Menander (; ; c. 342/341 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek scriptwriter 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. Greek comedy was distinguished from tragedy by its happy endings and use of comically ...

. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His record at the City Dionysia is unknown. He was one of the most popular writers and most highly admired poets in antiquity, but his work was considered lost before the

early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

. It now survives only in Latin-language adaptations by

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a playwright during the Roman Republic. He was the author of six Roman comedy, comedies based on Greek comedy, Greek originals by Menander or Apollodorus of Carystus. A ...

and

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) 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 genre devised by Livius Andro ...

and, in the original Greek, in highly fragmentary form, most of which were discovered on

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'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...

in Egyptian tombs during the early to mid-20th-century. In the 1950s, to the great excitement of

Classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

s, it was announced that a single play by Menander, ''

Dyskolos ''Dyskolos'' (, , 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, that has ...

'', had finally been rediscovered in the

Bodmer Papyri The Dishna Papers, also often known as the Bodmer Papyri, are a group of twenty-two papyri discovered in Dishna, Egypt in 1952. Later, they were purchased by Martin Bodmer and deposited at the Bodmer Library in Switzerland. The papyri contai ...

intact enough to be performed.

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 is identified by some with the Athenian general and governor of the Thracian Chersonese known from the speech of

Demosthenes Demosthenes (; ; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide insight into the politics and cu ...

'' De Chersoneso''. He presumably derived his taste for comic drama from his uncle Alexis. He was the friend, associate, and perhaps pupil of

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; ; c. 371 – c. 287 BC) was an ancient Greek Philosophy, philosopher and Natural history, naturalist. A native of Eresos in Lesbos, he was Aristotle's close colleague and successor as head of the Lyceum (classical), Lyceum, the ...

, and was on intimate terms with the Athenian dictator

Demetrius of Phalerum Demetrius of Phalerum (also Demetrius of Phaleron or Demetrius Phalereus; ; c. 350 – c. 280 BC) was an Athenian orator originally from Phalerum, an ancient port of Athens. A student of Theophrastus, and perhaps of Aristotle, he was one of the ...

. He also enjoyed the patronage of Ptolemy Soter, the son of Lagus, who invited him to his court. But Menander, preferring the independence of his villa in the

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) 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 Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

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

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

, he drowned while bathing, and his countrymen honored him with a tomb on the road leading to Athens, where it was seen by Pausanias. Numerous supposed busts of him survive, including a well-known statue in the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

, formerly thought to represent

Gaius Marius Gaius Marius (; – 13 January 86 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. Victor of the Cimbrian War, Cimbric and Jugurthine War, Jugurthine wars, he held the office of Roman consul, consul an unprecedented seven times. Rising from a fami ...

. 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 Aulus Gellius (c. 125after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome. He is famous for his ''Attic Nights'', a commonplace book, ...

, used to ask Philemon: "Don't you feel ashamed whenever you gain a victory over me?" According to

Caecilius of Calacte Caecilius may refer to: * Caecilia gens, an ancient Roman family, including a list of people with the name ** Lucius Caecilius Iucundus, a Roman inhabitant of Pompeii, and central character in the Cambridge Latin Course series * ''Caecilius'' (i ...

( Porphyry in

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

, '' Praeparatio evangelica'') Menander was accused of

plagiarism Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close ...

, 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 (, ) 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 have died in 1078, although it has also been maintained tha ...

, were said to still have been available in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

in the 11th century. He is praised by

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

(''Comparison of Menander and Aristophanes'') and

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...

(''Institutio Oratoria''), who accepted the tradition that he was the author of the speeches published under the name of the Attic orator Charisius. Menander fresco Pompeii Italy

An admirer and imitator of

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, 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 attributed ninety-five plays to ...

, 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 15:33). 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 (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

, whose bawdy style was adopted in many of his plays. Menander found many Roman imitators. '' Eunuchus'', '' Andria'', '' Heauton Timorumenos'' and '' Adelphi'' of

(called by Caesar "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. 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

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, 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'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), Germany, German classical philology, classical scholar, was born at Soest, Germany, Soest in the Duchy of Westphalia. He was father-in-law to ...

(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'', and the '' Epitrepontes''; 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 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 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 The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church i ...

Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

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, 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''"); 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 or 13 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 Caesar's civil wa ...

upon committing his army to civil war by crossing the River Rubicon. The popular form "the die is cast" is from the Latin , a mistranslation by

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

, 121 AD. According to

, the actual phrase used by Julius Caesar at the crossing of the Rubicon 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 "'' Alea iacta est''". '' Lewis and Short'', citing Casaubon and Ruhnk, suggest that the text of Suetonius should read , which they translate as "Let the die be cast!", or "Let the game be ventured!". This matches Plutarch's third-person perfect passive 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. They typically ended with a wedding or 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) *'' Epitrepontes'' ("The Arbitration"; most) *'' Misoumenos'' ("The Hated Man"; about a third) *'' Perikeiromene'' ("The Girl with her Hair Cut Short" or "Rape of the Locks"; about half) *'' Samia'' ("The Girl from

Samos Samos (, also ; , ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese archipelago, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the Mycale Strait. It is also a separate reg ...

"; most) *'' Sikyonioi'' or ''Sikyonios'' ("The

Sicyon Sicyon (; ; ''gen''.: Σικυῶνος) or Sikyōn was an ancient Greek city state situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day regional unit of Corinthia. The ruins lie just west of th ...

ian(s)"; about a third)

Only fragments available

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

Messene Messene (Greek language, 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 (region), P ...

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

Andros Andros (, ) is the northernmost island of the Greece, 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 fruitful and ...

") *''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 Latinisation of names, Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia (; modern Greek, modern: ; ancient Greek, ancient: ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Central Greece (adm ...

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

Caria Caria (; from Greek language, Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; ) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Carians were described by Herodotus as being Anatolian main ...

") *''Katapseudomenos'' ("The False Accuser") *''Kekryphalos'' ("The Hair-Net") *''Kitharistes'' ("The Harp-Player") *''Knidia'' ("The Woman From Cnidos") *''Kolax'' ("The Flatterer" or "The Toady") *''Koneiazomenai'' ("Women Drinking Hemlock") *''Kybernetai'' ("The Helmsmen") *''Leukadia'' ("The Woman from Leukas") *''Lokroi'' ("Men From Locris") *''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") *''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 Gr ...

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

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

") *''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 ''Livadei ...

") *''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 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 Athenian dramatists and playwrights 4th-century BC Athenians 3rd-century BC Athenians 4th-century BC Greek poets 3rd-century BC Greek poets Hellenistic Athens New Comic poets 340s BC births 290s BC deaths