Living Poets

The numbering here follows Kannicht

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M = reading of the whole MS tradition
m = reading of part of the MS tradition
P = reading on a papyrus
 

1 Εὐριπίδης ὁ ποιητὴς υἱὸς ἐγένετο Μνησαρχίδου Μνησαρχίδου m : Μνησάρχου m καπήλου καὶ Κλειτοῦς λαχανοπώλιδος, Ἀθηναῖος Ἀθηναῖος m : Ἀθηναῖος μὲν m : Ἀθηναῖος τὸ γένος m : γένος Ἀθηναῖος m. ἐγεννήθη δὲ ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ἐπὶ Καλλι⟨άδ⟩ου Καλλι⟨άδ⟩ου Meursius : καλλίου M ἄρχοντος κατὰ τὴν οε΄ ὀλυμπιάδα, ὅτε ἐναυμάχησαν τοῖς Πέρσαις οἱ Ἕλληνες.

1 Euripides the poet was the son of Mnesarchides, a shopkeeper, and Cleito, a vegetable-seller. An Athenian, he was born in Salamis in the archonship of Calliades, in the 75th Olympiad (480-79 BCE), when the Greeks fought the naval battle against the Persians.

2 ἤσκησε δὲ κατ’ ἀρχὰς μὲν παγκράτιον ἢ πυγμήν, τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ χρησμὸν λαβόντος ὅτι στεφανηφόρους ἀγῶνας νικήσει, καί φασιν αὐτὸν Ἀθήνησι νικῆσαι. ἀναγνοὺς δὲ ἐπὶ τραγωιδίαν ἐτράπη καὶ πολλὰ πολλὰ Nauck : πολλοὺς M προσεξεῦρε, προλόγους φυσιολογίας ῥητορείας ἀναγνωρισμούς, ὡς δὴ ἀκουστὴς γενόμενος Ἀναξαγόρου καὶ Προδίκου καὶ Πρωταγόρου καὶ Σωκράτους ἑταῖρος πρωταγόρου καὶ σωκράτους ἑταῖρος. δοκεῖ δὲ αὐτῶι m : πρωταγόρου καὶ σωκράτους (·) ἑταῖρος δὲ δοκεῖ αὐτῶι m : πρωταγόρα. σωκράτης δὲ ἕτερος αὐτῶι δοκεῖ m : Πρωταγόρου καὶ Σωκράτους. ἐταῖρος δὲ δοκεῖ αὐτῶι καὶ Σωκράτης ὁ φιλόσοφος ⟨γεγονέναι⟩ καὶ {Μνησίλοχος} συμπεποιηκέναι τινά Elmsley.

2 In the beginning, he trained in the pancratium or boxing, as his father had received an oracle that he would be victorious in contests whose prizes were crowns, and they say that he was victorious at Athens. But after a period of study, he turned to tragedy and made many innovations, including prologues, inquiries into natural causes, set speeches, recognitions—as one might expect from someone who had studied with Anaxagoras, Prodicus and Protagoras and was a friend of Socrates.

3 δοκεῖ δὲ αὐτῶι καὶ Σωκράτης ὁ φιλόσοφος καὶ Μνησίλοχος συμπεποιηκέναι τινά, ὥς φησι Τηλεκλείδης Fr. 41 K.-A.·

Μνησίλοχός ἐστ’ ἐκεῖνος ⟨ὃς⟩ φρύγει τι Μνησίλοχός ἐστ’ ἐκεῖνος ⟨ὃς⟩ φρύγει τι Dindorf : Μνησίλοχὸς δὲ ἐκεῖνος φρύγ(ε)ιόν τι M δρᾶμα καινόν
Εὐριπίδηι Εὐριπίδηι m : Εὐριπίδου m, καὶ Σωκράτης τὰ φρύγαν’ ὑποτίθησιν.

