Mnesimachus the Comic Poet (Μνησιμάχος ὁ κωμικός) was an Athenian poet of Middle Comedy, active in the 4th century BCE. No biographical details survive. His floruit is placed in the mid-4th century based on a fragment from his play The Horse-breeder that mentions the contemporary military commander Iphicrates [1][2].

He is known only from fragments. The Suda attributes two plays to him: The Horse-breeder (Ἱπποτρόφος) and The Busiris (Βούσιρις), while Athenaeus also cites a Phaon (Φάων) [2][3]. Approximately 15 fragments survive, primarily in Athenaeus’s Deipnosophistae, offering glimpses of his style but not allowing plot reconstruction [1][2].

Mnesimachus is a representative figure of the fragmentary record of Middle Comedy. His significance lies in the textual evidence his fragments provide for this transitional period. The fragments show characteristic themes: The Horse-breeder parodies a military dispatch [1][2], while Busiris treats mythology [3]. Common references to food and domestic life illustrate the period’s shift toward social and everyday humor [1][2].

Sources 1. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics: https://oxfordre.com/classics/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4222 2. Perseus Digital Library, Suda Encyclopedia, entry mu,1087: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0054%3Aentry%3Dmu%2F1087 3. ToposText, Author ID 1059: https://topostext.org/author/1059