Jump to content

Epitrepontes: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Tried to add a warning.
Monkbot (talk | contribs)
Bots
3,695,952 edits
m Task 20: replace {lang-??} templates with {langx|??} ‹See Tfd› (Replaced 1);
 
(31 intermediate revisions by 18 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Comic play by Menander}}
{{Infobox play
{{Infobox play
| name = Epitrepontes
| name = Epitrepontes
| image = Relief with Menander and New Comedy Masks - Princeton Art Museum.jpg
| image =
| alt =
| alt =
| caption =
| caption =
Line 18: Line 19:
}}
}}


'''''Epitrepontes''''' ({{langx|el|{{lang|grc|Ἐπιτρέποντεϲ}}}}, translated as ''The Arbitration'' or ''The Litigants'') is an [[Ancient Greek comedy]], written c. 300 BCE by [[Menander]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Reading 5: Greek New Comedy |last=Damen |first=Mark }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Gardner |first=Hunter H. |date=2013 |title=Ventriloquizing Rape in Menander's Epitrepontes |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/76/article/534263 |journal=Helios |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=121–143 |doi=10.1353/hel.2013.0008 |bibcode=2013Helio..39..121G |issn=1935-0228}}</ref> Only fragments of the play have been found, primarily on papyrus, yet it is one of Menander's best-preserved plays.<ref name=":1" />
{{refimprove|date=May 2016}}


Fragments of roughly 750 lines, accounting for about half of the play, were found in 1907, alongside ''[[Perikeiromene]]'' and ''[[Samia (play)|Samia]]'' in the ''[[Cairo Codex]]''.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |title=The Plays and Fragments |date=8 May 2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-954073-0 |page=xxxi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8AnZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PR31}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Easterling |first1=P. E. |author1-link=P. E. Easterling |last2=Knox |first2=Bernard M. W. |author2-link=Bernard Knox |title=The Cambridge History of Classical Literature: Volume 1, Greek Literature, Part 2, Greek Drama |date=1989 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-35982-5 |page=163 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vLxohQGubTcC&pg=PA163}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=William |title=1997.10.07, Menander, Vol. 2. Pp. x + 501. Loeb Classical Library 459. – Bryn Mawr Classical Review |url=https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/1997/1997.10.07/ |journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Römer |first=Cornelia |date=2012 |title=New Fragments of Act IV, "Epitrepontes" 786—823 Sandbach (P. Mich. 4752 a, b and c) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23849834 |journal=Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik |volume=182 |pages=112–120 |jstor=23849834 |issn=0084-5388}}</ref> Additional fragments of the play have been found since its initial discovery. In 2012, the ''Michigan Papyrus'' was published, giving better readings to Acts 3 and 4 of the play.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sommerstein |first1=Alan |title= From Mount Sinai to Michigan: the rediscovery of Menander's Epitrepontes (part 4) |url=https://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ancientdrama/2012/12/06/from-mount-sinai-to-michigan-the-rediscovery-of-menanders-epitrepontes-part-4/|website=University of Nottingham}}</ref><ref>Menander: Epitrepontes (Bloomsbury Ancient Comedy Companions) by Alan H. Sommerstein (Author)</ref>
'''''Epitrepontes''''' (translated as ''The Arbitration'' or ''The Litigants'') is an [[Ancient Greek comedy]] by [[Menander]], of which only fragments of papyrus were preserved.

Epitrepontes (Greek: "arbitration") features a conflict - and attempts to resolve that conflict - between two Athenian households, as well as depicting conflicts in a marriage.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Furley |first=William |url=https://humanities-digital-library.org/index.php/hdl/catalog/book/new-fragments-menander#:~:text=In%20this%20brand%20new%20and,subject%20of%20a%20broken%20marriage. |title=New Fragments of Menander's 'Epitrepontes' |date=2021-06-03 |publisher=Institute of Classical Studies |isbn=978-1-914477-40-9 |language=en}}</ref> The play's most famous incident features a comical scene of legal arbitration. Two parties want the court to decide who should take ownership of goods found alongside an abandoned baby. The play gradually reveals the baby's history, and the identity of its parents, in the process of a complex exploration of marriage and family.<ref name=":2" /> The play also features sexual assault.<ref>{{Cite web |title=310: Reading 5: Menander's Epitrepontes, Classical Drama and Theatre |url=https://www.usu.edu/markdamen/clasdram/chapters/102reading5epitrepontes.htm |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=www.usu.edu}}</ref><ref name=":0" />


