Near the end of his life, Euripides (c. 485-406 BCE), the great Athenian poet and playwright, left Athens (where he had been competing in drama festival contests since 455 BCE) and moved to the Kingdom of Macedonia. This relocation occurred in 408 BCE, at a time when Euripides and other creatives were enticed over by King Archelaus of Macedonia (r. 413-399 BCE) as part of a larger cultural program created by the ruler, in which the arts, sports, and other aspects of ancient Greek civilization were given monarchal support in the Macedonian realm. Euripides was evidently treated with great respect by King Archelaus, but not all of the king’s courtiers matched the monarch’s high regard for the elderly poet. In particular, a certain man named Decamnichus from Archelaus’ entourage had a rude public clash with Euripides that would result in painful consequences. As the odd story goes, Decamnichus reportedly mocked Euripides for having bad breath, and this accusation was done in such a disrespectful or publicly embarrassing way that Euripides felt obligated to go to the king about the matter. Unfortunately for Decamnichus, the Macedonian ruler was firmly and emphatically on the side of the poet. In fact, King Archelaus held Euripides in such high esteem that he agreed to sentence Decamnichus to a punishment of whipping as consequence for the rude comments. This act and its future ramifications were reported by Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE), who wrote, “Then there was the attack on Archelaus instigated and led by Decamnichus. The reason for his anger was that Archelaus had given him to the poet Euripides to be scourged; and Euripides was angry because Decamnichus had made some remark about the poet’s foul-smelling breath” (Aristotle, Politics, Bekker page 1311b). As the quote portrays, the punishment caused Decamnichus to plot against King Archelaus, and there was no shortage of other scorned and angry courtiers in the monarch’s inner circle. Indeed, King Archelaus’ eventual death in 399 BCE was caused by assassination.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Picture Attribution: (Design for a Ceiling at Théatre Français in Paris, by Aimé Chenavard (1798–1838), [Public Domian] via Creative Commons and the MET).
Sources:
- The Politics by Aristotle, translated by T. A. Sinclair and revised by T. J. Saunders. London: Penguin Classics, 1962, 1992.
- https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0058%3Abook%3D5%3Asection%3D1311b
- https://oxfordre.com/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-677?d=%2F10.1093%2Facrefore%2F9780199381135.001.0001%2Facrefore-9780199381135-e-677&p=emailAADTunWIcKnko
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Archelaus-king-of-Macedonia
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Euripides
