Suda s.v. Euripides

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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, Μνησάρχου ἢ Μνησαρχίδου καὶ Κλειτοῦς, οἳ φεύγοντες εἰς Βοιωτίαν μετώικησαν, εἶτα ἐν τῆι Ἀττικῆι. οὐκ ἀληθὲς δέ, ὡς λαχανόπωλις ἦν ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ· καὶ γὰρ τῶν σφόδρα εὐγενῶν ἐτύγχανεν, ὡς ἀποδείκνυσι Φιλόχορος FGrHist 328 F 218. ἐν δὲ τῆι διαβάσει Ξέρξου ἐκυοφορεῖτο ὑπὸ τῆς μητρὸς καὶ ἐτέχθη καθ’ ἣν ἡμέραν Ἕλληνες ἐτρέψαντο τοὺς Πέρσας.

1 Euripides, the son of Mnesarchus or Mnesarchides and Cleito, who, being exiled, lived as resident aliens in Boeotia and then Attica. It is not true that his mother was a vegetable-seller; indeed, she was from a very noble family, as Philochorus demonstrates. His mother became pregnant at the time of Xerxes’ crossing and he was born on the day the Greeks defeated the Persians.

2 γέγονε δὲ τὰ πρῶτα ζωγράφος, εἶτα μαθητὴς Προδίκου μὲν ἐν τοῖς ῥητορικοῖς, Σωκράτους δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἠθικοῖς καὶ φιλοσόφοις. διήκουσε δὲ καὶ Ἀναξαγόρου τοῦ Κλαζομενίου Κλαζομενίου edd. : κλαζομένου M, ἐπὶ τραγωιδίαν δὲ ἐτράπη τὸν Ἀναξαγόραν ἰδὼν ὑποστάντα κινδύνους δι’ ἅπερ εἰσῆξε δόγματα.

2

To begin with, he became a painter, then a pupil of Prodicus in rhetoric and of Socrates in ethics and philosophy. He was also a disciple of Anaxagoras the Clazomenian and turned to tragedy after seeing the dangers that Anaxagoras endured on account of the doctrines which he had introduced.

3 σκυθρωπὸς δὲ ἦν τὸ ἦθος τὸ ἦθος om. m καὶ ἀμειδὴς καὶ φεύγων τὰς συνουσίας· ὅθεν καὶ μισογύνης ἐδοξάσθη. ἔγημε δὲ ὅμως πρώτην μὲν Χοιρίνην Χοιρίνην m : Χοιρίλλην m θυγατέρα Μνησιλόχου, ἐξ ἧς ἔσχε Μνησίλοχον καὶ Μνησαρχίδην καὶ Εὐριπίδην. ἀπωσάμενος δὲ ταύτην ἔσχε καὶ δευτέραν, καὶ ταύτης ὁμοίως ἀκολάστου πειραθείς.

3 His character was sullen; he never smiled and he fled company. For this reason he was also considered a misogynist. He married nonetheless; first Choerine, the daughter of Mnesilochus, by whom he had Mnesilochus, Mnesarchides, and Euripides. Having divorced her, he had a second wife, whom he found just as licentious as the first.

4 ἀπάρας δὲ ἀπ’ Ἀθηνῶν ἦλθε πρὸς Ἀρχέλαον τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Μακεδόνων, παρ’ ὧι διῆγε τῆς ἄκρας ἀπολαύων τιμῆς. ἐτελεύτησε δὲ ὑπὸ ἐπιβουλῆς Ἀρριβαίου τοῦ Μακεδόνος καὶ Κρατεύα τοῦ Θετταλοῦ, ποιητῶν ὄντων καὶ φθονησάντων αὐτῶι πεισάντων τε τὸν βασιλέως οἰκέτην τοὔνομα Λυσίμαχον, δέκα μνῶν ἀγορασθέντα τοὺς βασιλέως οὓς αὐτὸς ἔτρεφε κύνας ἐπαφεῖναι αὐτῶι. οἱ δὲ ἱστόρησαν οὐχ ὑπὸ κυνῶν, ἀλλ’ ὑπὸ γυναικῶν νύκτωρ διασπασθῆναι, πορευόμενον ἀωρὶ πρὸς Κρατερὸν τὸν ἐρώμενον Ἀρχελάου (καὶ γὰρ σχεῖν αὐτὸν καὶ περὶ τοὺς τοιούτους ἔρωτας), οἱ δέ, πρὸς τὴν γαμετὴν Νικοδίκου τοῦ Ἀρεθουσίου.

4 Having departed from Athens, he went to the court of Archelaus, king of the Macedonians, where he lived, enjoying the greatest honour. He died as a result of a plot by Arribaeus the Macedonian and Crateus the Thessalian, who were poets and envied him. They persuaded a slave of the king, by the name of Lysimachus, whom they paid ten mnas, to unleash on the poet the royal dogs, which he had reared. Some recount that he was dismembered not by dogs but by women at night, whilst making his way early to the house of Craterus, Archelaus’ lover (for they say that he was also inclined to this kind of love); others say that he was making his way to the wife of Nicodicus of Arethusa.

5 ἔτη δὲ βιῶναι αὐτὸν οε΄, καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ αὐτοῦ ἐν Πέλληι μετακομίσαι τὸν βασιλέα. δράματα δὲ αὐτοῦ κατὰ μέν τινας οε΄, κατὰ δὲ ἄλλους ϙβ΄ · σώιζονται δὲ οζ΄. νίκας δὲ ἀνείλετο ἀνείλετο m : εἵλετο m ε΄, τὰς μέν δ΄ περιών, τὴν δὲ μίαν μετὰ τὴν τελευτήν μετὰ τὴν τελευτήν m : μετὰ τελευτήν m, ἐπιδειξαμένου τὸ δρᾶμα τοῦ ἀδελφιδοῦ αὐτοῦ Εὐριπίδου. ἐπεδείξατο δὲ ὅλους ὅλους M : τὸ ὅλον Wilamowitz ἐνιαυτοὺς κβ΄, καὶ τελευτᾶι καὶ τελευτᾶι m : ἀπέθανε δὲ m ἐπὶ τῆς ϙκ΄ ὀλυμπιάδος.

5 They say that he lived for 75 years and that the king moved his bones to Pella. Some say that he wrote 75 plays; others 92. 77 are extant. He had 5 victories: 4 whilst alive and one posthumous, his nephew Euripides producing the play. He produced plays for a total of 22 years and died in the 93rd Olympiad (408/7 - 405/4 BCE).

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