Timon of Athens · Chapter
Scene I explained
Timon, now living in a cave, rebuffs the Athenian senators who beg him to return and help defend against Alcibiades.
What happens
Timon, now living in a cave, rebuffs the Athenian senators who beg him to return and help defend against Alcibiades. He then encounters the Poet and Painter, who seek gold under the guise of friendship, and he exposes their hypocrisy before driving them away. Finally, the senators return to plead again, but Timon refuses, offering only the advice to hang themselves on his tree before he cuts it down.
Themes in this chapter
Flattery and Deception
The Poet and Painter's visit exemplifies flattery and deception: they pretend to offer friendship but are solely motivated by Timon's reported gold, a hypocrisy Timon ruthlessly exposes.
Misanthropy and Human Nature
Timon's complete rejection of the senators and his violent expulsion of the Poet and Painter underscore his deep misanthropy, viewing all humans as self-serving and corrupt.
Fortune and Reversal
Timon's fall from wealth and status is complete; he now lives in a cave, yet the senators and artists still seek him out for his gold, highlighting the ironic reversal of fortune.
Characters to notice
- Timon
Timon is now a bitter recluse living in a cave. He rejects the senators' pleas, exposes the Poet and Painter as gold-seeking sycophants, and delivers a final, misanthropic refusal to help Athens.
- Flavius
Flavius accompanies the senators to Timon's cave, attempting to mediate and urging Timon to speak with them, but ultimately acknowledges that Timon is beyond reach.
- Poet
The Poet arrives with the Painter, feigning loyalty and offering a satire on flattery, but Timon sees through his greed and drives him away with blows.
- Painter
The Painter accompanies the Poet, claiming to offer service but is exposed by Timon as a counterfeit and a gold-seeker, and is beaten out of the cave.
- First Senator
The First Senator, along with the Second Senator, comes to Timon's cave to beg him to return to Athens and accept a captainship to defend against Alcibiades, but is harshly rebuffed.
- Second Senator
The Second Senator joins the First Senator in pleading with Timon, offering wealth and power, but ultimately leaves after Timon's final refusal.
Key passages
“I have a tree, which grows here in my close, That mine own use invites me to cut down, And shortly must I fell it: tell my friends, Tell Athens, in the sequence of degree From high to low throughout, that whoso please To stop affliction, let him take his haste, Come hither, ere my tree hath felt the axe, And hang himself.”
Timon sarcastically tells the senators that anyone in Athens who wants to end their suffering should hurry to his tree and hang themselves before he cuts it down.
This bitter offer encapsulates Timon's complete disdain for Athenian society and his desire for them to suffer.
“What a god's gold, That he is worshipp'd in a baser temple Than where swine feed!”
Timon marvels that gold is worshipped even in a place more vile than a pigsty, highlighting the corrupting power of wealth.
Timon's soliloquy reflects his cynical view that gold commands reverence even from the most degraded people.
“You that way and you this, but two in company; Each man apart, all single and alone, Yet an arch-villain keeps him company.”
Timon tells the Poet and Painter that each of them is alone, yet each is accompanied by a master villain—himself.
Timon exposes their hypocrisy by revealing that they are both villains in their own right, despite pretending to be honest.
