A Brief Bio of Philoxenus
by PoetrySoup
Philoxenus, a Greek poet who lived at the court of Dionysius the Elder, tyrant of Syracuse; condemned to prison for refusing to praise some verses of the tyrant, he was led forth to criticise others, but returned them as worse, begging the officers who handed them to lead him back, which when the tyrant was told, he laughed and released him.