Character Analysis
These greedy merchants kick off the play with a bang. They might not even have real names, but their presence in the play highlights the materialistic world Timon lives in. When Apemantus sees what they are selling Timon, he mocks their work, telling Timon: "He wrought better that made the painter; and yet he's but a filthy piece of work" (1.1.200-201). Yowzah.
Even though Apemantus is a grouch, we believe what he tells us about these two slimy merchants—and if we didn't believe him at first, we certainly caught on when we saw them trek out to the woods to weasel more money out of Timon. At that point, Shakespeare lets us in on their secret: before they catch up with Timon, the Painter says, "['T]is not amiss we tender our loves to him in this supposed distress of his" (5.1.13-14).
Even after all Timon has been through, the Poet and Painter still want to latch onto him for all he's worth. Ick.
The Poet and Painter are representative of the whole society Timon lives in. Everyone wants to take, take, take—even when there is nothing left. On top of that, they show us how big of a difference there is between appearance and reality in this society: the work they produce is actually not that great, but they charge Timon a pretty penny for it, anyway. Translation: a lot of the things this society values are really just cheap and empty inside.