Menander (; grc-gre, Μένανδρος ''Menandros''; c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and the best-known representative of Athenian

New Comedy Ancient Greek comedy was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece (the others being tragedy and the satyr play). Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods: Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, an ...

. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the

Lenaia The Lenaia ( grc, Λήναια) was an annual Athenian festival with a dramatic competition. It was one of the lesser festivals of Athens and Ionia in ancient Greece. The Lenaia took place in Athens in Gamelion, roughly corresponding to January. T ...

festival eight times. His record at the

City Dionysia The Dionysia (, , ; Greek: Διονύσια) was a large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central events of which were the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and, from 487 BC, comedies. It was the s ...

is unknown. He was one of the most popular writers in antiquity, but his work was lost during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and is now known in highly fragmentary form, much of which was discovered in the 20th century. Only one play, ''

Dyskolos ''Dyskolos'' ( el, , , translated as ''The Grouch'', ''The Misanthrope'', ''The Curmudgeon'', ''The Bad-tempered Man'' or ''Old Cantankerous'') is an Ancient Greek comedy by Menander, the only one of his plays, and of the whole New Comedy, tha ...

'', has survived almost complete.

Life and work

Relief with Menander and New Comedy Masks - Princeton Art Museum

Menander was the son of well-to-do parents; his father

Diopeithes {{short description, Athenian military leader Diopeithes (Greek: Διoπείθης; lived during the 4th century BC) was an Athenian general, probably father of the poet Menander, who was sent out to the Thracian Chersonese about 343 BC, at the hea ...

is identified by some with the Athenian general and governor of the

Thracian Chersonese The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

known from the speech of

Demosthenes Demosthenes (; el, Δημοσθένης, translit=Dēmosthénēs; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual pr ...

''De Chersoneso''. He presumably derived his taste for comic drama from his uncle

Alexis Alexis may refer to: People Mononym * Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet * Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC * Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer * Alexis (comics) (1946–1977 ...

. He was the friend, associate, and perhaps pupil of

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routle ...

, and was on intimate terms with the Athenian dictator

Demetrius of Phalerum Demetrius of Phalerum (also Demetrius of Phaleron or Demetrius Phalereus; grc-gre, Δημήτριος ὁ Φαληρεύς; c. 350 – c. 280 BC) was an Athenian orator originally from Phalerum, an ancient port of Athens. A student of Theophrast ...

. He also enjoyed the patronage of

Ptolemy Soter Ptolemy I Soter (; gr, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'' "Ptolemy the Savior"; c. 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian and companion of Alexander the Great from the Kingdom of Macedo ...

, the son of

Lagus Lagus of Eordaia (Greek Λάγος, ''Lagos''; lived 4th century BC) was a Macedonian courtier and the father of Ptolemy, the founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty. He married Arsinoe of the Argead dynasty and a concubine of Philip II, king of Mac ...

, who invited him to his court. But Menander, preferring the independence of his villa in the

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...

and the company of his mistress Glycera, refused. According to the note of a scholiast on the ''Ibis'' of

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

, he drowned while bathing, and his countrymen honored him with a tomb on the road leading to Athens, where it was seen by

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

. Numerous supposed busts of him survive, including a well-known statue in the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

, formerly thought to represent

Gaius Marius Gaius Marius (; – 13 January 86 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. Victor of the Cimbric and Jugurthine wars, he held the office of consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his important refor ...

. His rival in dramatic art (and supposedly in the affections of Glycera) was Philemon, who appears to have been more popular. Menander, however, believed himself to be the better dramatist, and, according to Aulus Gellius, used to ask Philemon: "Don't you feel ashamed whenever you gain a victory over me?" According to

Caecilius of Calacte Caecilius of Calacte was a rhetorician and literary critic active in Rome during the reign of Augustus. The main source of information about Caecilius' life is the Suda, which says that he was from Sicily, originally called Archagathus, possi ...

( Porphyry in

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...

, '' Praeparatio evangelica'') Menander was accused of plagiarism, as his ''The Superstitious Man'' was taken from ''The Augur'' of Antiphanes, but reworkings and variations on a theme of this sort were commonplace and so the charge is a complicated one. How long complete copies of his plays survived is unclear, although 23 of them, with commentary by

Michael Psellus Michael Psellos or Psellus ( grc-gre, Μιχαὴλ Ψελλός, Michaḗl Psellós, ) was a Byzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to ha ...

