τόνδε Μένανδρον, ἀεὶ κρᾶτα πνκαζόμενον,
οὕνεκ’ ἄρ’ ἀνθρώπους ἱλαρὸν βίον ἐξεδίδαξεν,
ἡδύνας σκηνὴν δράμασι πᾶσι γάμῳ.
Still more emphatic is the testimony of Plutarch, who asserts (Sympos. vii. 712 C) that Menander is peculiarly suited for married men to hear and read—
ἔχει δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐρωτικὰ παρ’ αὐτῷ καιρὸν πεπωκόσιν ἀνθρώποις καὶ ἀναπαυσαμένοις μετὰ μικρὸν ἀπιοῦσι παρὰ τὰς ἑαυτῶν γυναῖκας ... αἵ τε φθοραὶ τῶν παρθένων εἰς γάμον ἐπιεικῶς καταστρέφουσι. κ.τ.λ.
Indeed, the essentially “proper” character of the Menandrean drama is emphasised by more than one ancient writer. That Comedy could be anything but indecent was a revelation to Athens of the fourth century, and it was a revelation for which she does not seem to have been particularly grateful; but the fact that it was a writer whose works were fit “pueris virginibusque legi,” who revolutionized the dramatic art, is one that a modern student of that revolution cannot afford to forget.[285]
Two of the plays mentioned above, the Hecyra and the Stichus, lead naturally to the consideration of another feature of the New Comedy treatment of marriage—a feature which, though less strongly marked than that of which we have just been speaking, is yet, if one considers what Greek feeling had previously been on this matter, perhaps even more remarkable. Not only is marriage held up as the lover’s ideal, but the actual married state is described as a state of happiness, and married people, even those who have been married for some time, are introduced to us as strongly attached to one another. How complete a revolution in Greek feeling such a state as this implies, need hardly be emphasised.[286] Yet, in the Stichus, we have a plot based on the determination of two women to remain faithful to their husbands (who have been absent for three years) in spite of the efforts of their father to induce them to do otherwise; they insist on remaining faithful, though their husbands are poor (Plaut. Stich. i. 2, 75 seqq.), and though they are uncertain whether their devotion is returned (i. 1, 36 seqq.). In the Hecyra again, it is the behaviour of Philumena after marriage which wins her husband’s heart (Ter. Hec. i. 2, 85 seqq.)—a remarkably modern form of love-story.
Various fragments, too, of Menander have a similar import, such as the famous passage from the Misogynes on the advantages of marriage—
ἐλθόντ’ εἰς νόσον
τὸν ἔχοντα ταύτην ἐθεράπευσεν ἐπιμελῶς,