Menander tends to use stock characters from the contemporary philosophy of the time, primarily that of Theophrastas. In Dyskolos the most prominent of these is Knemon, the grumpy old man, and the blocking figure. He is a misanthrope in the line of Timon of Athens, who hates anybody and everybody. The primary theme of the play is his reintegration with society. He is the most rounded character in the play, in that he repents of his misanthropy and in the end is even forced to give up his isolation when the slaves drag him into the marriage feast. What this shows is a capacity to change, which is emphatically not flat. This is very different from, for example, Mae West who in her final song announces that she has not actually changed her flat character at all.

The one exception in Knemon's hatred of humanity is his daughter, who is the kore, the Greek stock innocent girl, who ends up being the catalyst of her fathers very reluctant re-entry into society. Her epitomizing of this archetype is best symbolized by the name Menander gave her, which in Greek is Kore the very name of the archetype.

Sostratos is the lover; in this case, he is young and rich but pure of heart and willing to work hard for what he wants. He shows these attributes in his work for Gorgias in the fields. Sostratos is also the comic hero of this play, which is the first time we have seen the smitten lover as a comic hero, though we all know it is a relatively common comic hero archetype. He is not rounded, although his archetype is another that we have been taught to admire. He is a young man who is willing to do hard work to obtain his goals and is 'good'. He shows this goodness in his generosity towards Gorgias when he convinces his father to give Gorgias his sister. This dedicated good young man is endemic in all societies as an example to the young of what they should strive to be and is therefore about as flat as you can get.

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The oppressed but cheerfully poor young man is Gorgias, Knemon's step-son, and the half-brother of the kore. He is poor but proud of his ability to endure it and he insists that Sostratos prove himself capable of the same dedication to win his sister. He is a very similar character to Sostratos, he is in fact the poor equivalent. He is what a poor young man should be, protective, courteous and industrious. Thus he is as flat as Sostratos.

Sostratos's mother is another classic character type: the extravagant party wife. She is characterized as always sacrificing to the gods as an excuse for the after-sacrifice party. His father is the well-meaning, nice old rich man who is willing gives his daughter to Gorgias as a sign of good faith, the archetype he fills is that of the man the Sostratoses and Gorgiases of the world are supposed to grow up into. In other words, very flat.

Finally we get to Evan's favorite archetype, the servants. Getas is the epitome of the hard-worked servant who always does his job and equally always complains about. Sikon is the pompous servant (and cook) who is full of belief in his own importance. And lastly Pyrrhias is the scared messenger, always afraid to both deliver and not deliver his message.