Nausicrates the Comic Poet (Ναυσικράτης ὁ κωμικός)

Life Nausicrates was an Athenian comic poet of the 4th century BCE, known only from limited testimonia. The Suda identifies him as an Athenian comic poet victorious at the City Dionysia, a fact corroborated by a damaged Athenian festival inscription [1, 2]. He was a contemporary of the comic poet Anaxandrides, placing his activity in the early to mid-4th century [1].

Works Ancient sources credit Nausicrates with two comedies: The Ship-Captains (Ναύκληροι) and The Women of Phthia (Φθιώτιδες) [1]. Both plays are lost, surviving only as titles and a single one-line fragment from The Ship-Captains, which mentions a cake called a "kribanites" [3]. The titles suggest possible maritime and mythological themes.

Significance Nausicrates represents the period of Middle Comedy, marked by mythological parody and stock characters. His victory at the City Dionysia confirms contemporary recognition, but the loss of his works prevents assessment of his specific stylistic contribution. He remains a documented figure mapping the landscape of 4th-century Athenian comedy.

Sources 1. Suda, entry "Nausicrates" (Suda On Line): https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/nu/51 2. Inscriptiones Graecae II² 2325 (via Perseus Catalog): https://catalog.perseus.org/catalog/urn:cite:perseus:author.1279 3. Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 3.114c (via Perseus): https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0008.tlg001.perseus-grc1:3.114c