Menander - Birth:
Menander was born in about 342 B.C. in Athens. Menander's father was the general Diopeithes.
Menander - Training:
Menander learned philosophy from Theophrastus, the successor of Aristotle at the Lyceum and a philosopher known for his "characters".
Menander - Plays:
Menander wrote over a hundred plays, his first at age 22. Eight of Menander's comedies were prize-winners. Menander is thought to have imitated Euripides and was in turn adapted by Roman writers of comedy, Terence and Plautus. Unlike the classical writers who wrote mythical plots or political commentary, Menander, a Hellenistic Greek, chose as topics for his plays aspects of daily life. His characters were stern fathers, young lovers, crafty slaves, and more.
Menander - Survival:
One play by Menander was discovered in 1957. It is the Dyskolos, which won a prize in the Dionysia in 315. In addition, a few fragments of other comedies have survived, as well as traces in the comedy of Terence and Plautus.
Menander - Death:
In about 292 Menander died, supposedly by drowning in the Piraeus.
