Antimachus of Colophon and the Position of Women in Greek Poetry A fragment printed for the use of scholars — Story, Setting & Ideas

A Scholarly Fragment, Not a Finished Argument

The book’s subtitle—A Fragment Printed for the Use of Scholars—is not a rhetorical gesture. The introductory note explains that Benecke’s death interrupted a planned three-part work; only the first two essays survive. The first essay, “Women in Greek Poetry,” likely incorporates material intended for the first division, but the editor notes it contains allusions to subjects that would have belonged to the third division on the Alexandrian ideal of woman. Readers should treat the arguments as provisional, especially where the text references topics not fully developed. The excursuses, such as those on Sophocles’ Phaedra and Euripides’ Andromeda, suggest the author was still assembling evidence.

Comedy as a Vehicle for New Marital Ideals

Benecke’s second essay, “Women in Greek Comedy,” argues that New Comedy, particularly Menander, revolutionized Greek attitudes by presenting marriage as a desirable state. He cites Plutarch’s testimony that Menander is suited for married men to read, and notes that seductions of maidens regularly end in marriage. The essay contrasts this with earlier Greek feeling, emphasizing that the Stichus and Hecyra depict wives remaining faithful to absent husbands, and that Menander’s fragments praise marital devotion. One quoted fragment calls marriage the closest relationship: “οἰκεῖον οὕτως οὐδέν ἐστιν, ὦ Λάχης, / ἐὰν σκοπῇ τις, ὡς ἀνήρ τε καὶ γυνή.” Benecke acknowledges the exception of hen-pecked husbands, but notes these are always elderly, suggesting ridicule of mariages de convenance rather than marriage itself.

Evidence from Ancient Testimony and Fragmentary Plays

Benecke builds his case on a combination of ancient critical judgments and surviving dramatic fragments. He quotes an epigram from the C. I. G. that calls Menander the “bright companion of Love” and says he “sweetened the stage with dramas all about marriage.” He also draws on Plutarch’s Symposiacs to argue that Menander’s works were considered proper for married people. The analysis of specific plays, though based on Latin adaptations (Plautus’ Stichus, Terence’s Hecyra), is used to infer the Greek originals’ treatment of marital fidelity. Benecke’s method is philological: he cites line numbers and compares fragments to support his thesis that New Comedy introduced a romantic element absent from earlier Greek literature.

Because the work is a fragment, readers should approach it as a collection of scholarly notes rather than a finished monograph. The essays are dense with Greek quotations and textual criticism, and the argument about the “romantic element” is only partially developed. Those interested in the history of gender in classical literature will find useful source references, but should verify Benecke’s claims against the original texts. The volume is best read alongside the plays and fragments it discusses.

Benecke's fragment about Antimachus makes me recall evenings spent puzzling over how Greek poets heard women's voices—so often just echoes. It reminded me of that quiet feeling I had reading Adventures in indigence, and other essays — Reading Companion last winter. Both books are incomplete in their own ways, yet that unfinished quality somehow made the searching feel more honest, more human.