Andria (Machiavelli) Andria (Machiavelli) Andria is the first play written by Niccolò Machiavelli, published in the period 1517-1520. It is a translation of a play written by the Latin comedy writer Terence, who had originally taken it from the Greek dramatist Menander. It is one of the examples of Machiavelli as a comedy writer, along with "The Mandrake" and the "Clizia". The play has been considered by some scholars semi-autobiographical. The story is about an old man, Simone, who wants his son, Panfilo, to marry Filumena, the daughter of his neighbour Cremete. Panfilo has, however, a secret love affair with Glicerio, a
Niccolò Machiavelli than just bring back old ideas and that Machiavelli was not a typical humanist. argues that the way Machiavelli combines classical ideas is new. While Xenophon and Plato also described realistic politics and were closer to Machiavelli than Aristotle was, they, like Aristotle, also saw Philosophy as something higher than politics. Machiavelli was apparently a materialist who objected to explanations involving formal and final causation, or teleology. Machiavelli's promotion of ambition among leaders while denying any higher standard meant that he encouraged risk-taking, and innovation, most famously the founding of new modes and orders. His advice to princes was therefore