==Plot==
==Plot==
Pamphile, a young Athenian woman, gives birth to a child only five months after her wedding to her husband Charisios. In shame and fear for her marriage and familial reputation, she has her servant abandon the baby (as was an accepted practice in contemporaneous Greek society), along with tokens in the form of jewels, to aid the baby's future identification. At the time of the birth, Charisios was away on a business trip, and would not have known that a child was born at all, if not for his slave, Onesimos, telling him of seeing the child being abandoned.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=THE PLOT of EPITREPONTES {{!}} Dickinson College Commentaries |url=https://dcc.dickinson.edu/menander-epitrepontes/intro/plot |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=dcc.dickinson.edu}}</ref> Charisios suspects Pamphile of infidelity, and leaves her. He moves in with a neighbour, Chairestratos, and begins to spend money, including Pamphile's dowry, on drinking and carousing (including taking up with a [[Hetaira|hetaera]] named Habrotonon).<ref name=":3" /> Unbeknownst to him, the child was actually his own, the result of rape at a festival.
//I don't know how to put this as a warning, but the plot is at best deeply incomplete. English is not my native language, therefore I'm unable to translate it myself (maybe from Italian where the plot is surely right), but it should be done as soon as possible.


Daos, a shepherd, finds the baby and jewels abandoned in a field, and although he initially takes him home, he later gives the child to Syros, a charcoal-burner, whose wife had recently lost their baby. Syros claims the jewels that came with the child, accusing Daos of trying to keep them for himself. Daos argued that since he found the child, the jewels should be his. They ask Smikrines to arbitrate and decide what should be done. After hearing both sides, Smikrines rules in favor of Syros, declaring that the jewels belong to the baby, as the child might come from a noble background, so they are essential to its identity. After the judgment, Daos bitterly hands over the jewels. As Syros examines them, Onesimos enters and recognizes a ring, as it belongs to his master, Charisios.
Five months after his wedding, Charisios goes on a business trip. While he was out of town, his wife [[Pamphile]] gives birth to a child, who she reluctantly abandons to preserve her reputation and her marriage.

Furious that Chairos is wasting Pamphile's dowry, her father, Smikrines, demands she divorce Charisios. Pamilphile loyally refuses.<ref name=":2" /> Charisios overhears this, leading him to feel deep guilt for his actions. Meanwhile, Habrotonon enters carrying the baby, revealing to Pamphile that she knows the baby’s true parentage. She confirms that the baby belongs to Pamphile and Charisios, resolving the confusion. Charisios begins to accept the truth, and reunites with Pamphile. Smikrines also reconciles with Charisios, and peace is restored to the family.

==Characters==
*'''Charisios''', a young Athenian gentleman
*'''Chairestratos''', Charisios' friend and neighbour
*'''Onesimos''', Charisios' servant
*'''Pamphile''', Charisios' wife
*'''Smikrines''', Pamphile's father
*'''Habrotonon''', a hetaira
*'''Syros''', Chairestratos' servant, a charcoal-burner
*'''Daos''', a shepherd
*'''Karion''', a cook


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite book |title=Reading 5: Greek New Comedy |last=Damen |first=Mark |authorlink= |coauthors= |year= |publisher= |location= |isbn= |pages= }}


==External links==
==External links==
* {{FadedPage|id=20120806|name=The Arbitration (The Epitrepontes of Menander)}}
* {{FadedPage|id=20120806|name=The Arbitration (The Epitrepontes of Menander)}}
* [https://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ancientdrama/2012/11/15/from-mount-sinai-to-michigan-the-rediscovery-of-menanders-epitrepontes-part-1/ From Mount Sinai to Michigan: the rediscovery of Menander’s Epitrepontes (part 1)]
* [https://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ancientdrama/2012/11/15/from-mount-sinai-to-michigan-the-rediscovery-of-menanders-epitrepontes-part-1/ From Mount Sinai to Michigan: the rediscovery of Menander’s Epitrepontes (part 1)]
* [https://www.usu.edu/markdamen/ClasDram/chapters/102reading5epitrepontes.htm]
* [https://www.usu.edu/markdamen/ClasDram/chapters/102reading5epitrepontes.htm Reading 5: Menander's Epitrepontes]


{{Menander}}
{{Menander}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Plays by Menander]]
[[Category:Plays by Menander]]
[[Category:Plays set in ancient Greece]]
[[Category:Plays set in ancient Greece]]



{{play-stub}}
{{play-stub}}

Latest revision as of 21:59, 26 October 2024

Epitrepontes
Written byMenander
CharactersCharisios, Pamphile

Epitrepontes (Greek: Ἐπιτρέποντεϲ, translated as The Arbitration or The Litigants) is an Ancient Greek comedy, written c. 300 BCE by Menander.[1][2] Only fragments of the play have been found, primarily on papyrus, yet it is one of Menander's best-preserved plays.[3]

Fragments of roughly 750 lines, accounting for about half of the play, were found in 1907, alongside Perikeiromene and Samia in the Cairo Codex.[3][4][5][6] Additional fragments of the play have been found since its initial discovery. In 2012, the Michigan Papyrus was published, giving better readings to Acts 3 and 4 of the play.[7][8]

