TIMON  , of

Athens, the noted misanthrope, celebrated in Shakespeare's play, lived during the Peloponnesian War . He is more thap once alluded to by Aristophanes and other comedians . Plutarch introduces a short account of his life in his biography of Mark Antony (ch . 70), who built a retreat called Timonium (Strabo xvii . 794) at Alexandria . Timon also gave his name to one of Lucian's dialogues . Shakespeare probably derived his knowledge of Timon mainly from Plutarch; but the Timon of Shakespeare so resembles the Timon of Lucian that Shakespeare (or whoever wrote the first sketch of the play) may have had access to the dialogue .