψύδραΚορυδαλόςΚυβευταίΛάκωνες ἢ ἼδαΜήδειαΜυλωθρίςΜυσοίΝάννιονΝαυσικάαΝεοττίςΞοῦθοςὈδυσσεύς ἢ ΠαρνόπταιΟἰδίπουςΟἰνόμαος ἢ ΠέλοψὈλβίαὈρθάνηςΠάμφιλοςΠαννυχίαςΠαρμενίσκοςΠλαγγώνΠορνοβοσκόςΠροκρίς Προσουσίαἢ ΚύκνοςΣτεφανοπώλιδεςΣφιγγοκαρίωνΤιτθαίΤιτᾶνες, ΦοίνιξΧάριτεςΧρυσιλλαΨάλτρια.
Edition
Meineke, Frag. Com. Graec. vol. i. pp. 355-367, vol. iii. pp.
203-272.
Further Information
Clinton, Fast. Hell. sub ann. B. C. 375;
Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. iv. pp. 442-444.
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