A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

1032 MENANDER. AMENANDER.
Gellius (xvii. 21). Respecting the manner of his Afranius we have the well-known line of Horace
death, all that we know is that an old commenta- (Epist. ii. 1. 57):tor on Ovid applies the line (Ibis, 593)
tor on Ovid applies the line (Ii, 3) Dicitur Afrani toga convenisse Menandro."
" Comicus ut medius periit dum nabat in undis"
Plautus was an exception, as we learn from the
to Menander, and tells us that he was drowned next line of Horace:while swimming in the harbour of Peiraeeus; and " Plautus ad exemplar Siculi properare Epicharmi
we learn from Alciphron (Epist. ii. 4) that Me- Dicitur;"
nander had an estate at Peiraeeus. He was buried
by the roadleading out of Peiraeeus towards Athens. and his extant plays sufficiently show that the
(Paus. i. 2. ~ 2). There are two epigrams upon ruder energy of the old Doric comedy was far more
him in the Greek Anthology: the one an epitaph congenial to him than the polished sententiousness
by Diodorus (Brunck, Anal. vol. ii. p. 188, AnthS, of Menander, whom, therefore, he only followed in
Pal. vii. 370, vol. i. p. 413, Jacobs), one of the most striking of which
anonymous. (Brunck, Anal. vol. iii. p. 268, Anth. is in the Cistellaria (i. 1. 91; comp. Meineke
Pal. ix. 187, vol. ii. p. 63, Jacobs.) Menand. Reliq. p. 208, Frag. Com. Graec. vol. iv.
Notwithstanding Menander's fame as a poet, his p. 243). With respect to Terence, the oft-repeated
public dramatic career, during his lifetime, was not statement, that he was simply a translator of
eminently successful; for, though he composed Menander, is an injustice to the latter. That
upwards of a hundred comedies, he only gained Terenlce was indebted to him for all his ideas and
the prize eight times. (Aul. Gell. xvii. 4; comp. very many of his lines, is true enough; but that
Martial. v. 10.) His preference for elegant ex- from any one play of Terence we can form a fair
hibitions of character above coarse jesting may notion of the corresponding play of Menander, is
have been the reason why he was not so great a disproved by the confession of Terence himself
favourite with the common people as his principal (Prolog. in Andr.) that he compressed two of
rival, Philemon, who is said, moreover, to have Menander's plays into one; while the coolness with
used unfair means of gaining popularity. ((ell. which he defends and even boasts of the exploit,
i. C.) shows how little we can trust him as our guide to
Menander appears to have borne the popular the poetical genius of Menander. Theone merit
neglect very lightly, in the consciousness of his of Terence was felicity of expression; he had not
superiority; and once, when he happened to meet the power of invention to fill up the gaps left by
Philemon, he is said to have asked him, "Pray, the omissions necessary in adapting a Greek play
Philemon, do not you blush when you gain a for a Roman audience, and therefore he drew again
victory overme?" (Gell. I.ac.; comp. Athen.xiii. upon the rich resources of his original. It was
p. 594, d.; Alciphr. Epist. ii. 3). The Athenians this mixing up of different plays that his contemerected his statue in the theatre, but this was an poraries condemned when they said, "Contaminari
honour too often conferred upon very indifferent non decere fabulas," and that Caesar pointed to by
poets to be of much value: indeed, according to the phrase O dimidiate Menander. In the epigram
Pausanias, he was the only distinguished comic in which that phrase occurs, Caesar expressly inpoet of all whose statues had a place there. (Paus. timtes that the spirit of the Greek original had
i. 21. ~ 1; Dion Chrysost. Or. xxxi. p. 628, 13.) greatly evaporated inTerence:The neglect of Menander's contemporaries has " Tu quoque, tu in summis, o dimidiate Menander,
been amply compensated by his posthumous fame. Poneris, et merito, purl sermonis amator.
His comedies retained their place on the stage Lenibus atque utinam scriptis adjuncta foret vis;
down to the time of Plutarch (Comp. Men. et Aris. Comica ut aequato virtus polleret honore
p. 854, b.), and the unanimous consent of antiquity Cum Graecis, neque in hac despectus parte jaceres.
placed him at the head of the New Comedy, and on Unum hoc maceror et doleo tibi deesse, Terenti."
an equality with the great masters of the various
kinds of poetry. The grammarian Aristophanes The following epigram is worth quoting by the
assigned him the second place among all writers, side of Caesar's (Burmann, AntM. Lat. vol. i. p.
after Homer alone (Brunck, Anal. vol. iii. p. 269). 140):
To the same grammarian is ascribed the happy
i ATu quoque, qui solus tecto sernone, Terenti,
saying, Mezao (ore, according to Scaligers d Conversum expressumque Latina voce MenanIrpgepoy *'/tipjawro (or, according/to Scaliger's
correction, ~r4Tepov dretp IoaTo). Among the drum
~orrection, rd~poi cinrlrsovo)./ Among the In medio populi sedatis vocibus effers."
Romans, besides the fact that their comedy was
founded chiefly on the plays of Menander, we have Still, the comedies of Terence are a valuable
the celebrated phrase of Julius Caesar, who ad- contribution to our knowledge of Menander, espedresses Terenee as dimidiate,Menander. (Donat. cially considering the scantiness of the extant fragVit. Terent. p. 754.) Quintilian's high eulogy of him ments.
is well known (x. 1). Meineke well remarks that the quality which
The imitations of Menander are at once a proof Caesar missed in Terence was what the Greeks
of his reputation and an aid in appreciating his call ia raOT1KOrv, which Menander had with
poetic character, Among the Greeks, Alciphron admirable art united with Trip Ol4. And thus
and Lucian were, in various degrees, indebted to the poetry of Menander is described as 81d?roXAcv
his comedies. (Meineke, p. xxxv.) Among the ayoa'evs' 7raeOcv Kal 7oi~v by Plutarch, in his ComnRomans, his chief imitators were Caecilius, Afra- parison of Menander and Aristoplsanes (p. 853, d.),
nius, and Terentius. How much Caecilius was which is the most valuable of the ancient testiindebted to him -may be conjectured from the monies concerning our poet. The style of his
titles of his plays, of which there are very few language is described by an old grammarian as
that are not taken from?.enander. Respecting A'Ss Xexvgu(v cal SroKDOTKq, which may be con