MENNIP (Menippos)

Menippus; Menippos or Menippos, of Gadara in Syria, first half of III in. BC. e., Greek philosopher and Cynic. According to the few credible reports, he was born a slave. Thanks M. Cynic philosophy found its literary expression. All his works were written with a true Cynic irony. They are preserved only scattered fragments and 3 titles: Wills (Diathekai), . containing a humorous interpretation of the fictitious wills, . Letters gods or gods folded (Epistolai kekompseumenai apo tu ton theon prosopu), . initiating a variety of epistolary literature (cp,
. Ovid Heroides), News from Dungeons (Nekya), they represent a parody of the descent into Hades (such "Descent" we find, for example, in the XI book Odyssey of Homer, or in Aristophanes' Frogs). Probably M. wrote a similar piece on the journey to heaven, in which imitated Lucian Ikaromenippe and philosopher Seneca in Otykvlenie Divine Claudius. Descriptions M. Cynic ethical teachings were critical of the people and the gods. This content he expounded ironic, fun and humorous, in giving his works to the comic motifs, a parody of epic and tragedy. Due to this he received the nickname of the ancient spudogeloios (quiz). He wrote prose interspersed with verse, thus creating a distinctive literary form, the so-called Menippean satire. Had a great influence on later authors. He took a sample of Meleager of Gadara, Seneca, Lutsily, Marcus Terentius Varro, Lucian, Petronius, Martial Capella and Boethius.