Amphiaraus

We do not know when this play was produced, but it is mentioned by Aristotle in the Poetics (17= 1455a 26), so it must have been produced before the composition of that work. The Suda dates Carcinus the younger to c. 380 and we know that his first victory in the Dionysia was before 372 BC. The date range for performance given here therefore supposes a career of forty years (the figure is arbitrary). It is not certain that this play was performed in Athens, though if, as the inscription suggests, Carcinus won 11 victories in the Dionysia then it seems likely that his plays would have be produced there (this does not exclude the possibility of subsequent performance elsewhere). The title of the play is unsure, though it included the character Amphiaraus. No fragments of the play survive, but it is discussed briefly by Aristotle in the Poetics (17= 1455a 26).