Alciphron was a Greek writer and orator, known as a sophist, who lived during the Roman imperial period, most likely in the 2nd or 3rd century CE. The precise details of his life are unknown, but his work places him within the Second Sophistic movement, a cultural effort to revive the language and styles of Classical Athens.

He is famous for a single surviving work: a collection of 122 fictional letters. These are divided into four books, each giving voice to a different Athenian social class: fishermen, farmers, parasites, and courtesans. The letters do not record real correspondence but are carefully crafted short stories or character sketches, written in refined Attic Greek.

According to modern scholars, Alciphron’s significance lies in his mastery of this fictional letter form. His work provides a vivid, though imagined, portrait of everyday life in Classical Athens as viewed by later Greek writers under Roman rule. The letters are valued for their elegant style, humor, and detailed scenes. Furthermore, academics suggest his writings, especially the courtesan letters, preserve plots and scenarios from lost comedies of playwrights like Menander. His collection was also influential during the Renaissance revival of epistolary literature.