Menander

Menander worked in Athens around 342–290 BC as the leading voice of New Comedy, writing domestic plots that replaced the old political satire. He took eight prizes at the Lenaia festival across his 108 plays, becoming antiquity's most popular playwright. But his Greek originals disappeared after the early Middle Ages, leaving only Latin adaptations by Terence and Plautus to carry his reputation. Papyrus fragments began surfacing in Egyptian tombs during the early 20th century, offering tantalizing pieces. Then in the 1950s came the shock: Dyskolos, a complete Menander play, emerged from the Bo…