Malinos
Malinos | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | c. 280 Paroxa, Isles of Velar |
| Died | c. 340 Paroxa |
| Occupation | Playwright, poet |
| Language | Urbont |
| Genre | Comedy, epic |
| Notable works | The Eight Voyages of Niracs the Wanderer The Dance of the Gods |
| Years active | 300-340 |
Malinos of Paroxa was a 4th-century poet and playwright from Paroxa, a town on the Velaran island of Tavlar. He was a prolific author, writing over eighty plays including two great epics, and is often regarded as one of the greatest writers in Velaran history.
Biography
Malinos was born around 280 AD to an important Paroxan family and lived what he called "an unnarratable life" until, at the age of 22 (the Velaran age of majority), he visited Txir to see a play by Qúmoia, considered the greatest poet of his era. Stirred to a love of theatre, Malinos immediately spent what money he had to pay for passage home on writing material and spent a week writing his first comedy. He used his family's political connections, his father being Paroxa's Master of the Assembly, to arrange a performance of his play in a small theatre in Txir and earned enough money to book passage on a ship. As he was about to board his ship, he was intercepted by the wealthy Txirusian landowner Komavos, who offered to buy the play and to be Malinos' patron for any future productions. Malinos accepted, handing him the script right then, and returned to Paroxa to write. He did not return to Txir for several years, but sent Komavos new plays every few months. The plays were well-received in Txir and many were quickly disseminated across the archipelago.
About 310, Malinos completed his first epic The Eight Voyages of Niracs the Wanderer. He wished for its debut performance to take place in Paroxa, his hometown, as several of his earlier comedies had, but the owners of the theatre refused to give him his requested three days in a row to act out the entire epic, as Malinos' success had made Paroxa a major destination for travelling performers and its theatre was regularly fully scheduled for months in advance. Frustrated, Malinos turned to his patron for help. Komavos arranged and financed the construction of a new amphitheatre in a matter of months. The Eight Voyages proved more popular than Malinos had ever expected, and the new theatre was consistently filled for each performance with people attending from across Tavlar and even other islands.
Komavos died in 323. Malinos continued to write and publish his works, now self-financed, and in 335 he put on his second epic, The Dance of the Gods to tremendous acclaim. He died just a few years later in his house in Paroxa.