Neoptolemus
4. There was also a celebrated Athenian tragedian of this name, who performed at the games in which Philip of Macedon was slain, B. C. 336. (Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. ii. p. 312; Diod. xvi. vol. ii. p. 152, ed. Amstel. 1745; Sueton. Cal. 100.57.) If Josephus (J. AJ 19.1) be correct, the play performed was on the subject of Cinyras and Myrrha. But Neoptolemus (Diod. l.c.), by order of the king, introduced some new lines (quoted by Diod. l.c.), probably composed by Neoptolemus himself. A saying of his on the murder of the king is recorded by Stobaeus (98. 70, vol. iii. p. 295, ed. Gaisford). He took an active part in the transactions between the Athenians and Philip. He had been intimate with and espoused the side of the latter, for whose court he ultimately left Athens. (Dem. pp. 58, 344, 442, ed. Reiske.)
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.