Menander was a celebrated ancient Greek playwright known for clever comedies in the New Comedy era. His play Dyskolos is among the few surviving works, admired for humor and sharp character portrayals.
If you enjoy reading books by Menander then you might also like the following authors:
If you like Menander's humor and sharp wit, you might enjoy Plautus, a Roman playwright known for lively comedies full of energetic dialogue and comic situations. His plots often involve misunderstandings, mistaken identities, clever slaves, and witty wordplay.
One of his funny, lively plays is Miles Gloriosus, about a braggart soldier whose inflated ego leads to comedic complications.
Terence is another Roman playwright worth exploring if you appreciate Menander's nuanced characters and interactions. In his plays, he often examines human relationships, personal morality, and everyday struggles through characters drawn with subtlety and sympathy.
His comedy The Brothers (Adelphoe) addresses issues of parenting, contrasting the styles of strict versus permissive fathers.
Aristophanes offers something different but enjoyable if you love Menander. While Menander's style is quieter and deals more with individual life, Aristophanes writes bold, satirical comedies that poke fun at society, politics, and prominent public figures.
Lysistrata is an entertaining play about women who go on strike to end war—a funny yet meaningful satire on social issues.
Philemon, like Menander, belongs to the Greek New Comedy tradition. His plays feature everyday characters in humorous situations often involving misunderstandings and relatable life circumstances.
Though much of his work survives only in fragments, his reputation for comedic timing and witty conversation is clear. One of his popular plays was The Merchant (Emporos), known for clever dialogue and believable situations.
Diphilus, another Greek comedy playwright in tune with Menander's style, crafted plots that focus on ordinary people facing everyday challenges with humor and irony.
He was particularly good at creating engaging conflicts between social types, such as masters, slaves, young lovers, and strict parents. His comedy The Parasite (Parasitos) cleverly mocks social climbers and flatterers through sharp satire and amusing scenarios.
Alexis was a Greek comic playwright whose style blended humor with sharp social satire, similar to Menander's comedies. His plays offer insightful observations on daily life and relationships, capturing human flaws and eccentricities through witty banter and vivid characters.
One of Alexis' well-known works is Parasitos, a sharp comedy that pokes fun at the social nuisance of the flattering parasite.
Apollodorus of Carystus was famous for his comedies highlighting everyday events and ordinary human interactions in amusing yet thoughtful ways. His writing provides gentle satire of social pretensions and human foolishness, often focusing on relatable situations.
His work The Cup-Bearer (Kylikephoros) humorously explores social roles and expectations through its engaging depiction of servant-master interactions.
Theophrastus was known for his witty observations of individuals and society, focusing especially on human oddities and quirks. Though more of a philosopher than a playwright, his humorous sketches of common social characters share much with Menander's approach.
In his famous work, Characters, Theophrastus humorously describes different personality types and their irritating habits, providing a humorous yet truthful portrait of human behavior.
William Shakespeare was an English playwright who excelled in crafting comedies rich with memorable characters, clever dialogue, and astute social commentary.
Like Menander, Shakespeare often highlighted misunderstandings, romantic mix-ups, and personal shortcomings to portray human nature in a relatable way. His play Much Ado About Nothing brilliantly combines humor, romance, and wit to explore themes of love, trust, and reputation.
Molière, a French dramatist, is celebrated for his sharp comedies that skillfully mock social conventions, pretensions, and human weaknesses.
Similar to Menander, his comedies reveal human foolishness through recognizable characters and situations, balanced with clever dialogue and satire.
One of Molière's best-loved works, The Misanthrope, humorously examines sincerity, hypocrisy, and social interaction through engaging characters and witty exchanges.
If you enjoyed Menander's witty comedies about daily life and recognizable characters, you might like Ben Jonson. Jonson's plays often explore human folly and social behaviors through a sharp comedic lens.
In his play Volpone, he humorously criticizes greed and deception, showing how easily people can be fooled by their own desires.
Fans of Menander's realistic and humorous portrayal of everyday people and society will probably appreciate Carlo Goldoni. He developed a natural style of comedy that moved away from exaggeration toward authentic characters and believable plots.
In The Servant of Two Masters, Goldoni presents charmingly flawed characters caught up in comedic misunderstandings, making the audience laugh while gently pointing out human weaknesses.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan might appeal to those who liked Menander's wit and satirical look at societal manners. Sheridan's comedies cleverly expose hypocrisy and vanity in upper-class society through sparkling dialogue and amusing situations.
His play The School for Scandal mocks gossip and pretense, making sharp points about human nature while keeping the audience entertained.
If the humor, clever dialogues, and subtle irony of Menander were appealing, Oscar Wilde is a great author to explore next. Wilde's comedies sparkle with witty exchanges, poking fun at the superficiality and pretensions of society.
In his famous play The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde dramatically exposes the absurdity of social conventions and hypocrisy through delightful satire and memorable characters.
Readers who enjoy Menander's sharp social observations combined with comedy might find George Bernard Shaw a perfect match. Known for his humorous yet insightful examination of society's flaws, Shaw uses comedy to question and challenge assumptions about class and morality.
His play Pygmalion entertainingly critiques British class distinctions and challenges the ways society judges individuals based on speech and manners.