Timon of Athens

"Timon of Athens" is the story of Shakespeare's sharp satire on wealth, greed and betrayal, which was probably written around 1605-1606.

Timon of Athens is a man who enjoys to please his friends and he does this by lavishing gifts on them. His 'friends' rush to gain his favour. They buy him small gifts and he repays them with big gifts. He ignores the warnings about false friends from the philosopher Apemantus and his extravagance catches up with him in the end and he is faced with unpaid bills. His 'friends' ignore his requests for help. He sends invitations to the Athenians to a 'banquet' and uses the occasion to berate them for being false and he then leaves Athens. Timon then discovers gold and becomes rich once again and befriends General Alcibiades who has also been treated badly by the Athenians. He provides the money for the General to wage war against the Athenians and seek revenge for their falseness.