Epitrepontes (Greek: "arbitration") features a conflict - and attempts to resolve that conflict - between two Athenian households, as well as depicting conflicts in a marriage.[9] The play's most famous incident features a comical scene of legal arbitration. Two parties want the court to decide who should take ownership of goods found alongside an abandoned baby. The play gradually reveals the baby's history, and the identity of its parents, in the process of a complex exploration of marriage and family.[9] The play also features sexual assault.[10][2]

Plot

[edit]

Pamphile, a young Athenian woman, gives birth to a child only five months after her wedding to her husband Charisios. In shame and fear for her marriage and familial reputation, she has her servant abandon the baby (as was an accepted practice in contemporaneous Greek society), along with tokens in the form of jewels, to aid the baby's future identification. At the time of the birth, Charisios was away on a business trip, and would not have known that a child was born at all, if not for his slave, Onesimos, telling him of seeing the child being abandoned.[11] Charisios suspects Pamphile of infidelity, and leaves her. He moves in with a neighbour, Chairestratos, and begins to spend money, including Pamphile's dowry, on drinking and carousing (including taking up with a hetaera named Habrotonon).[11] Unbeknownst to him, the child was actually his own, the result of rape at a festival.

Daos, a shepherd, finds the baby and jewels abandoned in a field, and although he initially takes him home, he later gives the child to Syros, a charcoal-burner, whose wife had recently lost their baby. Syros claims the jewels that came with the child, accusing Daos of trying to keep them for himself. Daos argued that since he found the child, the jewels should be his. They ask Smikrines to arbitrate and decide what should be done. After hearing both sides, Smikrines rules in favor of Syros, declaring that the jewels belong to the baby, as the child might come from a noble background, so they are essential to its identity. After the judgment, Daos bitterly hands over the jewels. As Syros examines them, Onesimos enters and recognizes a ring, as it belongs to his master, Charisios.

Furious that Chairos is wasting Pamphile's dowry, her father, Smikrines, demands she divorce Charisios. Pamilphile loyally refuses.[9] Charisios overhears this, leading him to feel deep guilt for his actions. Meanwhile, Habrotonon enters carrying the baby, revealing to Pamphile that she knows the baby’s true parentage. She confirms that the baby belongs to Pamphile and Charisios, resolving the confusion. Charisios begins to accept the truth, and reunites with Pamphile. Smikrines also reconciles with Charisios, and peace is restored to the family.

Characters

[edit]
  • Charisios, a young Athenian gentleman
  • Chairestratos, Charisios' friend and neighbour
  • Onesimos, Charisios' servant
  • Pamphile, Charisios' wife
  • Smikrines, Pamphile's father
  • Habrotonon, a hetaira
  • Syros, Chairestratos' servant, a charcoal-burner
  • Daos, a shepherd
  • Karion, a cook

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Damen, Mark. Reading 5: Greek New Comedy.
  2. ^ a b Gardner, Hunter H. (2013). "Ventriloquizing Rape in Menander's Epitrepontes". Helios. 39 (2): 121–143. Bibcode:2013Helio..39..121G. doi:10.1353/hel.2013.0008. ISSN 1935-0228.
  3. ^ a b The Plays and Fragments. Oxford University Press. 8 May 2008. p. xxxi. ISBN 978-0-19-954073-0.
  4. ^ Easterling, P. E.; Knox, Bernard M. W. (1989). The Cambridge History of Classical Literature: Volume 1, Greek Literature, Part 2, Greek Drama. Cambridge University Press. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-521-35982-5.
  5. ^ Anderson, William. "1997.10.07, Menander, Vol. 2. Pp. x + 501. Loeb Classical Library 459. – Bryn Mawr Classical Review". Bryn Mawr Classical Review.
  6. ^ Römer, Cornelia (2012). "New Fragments of Act IV, "Epitrepontes" 786—823 Sandbach (P. Mich. 4752 a, b and c)". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 182: 112–120. ISSN 0084-5388. JSTOR 23849834.
  7. ^ Sommerstein, Alan. "From Mount Sinai to Michigan: the rediscovery of Menander's Epitrepontes (part 4)". University of Nottingham.
  8. ^ Menander: Epitrepontes (Bloomsbury Ancient Comedy Companions) by Alan H. Sommerstein (Author)
  9. ^ a b c Furley, William (2021-06-03). New Fragments of Menander's 'Epitrepontes'. Institute of Classical Studies. ISBN 978-1-914477-40-9.
  10. ^ "310: Reading 5: Menander's Epitrepontes, Classical Drama and Theatre". www.usu.edu. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  11. ^ a b "THE PLOT of EPITREPONTES | Dickinson College Commentaries". dcc.dickinson.edu. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
[edit]


Stub icon

This article on a play is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Epitrepontes&oldid=1253603164"