The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-12-16

several large collections OF papyrus.
But Tanis lies in the marshy Delta.
not in the sands of the desert, and un-
fortunately almost all the papyri had
shared the same fate as those Of Hercu-
laneum- The rolls and fragments were
either rotted by water or calcined by
fire. so that practically noting with Greek
writing could be decipheTed. Lste- on,
however, ne made fortunate find Of a
roll of Greek papyrus at Hawara, under
the head Of a mummy, containing the
greater part of the second book OF the
'Iliad,'' with interesting scholia, or
notes.
The pspyrus was rolled up as a pillow.
upon which the head OF its former owner
rested. She was young and apparently
beautiful, and her long silken hair feIl
in heavy treses over the papyrus. hiding
it from view. The inscription on her
coffin was illegible, and we are alike
ignorant of her nationality and her mis-
tory. But there she lay, In her last long
resting place, and buried with her were
the papyrus leaves of the book she so
desrly loved. That papyrus is now
among the treasures of the Bodleian
library at Oxford.
At Guroo a still richer discovery wa.
made. In an early Greek cemetery,
where the dead has been buried in Egyp-
tan style, Professor Pefrie noticed that
the mummy cases were composed ot
pieces of inscribed papyrus. On subse-
quent examinations these papyri were
found to contain considerable po, ton
OF the "Phaedo' of Plato and fragments
OF the "Artiope," lost play by Euri-
pides. From the date records found
with them it is certain that these classi-
cal texts could not have been written
later than 80 B. c., and may be a CEN
tuiy earlier. They are, therefore, by
far the oldest manuscripts we possess o:
any Greek author.
But for years scholars have hoped
that Egypt might yet restore to US the
poems of Sappflo or the plays of Meran-
der. 1t mas now done SO, and We act
ually have in our hands five stanza,
from the pen of Sappho, as well as a
considerable portion Of a play by Me-
nsnder. The Importance OF this dis
covery can hardly be over estimated.
Hitherto Menander, though the ac-
knowledged father of modern comedy,
has been little more than a name 70 us
Every one OF his plays has perished,
except for certain number OF isolated
passages that have been preserved in
quotations by grammarians and an
biologists. The total OF these would
amount TO some hundrers of lines, not
nj
1t is true that the Latin plays OF Plau-
tus and Terence consist TO very large
extent of translations from Menander
and other Greek comedians. but we
Rave no means of knowing now far the
translations were literal, or whether the
charm of the original has not vanished
in the process.
Now, for the first time, we have before
us sufficient series OF continuous lines
to enable US 10 judge OF Menander's
style and plot. In antiquity. the fame
Of Menander over-shadowed all his
rivals He was the foremost representa-
tive of what is called the new
comedy" as Aristophsnes was OF the
"old comedy" The difference between
the two is fundamental, and character
istic Of achange in Greek political life
Aristophanes was the poet of free
used his pen to attack his political enc
mics. not shrinking from the broadest
burlesque OF the most personal satire.
The clumsy figure of Socrates lives in
hi. pages, as does the Regent in the
| coarse caricatures of Rowlsndson.
Menarder, on the other hand. may be
compared with the late George Du
Maurier, who cared naught for politics
and whose pencil was ever free from
spite In the tim of Mnandr, Athns had
ceased to be free, and hopes Of literature
were turning toward the court OF the
birth, ne was a. heart the first or the
Alexandrian school. A disciple Of Plato
| and Aristotle he was als5 an intimate
| friend OF Theophl astus and Epicurus.
Fortunate in being born al the parting
of the ways. Menander invited new
genre" in literature-t.le comedy OF
manners. the drama Of domestic life
| which has been passed on 10 our own day
| by the genius Of Moliere.
TIE Mensnder papyru. consists Of six
fragments. making up two leaves writ
| ten on both sides-in other words, four
pages-tlrough it is probable that they
originally formed part Of a roll. not
| book. One OF the pages is numbered .
| al the top. just as one Of the pages Of
the I,ocia is numbered II. No fac-simile
! is given to enable US TO judge Of the
| handwriting, but it cannot be earlier
| than the second century, A. ID.
IL
CT the papyrus, says that the ink -
very faded and the general state OF
| preservation poor. There seems TO have
been two scribes employed. neither OF
whom could be called skilful. Mistakes
| of .2elling abound, due 10 mispronuncia-
| ton. TIE total number Of lines wholly
or partially preserved is nearly one hun
| dred, one leaf having over twenty-five
| on each side. But considerable amount
| Of conjecture has been required 20 make
| them inteIifgi5le. and more, no douO-.
| viii be forthcoming.
That the play Is the Georges" C'Hus-
| bandnan'D cf Menander is rendered cs--
| tain by me fortunate fact that the
Dapy-us contains two passages which
| are quoted in extsnt authors "a belong
| ing II this play. II IL. however, curious
| 20 find one ot these passages given in
| a slightly different form. There are be-
| sides othe, lines. or parts % Zines, which
| are ascribei % Menanier. though not
| from a named play. The nance of c.ls--
acter. incidentally mentioned enable
Professor Nicoie to compile an aims.
complete list os the d-smati psTs0nai.
from which Il appears that the leading
| parsonage is not Ge0-gis. a. nss Tit1-