, were said to still have been available in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

in the 11th century. He is praised by

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

(''Comparison of Menander and Aristophanes'') and Quintilian (''Institutio Oratoria''), who accepted the tradition that he was the author of the speeches published under the name of the Attic orator

Charisius Flavius Sosipater Charisius ( 4th century AD) was a Latin grammarian. He was probably an African by birth, summoned to Constantinople to take the place of Euanthius, a learned commentator on Terence. ''Ars Grammatica'' The ''Ars Grammatica'', ...

An admirer and imitator of

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 a ...

, Menander resembles him in his keen observation of practical life, his analysis of the emotions, and his fondness for moral maxims, many of which became proverbial: "The property of friends is common," "Whom the gods love die young," "Evil communications corrupt good manners" (from the ''Thaïs'', quoted in

1 Corinthians 15 1 Corinthians 15 is the fifteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle and Sosthenes in Ephesus. The first eleven verses contain the earliest account o ...

:33). These maxims (chiefly monostichs) were afterwards collected, and, with additions from other sources, were edited as ''Menander's One-Verse Maxims'', a kind of moral textbook for the use of schools. The single surviving speech from his early play ''Drunkenness'' is an attack on the politician Callimedon, in the manner 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 for ...

, whose bawdy style was adopted in many of his plays. Menander found many Roman imitators. ''

Eunuchus ''Eunuchus'' (''The Eunuch'') is a comedy written by the 2nd century BC Roman playwright Terence featuring a complex plot of rape and reconciliation. It was Terence's most successful play during his lifetime. Suetonius notes how the play was stage ...

'', '' Andria'', ''

Heauton Timorumenos ''Heauton Timorumenos'' (Greek: Ἑαυτὸν τιμωρούμενος, ''Heauton timōroumenos'', ''The Self-Tormentor'') is a play written in Latin by Terence (Latin: ''Publius Terentius Afer''), a dramatist of the Roman Republic, in 163 BC. ...

'' and '' Adelphi'' of

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...

(called by

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

"dimidiatus Menander") were avowedly taken from Menander, but some of them appear to be adaptations and combinations of more than one play. Thus in the ''Andria'' were combined Menander's ''The Woman from Andros'' and ''The Woman from Perinthos'', in the ''Eunuchus'', ''The Eunuch'' and ''The Flatterer'', while the ''Adelphi'' was compiled partly from Menander and partly from

Diphilus Diphilus (Greek: Δίφιλος), of Sinope, was a poet of the new Attic comedy and a contemporary of Menander (342–291 BC). He is frequently listed together with Menander and Philemon, considered the three greatest poets of New Comedy. He wa ...

. The original of Terence's ''Hecyra'' (as of the ''Phormio'') is generally supposed to be, not by Menander, but Apollodorus of Carystus. The ''Bacchides'' and ''Stichus'' of

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the ...

were probably based upon Menander's ''The Double Deceiver'' and ''Brotherly-Loving Men'', but the ''Poenulus'' does not seem to be from ''The Carthaginian'', nor the ''Mostellaria'' from ''The Apparition'', in spite of the similarity of titles.

Caecilius Statius Statius Caecilius, also known as Caecilius Statius (; c. 220 BC – c. 166 BC), was a Roman comic poet. Life and work A contemporary and intimate friend of Ennius, according to tradition he was born in the territory of the Insubrian Ga ...

, Luscius Lanuvinus, Turpilius and Atilius also imitated Menander. He was further credited with the authorship of some epigrams of doubtful authenticity; the letters addressed to Ptolemy Soter and the discourses in prose on various subjects mentioned by the ''Suda'' are probably spurious.

Loss of his work

Most of Menander's work did not survive the Middle Ages, except as short fragments.

Federico da Montefeltro Federico da Montefeltro, also known as Federico III da Montefeltro KG (7 June 1422 – 10 September 1482), was one of the most successful mercenary captains (''condottieri'') of the Italian Renaissance, and lord of Urbino from 1444 (as Duke fro ...

's library at Urbino reputedly had ''"tutte le opere"'', a complete works, but its existence has been questioned and there are no traces after Cesare Borgia's capture of the city and the transfer of the library to the Vatican. Until the end of the 19th century, all that was known of Menander were fragments quoted by other authors and collected by

Augustus Meineke Johann Albrecht Friedrich August Meineke (also ''Augustus Meineke''; ; 8 December 179012 December 1870), German classical scholar, was born at Soest in the Duchy of Westphalia. He was father-in-law to philologist Theodor Bergk.

(1855) and Theodor Kock, ''Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta'' (1888). These consist of some 1650 verses or parts of verses, in addition to a considerable number of words quoted from Menander by ancient lexicographers.

