I can imagine what you're thinking: "How could Menander, who lived approximately from 342 or 341 to 290 B.C., be considered a 'new' anything?"

    Good question. To understand the answer, we need to know the difference between the "old comedy" and the "new" in ancient Greek drama.

    The old comedy is typified by Aristophanes, whose plays featured barbed political commentary and a healthy dose of sexual innuendo. The so-called "middle comedy" is not clearly defined, as no complete works survive from this period. Some have called it simply "the period between Aristophanes and Menander." Finally, we are again on fairly solid ground regarding the new comedy. These plays were more about the relationships of "the ordinary man" instead of commentaries on politics--much like the situation comedies ("sitcoms") on TV today.

    Menander was born in Athens to a well-to-do family; his father may have been a public figure. As a successful dramatist, he wrote over 100 plays, and won eight prizes at one of Athens's annual festivals. Although he was offered positions at court, Menander preferred the quiet of the countryside. There he lived and wrote until (according to tradition) he drowned in his bath (some say in the sea) a little over age 50.

    Though Menander wrote award-winning plays, his rival Philemon won more prizes than he did. Believing himself the better writer, he is said to have asked Philemon, "Don't you feel ashamed whenever you gain a victory over me?"

    Today six of his plays survive in substantial form (three of them mostly complete, the other three about half there), and there are fragments of over 80 more. The importance of scholarship becomes apparent when we examine the history of these texts. By the Middle Ages, his plays were considered lost; all that was known of them was quotes by other authors. But in 1907, a manuscript was found with large parts of several plays; more were discovered in 1959, and again in 2003. Intriguingly, parts of one play were found wrapped around Egyptian mummies! Fragments of Menander's plays still turn up from time to time.

    Vocabulary: Which word above means:

    1. indirect statement about someone or something, often unkind

    2. died by "breathing" water

    3. hand-written document

    4. bodies prepared and wrapped for burial

    5. pieces

    6. everyday people

    7. intended to hurt

    8. served as an example

    9. named in this way

    10. wealthy

    ANSWERS: 1. innuendo 2. drowned 3. manuscript 4. mummies 5. fragments 6. "the ordinary man" 7. barbed 8. typified 9. so-called 10. well-to-do