1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Timon of Athens

TIMON, of Athens, the noted misanthrope, celebrated in Shakespeare's play, lived during the Peloponnesian War. He is more than 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.