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Priam (right) entering the hut of Achilles in his effort to ransom the body of Hector. The figure at left is probably one of Achilles' servant boys. (Attic red-figure kylix of the early fifth century BCE) The ''Achilleis'' (after the
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
, ''Achillēis'', ) is a lost trilogy by the
Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...
dramatist
Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Gree ...
. The three plays that make up the ''Achilleis'' exist today only in fragments, but aspects of their overall content can be reconstructed with reasonable certainty. Like the ''
Oresteia The ''Oresteia'' ( grc, Ὀρέστεια) is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BCE, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end of ...
'' which forms "a narratively connected unit with a continuous plot," the trilogy had a unified focus, presumably treating the story of
Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pe ...
at
Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Çan ...
in a version comparable to the plot of the latter two-thirds of the ''
Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...
''. In the ''Myrmidons'' (, ''Myrmidónes''), Achilles' refusal to fight after his quarrel with
Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husb ...
led to the death of
Patroclus In Greek mythology, as recorded in Homer's ''Iliad'', Patroclus (pronunciation variable but generally ; grc, Πάτροκλος, Pátroklos, glory of the father) was a childhood friend, close wartime companion, and the presumed (by some later a ...
. The title of the play traditionally placed second in the trilogy is the ''Nereids'' (, ''Nēreídes''). The chorus was thus a group of
Nereid In Greek mythology, the Nereids or Nereides ( ; grc, Νηρηΐδες, Nērēḯdes; , also Νημερτές) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of the ' Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanid Doris, siste ...
s, and the subject of the play involved Achilles and his Nereid mother Thetis, probably her mourning his imminent death and the acquisition of his new arms. In the ''Phrygians'' (, ''Phrýges'') or ''Ransom of Hector'' (Ἕκτορος λύτρα, ''Héktoros lútra''),
Priam In Greek mythology, Priam (; grc-gre, Πρίαμος, ) was the legendary and last king of Troy during the Trojan War. He was the son of Laomedon. His many children included notable characters such as Hector, Paris, and Cassandra. Etymology ...
and a chorus of Phrygians sought to retrieve Hector's body from the still wroth Achilles. Neither the trilogy's title ''Achilleis'' nor the grouping of the plays is explicitly attested from antiquity, but the existence of a unified trilogy with Achilles as its focus has long been accepted by modern scholars. In his commentary on '' The Libation Bearers'', Garvie states that it is "highly likely that Aeschylus often, though not always (of the surviving plays ''
Persae ''The Persians'' ( grc, Πέρσαι, ''Persai'', Latinised as ''Persae'') is an ancient Greek tragedy written during the Classical period of Ancient Greece by the Greek tragedian Aeschylus. It is the second and only surviving part of a now other ...
'' is an almost certain exception) composed trilogies consisting of tragedies connected in their subject matter." In addition to the ''Oresteia'' (to which 'The Libation Bearers' belongs), the '' Seven Against Thebes'' and '' Suppliants'' formed part of connected trilogies, as did the lost plays that make up the '' Lycurgeia''. The satyr plays that accompanied these examples had plots related to those of the tragedies, and it has been suggested that the ''Achilleis'' might also have been followed by a comedic play related to its dramatic content, but there is no evidence as to what the subject of this satyr play might have been. Since the ''Achilleis'' survives in fragments, its text is comparatively more fluid than that of ancient texts with medieval
manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced ...
traditions. During the first half of the 20th century
papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...
fragments of numerous lost Aeschylean plays, including the ''Myrmidons'', were discovered that added much material to, and greatly altered the modern conception of, the dramatist's corpus. Given this fluidity, it is especially important to consult the most current critical edition or translations of the text, since earlier editions will likely not reflect the advances of the past century. In the case of the fragments of Aeschylus, the edition of record is the third volume of '' Tragicorum Graecorum fragmenta'' edited by
Stefan Radt Stefan Lorenz Radt (4 August 1927, Berlin − 22 November 2017) was a Dutch historian, author and academic specializing in ancient Greek geography. Bibliography His books have received mostly positive reviews. Some of his notable books ar ...
(1985). While it is now customary to refer to the text and numeration of Radt, the majority of the fragments of the ''Achilleis'' can also be found in Mette's 1959 edition. For example, fr. 140 Radt and 232 Mette refer to the same three-word fragment of the ''Myrmidons'', uttered (in Mette's opinion) by Achilles: "Arms! I want arms!" (, ''hóplōn hóplōn deî''). Sommerstein's Loeb is the most current English translation and follows the numeration of Radt, as does this article. Thought by some scholars to be the most impassioned piece of homoerotic literature produced by the ancient world.


The trilogy

Given
Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Gree ...
' tendency to write connected trilogies, three plays attested in the catalogue of his work have been supposed to constitute the ''Achilleis'': ''Myrmidons'', ''Nereids'' and ''Phrygians'' (alternately titled ''The Ransoming of Hector''). Despite the paucity of surviving text, the ''Myrmidons'' has achieved some measure of fame, because of
Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his fo ...
' satire of it at '' Frogs'' 911–13 in which
Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars ...
mocks Aeschylus' stagecraft: Achilles sulking, taken from a larger scene depicting Book 9 of the Iliad.
: πρώτιστα μὲν γὰρ ἕνα τιν' ἂν καθῖσεν ἐγκαλύψας, : Ἀχιλλέα τιν' ἢ Νιόβην, τὸ πρόσωπον οὐχὶ δεικνύς, : πρόσχημα τῆς τραγῳδίας, γρύζοντας οὐδὲ τουτί. : At the very beginning he sits someone alone, enshrouded, : some Achilles or Niobe, not showing the mask, : the ornament of tragedy, mumbling not even this much.
This play, along with the also lost '' Niobe'', are two famous examples cited in antiquity of the often-discussed theme of the "Aeschylean silence".