οἱ δὲ τὰ μέλη αὐτῶι φασι Κηφισοφῶντα φασι Κηφισοφῶντα Welcker : φασὶν ἰοφῶντα m : φασὶν σιοφῶντα m ποιεῖν ἢ Τιμοκράτην Ἀργεῖον.

3 Both the philosopher Socrates and Mnesilochus seem to have composed some of his plays with him, as Teleclides says:

‘Mnesilochus is the one who’s cooking up some brand-new play for Euripides and Socrates is laying the firewood for them.’

Others say that Cephisophon or Timocrates the Argive composed his lyrics for him.

4 φασὶ δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ ζωγράφον γενέσθαι καὶ δείκνυσθαι αὐτοῦ πινάκια ἐν Μεγάροις. γενέσθαι δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ πυρφόρον τοῦ Ζωστηρίου Ἀπόλλωνος.

4 They say that he was also a painter and that his paintings were displayed in Megara; and also that he was a torchbearer of Apollo Zosterius.

5 γεννηθῆναι δὲ τῆι αὐτῆι ἡμέραι ⟨ἧι⟩ ⟨ἧι⟩ Schwartz καὶ Ἑλλάνικον FGrHist 4 T 6. The statement is false: see Jacoby ad loc., ἐν ἧι ἐνίκων τὴν περὶ Σαλαμῖνα ναυμαχίαν οἱ Ἕλληνες, ἄρξασθαι δὲ ἀγωνίζεσθαι γενόμενον ἐτῶν εἰκοσιέξ.

5 They say that he was born on the same day as Hellanicus—that on which the Greeks won the naval battle at Salamis—and that he began to compete when he was twenty-six years old.

6 μετέστη δὲ ἐν Μαγνησίαι καὶ προξενίαι προξενίαι Elmsley : προξένωι M ἐτιμήθη καὶ ἀτελείαι. ἐκεῖθεν δὲ εἰς Μακεδονίαν περὶ Ἀρχέλαον γενόμενος διέτριψε καὶ χαριζόμενος αὐτῶι δρᾶμα ὁμωνύμως Archel. test. ii a Kannicht ἔγραψε καὶ μάλα ἔπραττε παρ’ αὐτῶι, ὅτε καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν διοικήσεων ἐγένετο.

6 He took up residence in Magnesia and was honoured with the status of proxenus and exemption from taxes. From there, he went to Macedonia, to the court of Archelaus, where he spent some time and pleased the king by writing an eponymous play for him. He fared very well during his time at the king’s court, when he was also in charge of public finances.

7 ἐλέγετο δὲ καὶ βαθὺν πώγωνα θρέψαι καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ὄψεως φακοὺς ἐσχηκέναι.

7 He is said to have grown a long beard and to have had moles on his eyes.

8 γυναῖκα δὲ γῆμαι πρώτην Μελιτώ, δευτέραν δὲ Χοιρίνην χοιρίνην m : χοιρίλην m : χοιρίλλην m : χοιρίλλαν m. καὶ υἱοὺς κατέλιπε τρεῖς· Μνησαρχίδην μὲν πρεσβύτατον πρεσβύτατον Kirchhoff : πρεσβύτερον m : πρῶτον m ἔμπορον, δεύτερον δὲ Μνησίλοχον ὑποκριτήν, νεώτατον δὲ Εὐριπίδην, ὃς ἐδίδαξε τοῦ πατρὸς ἔνια δράματα.

8 They say that he first married Melito, then Coirine. He left three sons: Mnesarchides, the oldest, who was a tradesman; Mnesilochus, a second, who was an actor; and the youngest, Euripides, who produced some of his father’s plays.

