Philosophers on Stage: From Aristophanes’ Socrates to Timon of Phlius’ Parody to Construct a New Philosophy

Abstract. This article aims to illustrate some intersections between Greek philosophical satire and ancient Greek philosophy by discussing the Pyrrhonian satire of Timon of Phlius against the philosophy of Socrates and his followers. Timonian mockery operates not only through literary strategies such as ὀνομαστὶ κομῳδεῖν, a hallmark of Aristophanic Old Comedy, but also through caricatures of Socrates’ ideas and their reception, captured by the term “Philosophenspott”. Analysing this philosophical mockery opens new avenues for studying how ancient authors, including Timon, used satire both to undermine rival doctrines and also to articulate their own doctrines