''Myrmidons''

''Myrmidons'' (frr. 131–42 Radt; 211–35 Mette) concerned Achilles' refusal to fight for the Greeks, which tragically leads to the killing of his companion Patroclus by the Trojan hero, Hector; this death persuades Achilles to rejoin the fight.


''Nereids''

In ''Nereids'' (frr. 150–54 Radt; 236–41 Mette), Thetis and a chorus of sea-nymphs bring Achilles his new armor. The remainder of the action probably would have concerned his revenge killing of Hector and Patroclus' funeral.


''Phrygians''

The action of ''Phrygians'' (frr. 263–72 Radt; 242–59 Mette) almost certainly corresponded with Book 24 of the ''
Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...
'': Achilles' defilement of Hector's corpse and his eventually agreeing to ransom the body back to the grieving father, Priam.


The text

A small number of verses from these three of Aeschylus' lost works have been saved: fifty-four from ''Myrmidons'', seven from ''Nereids'' and twenty-one from ''Phrygians.'' A sense of the pace at which additions to this corpus are made can be gleaned from the fact that a papyrus fragment containing seven letters on three lines that could be fitted over a two-line quote from Justin Martyr's dialogue '' Trypho'', to show that the quote was in fact from the opening of ''Myrmidons'' was worth publishing in a note in ''Classical Philology'', 1971.


Modern adaptation

The ''Achilleis'' and the circumstances of its transmission came to broader public notice in 2003 when ThoC, Cyprus' national theatre, announced that it would be staging an adaptation (by way of creative reconstruction) of the trilogy by Elias Malandris. Malandris' ''Achilleis'', on which he had worked for more than a decade, built upon classicist Bruno Snell's work on the fragments and filled out their content with material adapted from the ''Iliad'' and other ancient references to Achilles. On the process of staging a largely lost work of ancient tragedy, Andy Bargilly, then director of the Theatre, stated: "We do think it is a faithful adaptation to a large extent, but nobody can say 100 percent." The reconstructed trilogy premiered July 7, 2004, with Mario Frangoulis as Achilles.


Editions and translations


Critical editions

* Mette, H.J. (1959) ''Die Fragmente der Tragödien des Aischylos'' (Berlin). Critical edition of the Greek. * Radt, S. (1985) ''Tragicorum Graecorum fragmenta'', vol. 3. (Göttingen). . Critical edition of the Greek. * Diggle, J. (1998) ''Tragicorum Graecorum fragmenta selecta'', Oxford Classical Texts (Oxford). . Critical edition including select fragments of the ''Myrmidones''.


Translations

* Smyth, H.W. (1926
''Aeschylus II''
Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann_(publisher), Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works ...
no. 146 (London). Greek text with translation of select fragments known before 1926; the text of the fragments is superseded by Lloyd-Jones (1957) and, in turn, Sommerstein (2009). * Lloyd-Jones, H. (1957) "Appendix" to the reprint of Smyth (1926), including text and translation of most papyrus fragments; now largely superseded by Sommerstein (2009). * Sommerstein, A. (2009) ''Aeschylus III: Fragments'', Loeb Classical Library no. 505 (Cambridge, MA). . Greek text with facing translation of fragments "containing at least one complete line, or two connected half-lines" (p. ix).


Notes


Bibliography

* Fitzpatrick, D. (2003
review of Michelakis (2002)
''Bryn Mawr Classical Review'' 20. * Gantz, T. (1979) "The Aischylean Tetralogy: Prolegomena", ''The Classical Journal'' 74: 289–304. * Gantz, T. (1980) "The Aischylean Tetralogy: Attested and Conjectured Groups", ''The American Journal of Philology'' 101: 133–64. * Garvie, A.F. (1986) ''Aeschylus: Choephori'' (Oxford). * Gregory, J. (2005) ''A Companion to Greek Tragedy''. Wiley-Blackwell , . * Michelakis, P. (1999

conference paper delivered at the January 1999 conference ''Theatre: Ancient and Modern'' at the Open University. * Michelakis, P. (2002) ''Achilles in Greek Tragedy'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). , especially chapter 2
"The Problematic Hero: Aeschylus' ''Myrmidons''"
pages 22–57. * Smethurst, M. (1971) "Aeschylus' ''Myrmidons'' (Frag. 224 Mette)", '' Classical Philology'' 66: 112. * Smethurst, M. (1974) "A Repetition in the ''Myrmidons'' of Aeschylus", ''
Mnemosyne In Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion, Mnemosyne (; grc, Μνημοσύνη, ) is the goddess of memory and the mother of the nine Muses by her nephew Zeus. In the Greek tradition, Mnemosyne is one of the Titans, the twelve divine ch ...
'' 27: 67–69. * Wecklein, N. (1891
"Ueber eine Trilogie des Aischylos und über die Trilogie überhaupt"
''Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-philologishen Classe der k.b. Akademie der Wissenschaften'' Jahrgang 1891: 327–85. * Welcker, F.G. (1824)
Die aeschylische Trilogie Prometheus
' (Darmstadt). * West, M.L. (2000) "''Iliad'' and ''Aethiopis'' on the Stage: Aeschylus and Son", ''Classical Quarterly'' 50: 338–52. {{Authority control Plays by Aeschylus Trojan War literature Lost plays Cultural depictions of Achilles Plays based on classical mythology