CRITICISM

Arnott, W. G. “Menander, Qui Vitae Ostendit Vitam …” Greece & Rome n.s. 2, 15, no. 1 (April 1968): 1-17.

Discusses the impact of discoveries of new texts and fragments, and praises Menander for seminal work in character development and for showing the irony of failure.

———. “From Aristophanes to Menander.” Greece & Rome n.s. 2, 19, no. 1 (April 1972): 65-80.

Examines what little is known of the transitional period between Old Comedy and New Comedy.

———. Introduction to Menander, edited by W. G. Arnott, Vol. 1, pp. xiii-xlv. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979.

Provides biographical information; discusses Menander's popularity during his lifetime, immediately after his death, and in modern times, and evaluates his overall achievement.

Easterling, Pat. “Menander: Loss and Survival.” In Stage Directions: Essays in Ancient Drama in Honour of E. W. Handley, edited by Alan Griffiths, pp. 153-60. London: Institute of Classical Studies, 1995.

Contends that much of Menander's popularity through the centuries resulted from his pithy one-liners being widely quoted in classroom texts.

Graves, Robert. “The Dour Man.” In Food for Centaurs: Stories, Talks, Critical Studies, Poems, pp. 224-29. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1960.

Criticizes the Dyskolos for being an unamusing comedy loaded with moral platitudes.

Konstan, David. “A Dramatic History of Misanthropes.” Comparative Drama 17, no. 2 (Summer 1983): 97-123.

Compares the Dyskolos, Shakespeare's Timon of Athens, and Moliére's Le Misanthrope.

Lloyd-Jones, Hugh. “The Structure of Menander's Comedies.” Dioniso 57 (1987): 313-21.

Analyzes the extremely varied structures of Menander's plays.

Lowe, N. J. “Tragic Space and Comic Timing in Menander's Dyskolos.” Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies 34 (1987): 126-38.

Discusses the setting and unique emphasis on topographical detail found in the Dyskolos.

Major, Wilfred E. “Menander in a Macedonian World.” Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 38, no. 1 (spring 1997): 41-73.

Argues that Menander did not include partisan appeals in his plays because politics was outside the scope of his ideology.

Reckford, Kenneth J. “The Dyskolos of Menander.” Studies in Philology 58, no. 1 (January 1961): 1-24.

Overview of the Dyskolos focuses on characterization.

Webster, T. B. L. “Typology of the Plays.” In An Introduction to Menander, pp. 13-24. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1974.

Categorizes several dozen of Menander's plays according to their use of standard plot characteristics.

Webster, T. B. L. Studies in Menander. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press, 1950, 238p.

Critical analysis of Menander that includes sections on plays of reconciliation, of social criticism, of adventure, and satire.

Zagagi, Netta. The Comedy of Menander: Convention, Variation and Originality. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995, 210p.

Analysis includes a study of the relation between the divine speaker in the prologue and the plot itself.

Additional coverage of Menander's life and career is contained in the following sources published by the Gale Group: Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 176; DISCovering Authors Modules: Most-studied Authors and Dramatists; and Drama Criticism, Vol. 3.