20th-century discoveries

This situation changed abruptly in 1907, with the discovery of the Cairo Codex, which contained large parts of the '' Samia'', the ''

Perikeiromene ''Perikeiromene'' ( el, , translated as ''The Girl with her Hair Cut Short'', is a comedy by Menander (342/41 – 292/91 BC) that is only partially preserved on papyrus. Of an estimated total of between 1030 and 1091 lines, about 450 lines (be ...

'', and the ''

Epitrepontes ''Epitrepontes'' (translated as ''The Arbitration'' or ''The Litigants'') is an Ancient Greek comedy by Menander, of which only fragments of papyrus were preserved. It is one of Menander's best preserved plays, and was found in 1907, alongside ' ...

''; a section of the ''Heros''; and another fragment from an unidentified play. A fragment of 115 lines of the ''Sikyonioi'' had been found in the

papier mache Papier may refer to : *paper in French, Dutch, Afrikaans, Polish or German, word that can be found in the following expressions: **Papier-mâché, a construction material made of pieces of paper stuck together using a wet paste **Papier collé, a p ...

of a mummy case in 1906. In 1959, the Bodmer papyrus was published containing ''

'', more of the ''Samia'', and half of the '' Aspis''. In the late 1960s, more of the ''Sikyonioi'' was found as filling for two more mummy cases; this proved to be drawn from the same manuscript as the discovery in 1906, which had clearly been thoroughly recycled. Other papyrus fragments continue to be discovered and published. In 2003, a

palimpsest In textual studies, a palimpsest () is a manuscript page, either from a scroll or a book, from which the text has been scraped or washed off so that the page can be reused for another document. Parchment was made of lamb, calf, or kid skin an ...

manuscript, in Syriac writing of the 9th century, was found where the reused parchment comes from a very expensive 4th-century Greek manuscript of works by Menander. The surviving leaves contain parts of the ''Dyskolos'' and 200 lines of another piece by Menander, so far unpublished, titled ''Titthe''.Dieter Harlfinger, ''Warten auf Menander im Vatikan. 400 griechische Komödienverse in einer syrischen Palimpsest-Handschrift entdeckt'', in: Forum Classicum, 2004
Se
here
for an English translation.

Famous quotations

In his First Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul the Apostle quotes Menander in the text "Bad company corrupts good character", which probably comes from his play ''Thais''; according to 5th century Christian historian

Socrates Scholasticus Socrates of Constantinople ( 380 – after 439), also known as Socrates Scholasticus ( grc-gre, Σωκράτης ὁ Σχολαστικός), was a 5th-century Greek Christian church historian, a contemporary of Sozomen and Theodoret. He is th ...

, Menander derived this from

. "He who labors diligently need never despair, for all things are accomplished by diligence and labor." — Menander "Ἀνερρίφθω κύβος" (''anerriphtho kybos''), best known in English as " the die is cast" or "the die has been cast", from the mis-translated Latin "''iacta alea est''" (itself better-known in the order "''

Alea iacta est Alea or ALEA may refer to: Places * Alea (Arcadia), a town of ancient Arcadia, Greece, located near the modern town in Argolis * Alea (Thessaly), a town of ancient Thessaly, Greece * Alea, Arcadia, a village in the municipal unit Tegea, Arcadia ...

''"); a correct translation is "let the die be cast" (meaning "let the game be ventured"). The Greek form was famously quoted by

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

upon committing his army to civil war by crossing the River

Rubicon The Rubicon ( la, Rubico; it, Rubicone ; rgn, Rubicôn ) is a shallow river in northeastern Italy, just north of Rimini. It was known as Fiumicino until 1933, when it was identified with the ancient river Rubicon, famously crossed by Julius Ca ...

. The popular form "the die is cast" is from the Latin ''iacta alea est'', a mistranslation by Suetonius, 121 AD. According to

, the actual phrase used by Julius Caesar at the crossing of the

was a quote in Greek from Menander's play ''Arrhephoros'', with the different meaning "Let the die be cast!". See discussion at " the die is cast" and "''

''". ''

Lewis and Short ''A Latin Dictionary'' (or ''Harpers' Latin Dictionary'', often referred to as Lewis and Short or L&S) is a popular English-language lexicographical work of the Latin language, published by Harper and Brothers of New York in 1879 and printed si ...

