Diogenes of Athens (Διογένης ὁ Ἀθηναῖος) was an Athenian tragic poet active in the late 5th and early 4th centuries BCE. He is a minor figure, known primarily from a reference in Aristotle’s Poetics and an entry in the Byzantine encyclopedia, the Suda, which identifies him as the son of a musician named Melesias [2]. His career followed the great 5th-century tragedians.

The only securely attributed work is the lost tragedy Semele (Σεμέλη). The Suda also lists a Medea (Μήδεια), though this attribution is less certain [2]. All works survive only in fragments.

Diogenes is significant as a case study in early literary criticism. Aristotle cites an implausible scene from his Semele—involving an unjustified resurrection—as an example of faulty plot construction and misuse of the irrational [1]. This mention preserves his role in the critical history of drama, though his works otherwise exerted little lasting influence.

Sources 1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Aristotle's Poetics): https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-poetics/ 2. Suda Online (via ToposText): https://topostext.org/work/529#di.1082