From some points of view, Timocles departs from the norm of his time,
and in particular from near-contemporary comedians such as Alexis,
Eubulus and Antiphanes, and appears to be the most 'Aristophanic' poet
of the fourth century. More specifically, in a period when political
satire seems to have lost its vigor, he employs acerbic attacks against
major and minor Athenian politicians. The fact that at least sixteen of
the forty-two surviving fragments of his poetry contain explicit or
implicit references to politicians can hardly be attributed to chance.
Timocles' inventiveness and versatility are also demonstrated, inter
alia, in his combination of different motifs, his association of
mythical figures with contemporary personalities and his employment of a
figurative language. The present volume follows the principles and
structure of the commentaries of the KomFrag project. It includes an
introduction on Timocles and a detailed examination and commentary of
the testimonies and the surviving fragments.