Life Python of Catana was a Greek dramatist from Sicily active in the late 4th century BCE. He is historically recorded for accompanying Alexander the Great on campaign and producing a satyr play, Agen (Ἀγήν), at a festival in Susa in 324 BCE [1][2]. No further biographical details survive.

Works His only known work is the satyr play Agen, performed at Susa. The play survives only in fragmentary form, with a few lines preserved by the historian Athenaeus [1][2].

Significance Python’s significance derives from the historical context of his work. The performance at Susa was a deliberate political and cultural event orchestrated by Alexander to promote Hellenic culture within his empire. Python thus represents the use of traditional Athenian dramatic forms in service of the nascent Hellenistic order, providing a datable example of drama produced outside mainland Greece during Alexander’s campaigns.

Sources 1. Perseus Digital Library: Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, 13.595e (Tufts University): https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0008.tlg001.perseus-grc1:13.595e 2. ToposText: Python of Catana (Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation): https://topostext.org/people/1410