'', citing Casaubon and Ruhnk, suggest that the text of Suetonius should read ''Jacta alea esto'', which they translate as "Let the die be cast!", or "Let the game be ventured!". This matches Plutarch's third-person perfect imperative ('). According to Gregory Hayes' Translation of "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius, Menander is also known for the quote/proverb: "a rich man owns so many goods he has no place to shit.” (Meditations, V:12) Another well known quote by Menander is "Whom the gods love dies young".

Comedies

Menander's comedies were very different from the Old Comedies of Aristophanes. New Greek Comedies usually would have two lovers, a blocking character, and a helpful servant. It usually always ended with like a big wedding, or at the very least a happy ending. They were much more of a "higher brow" comedy than Old Greek comedy. They were also more realistic.

More complete plays

*'' Aspis'' ("The Shield"; about half) *''

'' ("The Grouch" or "Old Cantankerous"; best preserved play) *''

'' ("Men at Arbitration"; most) *''Misoumenos'' ("The Hated Man"; about a third) *''

'' ("Girl who has her hair cropped";

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

suggested ''Rape of the Locks'', after

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

; about half) *'' Samia'' ("Girl from

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greece, Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a se ...

"; most) *'' Sikyonioi'' or ''Sikyonios'' (" Sicyonian(s)"; about a third)

Only fragments available

*''Adelphoi'' ("The Brothers") *''Anatithemene'', or ''Messenia'' ("The Woman From

Messene Messene (Greek: Μεσσήνη 𐀕𐀼𐀙 ''Messini''), officially Ancient Messene, is a local community within the regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') of Messenia in the region (''perifereia'') of Peloponnese. It is best known for the ...

") *''Andria'' ("The Woman From

Andros Andros ( el, Άνδρος, ) is the northernmost island of the Greek Cyclades archipelago, about southeast of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . It is for the most part mountainous, with many ...

") *''Androgynos'' ("Hermaphrodite"), or ''Kres'' ("The Cretan") *''Anepsioi'' ("Cousins") *''Aphrodisia'' ("The Erotic Arts"), or ''Aphrodisios'' *''Apistos'' ("Unfaithful", or "Unbelieving") *''Arrhephoros'' (" The Bearer of Ritual Objects"), or ''Auletris'' ("The Female Flute-Player") *''Auton Penthon'' ("Grieving For Him") *''Boiotis'' ("The Woman From

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its ...

") *''Chalkeia'' ("The Chalceia Festival"), or ''Chalkis'' ("The Copper Pot") *''Chera'' ("The Widow") *''Daktylios'' ("The Ring") *''Dardanos'' ("Dardanus") *''Deisidaimon'' ("The Superstitious Man") *''Demiourgos'' ("The Demiurge") *''Didymai'' ("Twin Sisters") *''Dis Exapaton'' ("Double Deceiver") *''Empimpramene'' ("Woman On Fire") *''Encheiridion'' ("The Dagger") *''Epangellomenos'' ("The Man Making Promises") *''Ephesios'' ("The Man From Ephesus") *''Epikleros'' ("The Heiress") *''Eunouchos'' ("The Eunuch") *''Georgos'' ("The Farmer") *''Halieis'' ("The Fishermen") *''Heauton Timoroumenos'' ("Torturing Himself") *''Heniochos'' ("The Charioteer") *''Heros'' ("The Hero") *''Hiereia'' ("The Priestess") *''Hippokomos'' ("The Horse-Groom") *''Homopatrioi'' ("People Having The Same Father") *''Hydria'' ("The Water-Pot") *''Hymnis'' ("Hymnis") *''Hypobolimaios'' ("The Changeling"), or ''Agroikos'' ("The Country-Dweller") *''Imbrioi'' ("People From

Imbros Imbros or İmroz Adası, officially Gökçeada (lit. ''Heavenly Island'') since 29 July 1970,Alexis Alexandris, "The Identity Issue of The Minorities in Greece And Turkey", in Hirschon, Renée (ed.), ''Crossing the Aegean: An Appraisal of the 1 ...

") *''Kanephoros'' (" The Ritual-Basket Bearer") *''Karchedonios'' ("The Carthaginian Man") *''Karine'' ("The Woman From

Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid- Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined ...

") *''Katapseudomenos'' ("The False Accuser") *''Kekryphalos'' ("The Hair-Net") *''Kitharistes'' ("The Harp-Player") *''Knidia'' ("The Woman From

Cnidos Knidos or Cnidus (; grc-gre, Κνίδος, , , Knídos) was a Greek city in ancient Caria and part of the Dorian Hexapolis, in south-western Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. It was situated on the Datça peninsula, which forms the southern side ...

