Menander : The Grouch, Desperately Seeking Justice, Closely Cropped Locks, the Girl from Samos, the Shield

by Athens Menander, David R. Slavitt

The Penn Greek Drama Series presents original literary translations of the entire corpus of classical Greek drama: tragedies, comedies, and satyr plays. It is the only contemporary series of all the surviving work of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, and Menander.

The translations in this volume are by Sheila D'Atri, Palmer Bovie, and Richard Elman.

Genres: Plays

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 27, 301

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am reading 3 different translations of Menander right now.
This is an odd one. A UP publication, but no Notes - ?????
Covers the 6 plays that are the most complete. Most of them have LARGE lucunae.
Unlike the other translations, the translators (Sheila D'Atri on her own, or with Palmer Bovie, in 5 of the 6 plays) here chose to "fill in the blanks". So some acts in the other translatiions are less than a page each, and turn into 4 pp of text here. "The Grouch" is about 1000 lines in the other translations, and close to 1,250 here.
But other times they choose not to do that - which is a bit confusing. Mostly for the pre-Prologue or the god's Prologue.
The language is also more modern and "street wise".
All of which makes for more readable plays for the 21st C reader. But without the Notes that are really necessary to understanding Greek Late Comedy.
Also, the general Introductioin is next to useless, including no Bibliographic history (an important part to the bits and shards of Menander's plays that have been found since the early 20th C). OTOH, the Introduction to each play is really an enjoyable read, and useful.
Again, rather inconsistent.
Fun to use along side the other 2 translations - use Oxford World Classics edition, translated by Maurice Balme. The complete plays and fragments - and Notes.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Menander’s plays are light comedic material later expanded on by Plautus, Terrence, Shakespeare, Sheridan and others. He is part of the tradition that led to the comedy of manners and later to farce. (But no twins, as far as I know.) They are generally safe – conservative, non-political, and traditional. His works are mildly entertaining, but not required reading except for historians of drama.


Dyskolus/The Grouch/Old Cantankerous *** – This is an entertaining play with the title character being the most interesting person. A young man must win over a misanthrope in order to win the girl he loves. The play plots his conversion from a misanthrope to one grudgedly human.

The Girl from Samos *** – I’m not sure why this is called the Girl from Samos, when the Girl from Samos is not the main character. She’s an important character, but far from the most important. Anyway, this is a farcical drama spinning around the parentage of an infant.

The Penn edition provides a poetic telling but is not afraid to fill the many gaps in the plays (other than The Grouch). Where these supplements are added, we are not told. I don’t mind someone trying to bring to life these fragmented plays, but I’d like to know where I’m reading Menander, and where I’m not.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I learned is how hard it is to translate Greek plays in poetic fragments into readable English.

Menander is for all time - a comedian who inspired the commedia dell'arte, Moliere and Shakespeare

[Jordan Dümer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read the Grouch using Project Gettysburg.