9 ἤρξατο δὲ διδάσκειν ἐπὶ Καλλίου ἄρχοντος κατὰ ὀλυμπιάδα πα΄ ἔτει πρώτωι ἔτει πρώτωι post Πελιάδας m. πρῶτον δὲ ἐδίδαξε τὰς Πελιάδας, ὅτε καὶ τρίτος ἐγένετο. τὰ πάντα δ’ ἦν αὐτοῦ αὐτοῦ m : αὐτῶι m δράματα ϙβ, σώιζεται δὲ οη΄. τούτων νοθεύεται τρία, Τέννης Ῥαδάμανθυς Πειρίθους.

9 He began to produce plays in the archonship of Callias, in the first year of the 81st Olympiad (455 BCE). His first production was the Daughters of Pelias, when he also came third. The sum total of his plays was 92; 78 are preserved. Of these, three are spurious: Tennes, Rhadamanthys, and Peirithous.

10 ἐτελεύτησε δέ, ὥς φησι Φιλόχορος FGrHist 328 F 220, ὑπὲρ τὰ ο΄ ἔτη γεγονώς, ὡς δὲ Ἐρατοσθένης FGrHist 241 F 12, οε΄. καὶ ἐτάφη ἐν Μακεδονίαι καὶ ἐτάφη ἐν Μακεδονίαι m : καὶ ἐν Μακεδονίαι ἐτάφη m : ἐτάφη δὲ ἐν μακεδονίαι m· κενοτάφιον δὲ αὐτοῦ {ἐν} {ἐν} Nauck Ἀθήνησιν ἐγένετο καὶ ἐπίγραμμα ἐπεγέγραπτο Θουκυδίδου τοῦ ἱστοριογράφου ποιήσαντος ἢ Τιμοθέου τοῦ μελοποιοῦ.

μνῆμα μὲν Ἑλλὰς ἅπασ’ Εὐριπίδου, ὀστέα δ’ ἴσχει
     γῆ Μακεδών Μακεδών A.P., Thom. Mag. Vit. Eur. : Μακεδόνων M, ἧιπερ ἧιπερ m : ἧιπερ m : ἥπερ m : ἧπου περ m : ἣ γὰρ A.P., Thom. Mag. Vit. Eur. δέξατο τέρμα βίου.
πάτρη πάτρη m : π(άτ)ρα m : πατέρες m : π(ατ)ρις m : πατρὶς A.P. δ’ Ἑλλάδος Ἑλλάς, Ἀθῆναι· πολλὰ πολλὰ m : πλεῖστα m, Thom. Mag. Vit. Eur. : πλεῖστος m : πλείστας m δὲ μούσαις
     τέρψας μούσαις τέρψας A.P. : μούσας τέρψας m, A.Pl. : γράψας μούσαις m ἐκ πολλῶν καὶ τὸν ἔπαινον ἔχει.

φασὶ δὲ καὶ κεραυνωθῆναι ἀμφότερα μνημεῖα.

10 According to Philochorus he was over seventy years old when he died; Eratosthenes says that he was seventy-five. He was buried in Macedonia, but had a cenotaph in Athens on which an epigram was inscribed, composed either by Thucydides the historian or Timotheus the lyric poet:

The whole of Greece is a memorial for Euripides, but the land of Macedon has his bones, for there he reached the end of his life. His homeland was Athens, the Hellas of Hellas. Since he gave much delight through his poetry he is praised by many men.

They say that both memorials were also struck by lightning.

11 λέγουσι δὲ καὶ Σοφοκλέα ἀκούσαντα ὅτι ἐτελεύτησεν, αὐτὸν μὲν ἱματίωι φαιῶι ἤτοι πορφύρωι post φαιῶι m : φαιῶι ἀντὶ πορφυροῦ Hermann προελθεῖν, τὸν δὲ χορὸν καὶ τοὺς ὑποκριτὰς ἀστεφανώτους εἰσαγαγεῖν ἐν τῶι προαγῶνι, καὶ δακρῦσαι τὸν δῆμον.

11 They say that Sophocles, too, when he heard that Euripides had died, himself came forward wearing a dark cloak and, in the proagon, brought the chorus and actors onstage with no garlands, and the people wept.

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