Patrocles of Thurii (Πατροκλῆς ὁ Θούριος) was a 4th-century BCE comic playwright from the panhellenic colony of Thurii in Magna Graecia [1][3]. His floruit places him within the era of Middle Comedy, and as a non-Athenian poet, he likely traveled to Athens to compete at dramatic festivals like the Dionysia [4]. No further biographical details are recorded [1][2][3].

A single comedy, Dionysos (Διόνυσος), is attributed to him. The play is lost, surviving only by title and in a one-line fragment preserved by the grammarian Athenaeus [1][2][3].

Patrocles is a minor figure, known only from a single citation in the Suda [1][3]. His significance lies as a data point demonstrating the geographical spread of comic poets and the participation of non-Athenians in Athenian theatrical culture. The title Dionysos suggests a thematic connection to the god of the festival, but the extant fragment is too scant for further analysis [2].

Sources 1. Suda On Line (The Stoa Consortium): https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/pi/537 2. Perseus Digital Library (Tufts University): https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2013.01.0002:entry=patrocles&highlight=patrocles 3. ToposText (Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation): https://topostext.org/people/1430 4. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics (Oxford University Press): https://oxfordre.com/classics/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-1742