The Shelves · Comedy

Comedies (Dyskolos, Samia, Aspis, Epitrepontes and others)

Known · Probablein Alexandria?Conjecturedvery likely class

See it on the shelves ›

I · The entry, in his form

In the table of Comedy

Conjecturedvery likely class

Menander of Athens

Comedies

Opening words

Τῆς Ἀττικῆς νομίζετ᾽ εἶναι τὸν τόπον, Φυλήν

Imagine that the scene is in Attica, at Phyle

Length: not counted

Above, his entry form, filled from what we know. Below, ours.

II · Does it survive? Where to read it

Survives in fragments

Lost in the medieval tradition; one complete play (Dyskolos, published 1958 from a Bodmer papyrus) and large parts of others recovered from Egyptian papyri.

Was it in Alexandria?

Known · Probable

Probably held in the Library.

In the cupboard: no source names the Alexandrian copy, but its scholars' use of it makes one very likely.

Read it today

III · In the show

The show has not yet spoken of this work.

IV · Sources and the living entry

Ancient references (2)
  • Pliny, Natural History 7.111
  • Syrianus, Commentary on Hermogenes 2.23
Modern scholarship
  • W. G. Arnott, Menander, 3 vols (Loeb Classical Library 132, 459, 460; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979-2000).

Entry checked 31 Oct 2026 · no corrections · Suggest a correction ›

COMEDIES

Beside it in the cupboard