") *''Kolax'' ("The Flatterer" or "The Toady") *''Koneiazomenai'' ("Women Drinking Hemlock") *''Kybernetai'' ("The Helmsmen") *''Leukadia'' ("The Woman from

Leukas Lefkada ( el, Λευκάδα, ''Lefkáda'', ), also known as Lefkas or Leukas (Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', modern pronunciation ''Lefkás'') and Leucadia, is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Gr ...

") *''Lokroi'' ("Men From

Locris Locris (; el, label=Modern Greek, Λοκρίδα, Lokrída; grc, Λοκρίς, Lokrís) was a region of ancient Greece, the homeland of the Locrians, made up of three distinct districts. Locrian tribe The city of Locri in Calabria (Italy), ...

") *''Menagyrtes'' ("The Beggar-Priest of Rhea") *''Methe'' ("Drunkenness") *''Misogynes'' ("The Woman-Hater") *''Naukleros'' ("The Ship's Captain") *''Nomothetes'' ("The Lawgiver" or "Legislator") *''Olynthia'' ("The Woman From

Olynthos Olynthus ( grc, Ὄλυνθος ''Olynthos'', named for the ὄλυνθος ''olunthos'', "the fruit of the wild fig tree") was an ancient city of Chalcidice, built mostly on two flat-topped hills 30–40m in height, in a fertile plain at the h ...

") *''Orge'' ("Anger") *''Paidion'' ("Little Child") *''Pallake'' ("The Concubine") *''Parakatatheke'' ("The Deposit") *''Perinthia'' ("The Woman from Perinthos") *''Phanion'' ("Phanion") *''Phasma'' ("The Phantom, or Apparition") *''Philadelphoi'' ("Brotherly-Loving Men") *''Plokion'' ("The Necklace") *''Poloumenoi'' ("Men Being Sold", or "Men For Sale") *''Proenkalon'' ("The Pregnancy") *''Progamoi'' ("People About to Get Married") *''Pseudherakles'' ("The Fake

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

") *''Psophodees'' ("Frightened By Noise") *''Rhapizomene'' ("Woman Getting Her Face Slapped") *''Storfiappos'' ("The Spinner") *''Stratiotai'' ("The Soldiers") *''Synaristosai'' ("Women Who Eat Together At Noon"; "The Ladies Who Lunch") *''Synepheboi'' ("Fellow Adolescents") *''Synerosa'' ("Woman In Love") *''Thais'' ("

Thaïs Thaïs or Thais ( el, Θαΐς; flourished 4th century BC) was a famous Greek ''hetaira'' who accompanied Alexander the Great on his campaigns. Likely from Athens, she is most famous for instigating the burning of Persepolis. At the time, Thaï ...

") *''Theophoroumene'' ("The Girl Possessed by a God") *''Thesaurus'' ("The Treasure") *''Thettale'' ("The Woman From

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, The ...

") *''Thrasyleon'' ("Thrasyleon") *''Thyroros'' ("The Doorkeeper") *''Titthe'' ("The Wet-Nurse") *''Trophonios'' ("

Trophonius Trophonius (; Ancient Greek: Τροφώνιος ''Trophōnios'') was a Greek hero or daimon or god—it was never certain which one—with a rich mythological tradition and an oracular cult at Lebadaea (Λιβαδειά; ''Levadia'' or ''Livad ...

") *''Xenologos'' ("Enlisting Foreign Mercenaries")

Standard editions

The standard edition of the least-well-preserved plays of Menander is Kassel-Austin, ''Poetarum Comicorum Graecorum vol. VI.2''. For the better-preserved plays, the standard edition is now Arnott's 3-volume Loeb. A complete text of these plays for the

Oxford Classical Texts Oxford Classical Texts (OCT), or Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis, is a series of books published by Oxford University Press. It contains texts of ancient Greek and Latin literature, such as Homer's ''Odyssey'' and Virgil's ''Aeneid'', ...

series was left unfinished by Colin Austin at the time of his death; the OCT edition of Harry Sandbach, published in 1972 and updated in 1990, remains in print.OUP Edition of Menander

Notes

External links

* * A
English translation
of the

.
''Dyskolos''
translated by G. Theodoridis

translated by F. G. Allinson
Menander: ''Monosticha'' / ''Sententiae'' / ''Einzelverse''
– Sentences from Menander's work in the original Greek and translated in Latin and German

{{Authority control Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights 4th-century BC Athenians 3rd-century BC Athenians 4th-century BC writers 3rd-century BC writers Hellenistic Athens New Comic poets 340s BC births 290s BC deaths