Επιτρέποντες

by Menander, Μένανδρος, Θεόδωρος Γ. Μαυρόπουλος (Translator)

Ο Μένανδρος είναι ο μεγάλος κωμωδιογράφος της λεγόμενης "νέας κωμωδίας", του σημαντικού αυτού δραματικού είδους από το οποίο μόνο αποσπάσματα, δυστυχώς, μας έχουν σωθεί.

Ο ποιητής αυτός είχε την καλή τύχη να περισωθεί έστω και με όχι αλώβητα κάποια έργα του. Έχουμε σήμερα στη διάθεσή μας τα έργα: "Δύσκολος", "Επιτρέποντες", "Σαμία", "Ασπίς".

Η συνολική επεξεργασία του τόμου έγινε με την επιμέλεια του φιλολόγου Θ.Γ. Μαυροπούλου και περιλαμβάνει: πρόλογο του εκδότη Κωνσταντίνου Ζήτρου, εισαγωγή του συγγραφέα στην αρχαία ελληνική δραματική ποίηση και στον ποιητή, το αρχαίο ελληνικό κείμενο, τη μετάφρασή του, τα φιλολογικά σχόλια για το έργο, την ανάλυση του έργου, θέματα - ερωτήματα για περαιτέρω επεξεργασία του κειμένου, ανθολόγηση του έργου, βιβλιογραφία σχετική με το έργο και ευρετήριο όρων και ονομάτων.

Genres: Plays, Ancient

153 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 301

About the author

Greek: Μένανδρος
Menander (ca. 342–291 BC), the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy, was the son of well-to-do parents; his father Diopeithes is identified by some with the Athenian general and governor of the Thracian Chersonese known from the speech of Demosthenes De Chersoneso. He presumably derived his taste for comic drama from his uncle Alexis.

Reviews

[Czarny Pies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sophocles, Aeschylus Euripides, and Aristophanes who were all writing plays that were performed in Athens during the Fifth Century are recognized as the creators of the great tradition of European theatre. Menander, who was active a century later, can be seen of the founder of most that is bad. At moments his plays remind you of Shakespeare in his weaker moments ("A Comedy of Errors", "All's Well that ends Well'), Congreve ("The Way of the World"), Wycherley ("Country Wife"), Labiche ("The Italian Straw Hat") and Feydeau ("A Flea in her Ear,")
Gilbert Murray's "The Arbitration" merits five stars for the way it brilliantly illustrates the work of Menander. Murray's text combines a lively translation of the sections of the Menander's play that have survived with passages written by Murray to provide a complete work that can and has been successfully staged. There are crispy, witty dialogues and delightful satiric moments. For fans of bedroom farces or summer stock, "The Arbitration" is probably entertaining.
Most theatre goers however will see only problems. The hero rapes the heroine at night during a summer festival. Both having consumed alcohol are unable to remember who the other was. The parents unaware of the incident arrange for the two to be married. The heroine is revealed to be pregnant and the hero flees. Eventually, the truth is discovered. The hero and heroine thus reunited along with their young child. The best passages involve the parents, neighbours and servants of the young couple.
The hero and heroine are not only dull but do nothing to resolve the basic dramatic dilemma. Instead it is a female slave of the hero who takes the initiative, protects the heroine and uncovers the fact that the unknown father of the heroine's child is in fact the man that she subsequently married. Menander, however, is too much of a social conservative to have a slave perform the only meritorious acts in his play. Thus in a second revelation, it is learned that the courageous slave girl is in fact the long-lost sister of the heroine.
"The Arbitration" demands too much of the audience. The plot is filled with improbabilities. The theatre goer is asked to believe that the hero is truly remorseful for his sexual assault and that the marriage will be happy. Moreover, the person in the audience has to believe that virtue flows automatically from a bourgeois marriage. Unfortunately our society has produced plays that make these absurd demands on the audience ever since "The Arbitration" was first staged 2,500 years ago and will likely continue to do so for another 2,500 years. Menander's "Arbitration" allows us to take a good look at popular culture at its worst Murray's text is well worth the read.

[Illiterate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Menander’s comedies offer realism, characters, and social situations. (The editorial apparatuses help make sense of the fragments.)

[Tina Coppola · Rating 5 out of 5]

La grazia e la tenerezza. Profondità psicologica e complessità senza tormento: il sorriso benevolo sull'umanità di un'Atene che entra nell'ellenismo. Menandro insegna al mondo cosa siano solidarietà e leggerezza: benedetto il deserto che ce ne restituì i papiri!

[Γιώργος Μπελαούρης · Rating 3 out of 5]

κάπως καλύτερο από τα άλλα δύο αλλά και πάλι μιεχ
δυστυχώς λείπουν πολλοί στίχοι, μα εκτίμησα το λίγο πιο δραματικό στόρι
δυστυχώς, ο μένανδρος, δεν με τρέλανε...

[Stavroula · Rating 3 out of 5]

λείπει κάποιο μέρος του έργου για αυτό ίσως το βρήκα μπερδεμένο. Αν δεν υπήρχαν τα σχόλια δύσκολα θα το καταλάβαινα. Λακωνικότατος.