Euripides' Kresphontes and Archelaos: Introduction, Text and Commentary (Mnemosyne , Vol Suppl. 87) (Mnemosyne, Supplements)

This book contains an introduction to the text of and a commentary on the fragments of two plays by Euripides, the Kresphontes (ca. 424 B.C.) and the Archelaos (ca. 408/7 B.C.) Fragments of both plays are preserved in quotations by other writers and in recently published papyri. The introduction discusses aspects of the background and of the contents of the plays, such as, for example, their first performances, the relation of the Kresphontes with the plays about Orestes, and Euripides' motives in writing the Archelaos (politics or flattery?). The commentary to each play deals with the interpretation of the fragments and testimonia , with textual problems and with typical elements of Euripides' style. This is the first full-scale treatment of both plays and offers, thanks to modern papyrus finds, some new evidence on their composition and context. The text of the papyrus fragments is based on personal inspection of the papyri concerned, which has resulted in a number of new readings EURIPIDES'KRESPHONTES AND ARCHELAOS: Introduction, Text and Commentary 3 CONTENTS 5 Acknowledgments 7 Preface 9 KRESPHONTES 13 Introduction 15 1. The play 15 1.1 The date of the Kresphontes 15 1.2 Later performances 16 1.3 Trilogy? 16 1.4 Relation with the Cresphontes of Ennius 17 1.5 The Kresphontes in art 19 2. Contents of the play 19 2.1 Summary of contents; the myth 19 2.2 Dramatis personae, chorus, scene 24 2.3 Structure of the play 26 2.4 Comparison with the Orestes-plays 26 2.5 The senex 29 3. The papyri 30 3.1 POxy.27,2458 30 3.2 PFayum 36 Text 39 Commentary 59 ARCHELAOS 135 Introduction 137 1. The play 137 1.1 The date of the Archelaos 137 1.2 The place of performance 138 1.3 Later performances 139 1.4 Trilogy? 139 1.5 Special background of the play 141 2.Contents of the play 143 2.1 Summary of contents; the myth 143 2.2 Dramatis personae, chorus, scene 150 3.The papyri 151 3.1 PHamb.118 a 151 3.2 POxy.3,419 155 Text 157 Commentary 181 Appendices: 285 1. Fragments and testimonia attributed to the Kresphontes 287 2. Fragments and testimonia attributed to the Archelaos 293 Bibliography 303 Indexes: 311 1. Index of Passages discussed 311 2. Index of Greek words 312 3. Index of Names and Subjects 313