Aristomenes
Athenian poet of New Comedy
Intro | Athenian poet of New Comedy | |
Places | Greece | |
is | Writer Comedy writer | |
Work field | Humor Literature | |
Gender |
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For Aristomenes, regent of Ptolemaic Egypt, see Aristomenes of Alyzia.
Aristomenes (Greek: Ἀριστομένης) was a king of Messenia, celebrated for his struggle with the Spartans in the Second Messenian War (685–668 BC), and his resistance to them on Mount Ira for 11 years. At length the mountain fell to the enemy, while he escaped and was snatched up by the gods; he died at Rhodes.
He was worshipped as a hero in Messenia and other places.
According to Sir Richard Burton, one story about Aristomenes, in which he had been thrown into a pit and had to escape, is the principal inspiration for one of the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor in the Arabian Nights.