Fig. 79.—Wilhelm’s Transcription and Restoration of Five Fragments of the Athenian Victors’-List.
| [Ληναικ]α[ὶ ποη]τῶν | Πο[.....] Ι | Φίλι[ππος Γ?]ΙΙ | — | ||
| [κωμικ]ῶν | Με[ταγένη]ς ΙΙ | Χόρη[γος —] | Διο[νύσι]ος Ι | ||
| [Ξ]ενόφιλος Ι | Θεό[πομπ]ος ΙΙ | Ἀναξα[νδρί]δης ΙΙΙ | Κλέ[αρχ]ος [Ι. ] | ||
| [Τ]ηλεκλείδης Γ | Πολ[ύζηλο]ς ΙΙΙΙ | Φιλέτα[ιρο]ς ΙΙ | Ἀθηνοκλῆς[ | ||
| 5 | Ἀριστομένης ΙΙ | Νικοφ[ῶν —] | Εὔβουλος ΓΙ | Πυρ[ήν?] Ι | 5 |
| Κρατῖνος ΙΙΙ | Ἀπο[λλοφάνη]ς Ι | Ἔφιππος Ι[.?] | Ἀλκήνωρ Ι | ||
| Φερεκράτης ΙΙ | Ἀμ[ειψίας —] | [Ἀ]ντιφάν[ης] ΓΙΙΙ | Τιμοκλῆς Ι | ||
| Ἕρμιππος ΙΙΙΙ | Ν[ικοχάρης —] | [Μ]νησίμ[αχος] Ι | Προκλείδης Ι | ||
| Φρύνιχος ΙΙ | Ξενο[φ]ῶν Ι | Ναυ[σικράτ]ης ΙΙΙ | Μ[έν]ανδρος Ι[ — | ||
| 10 | Μυρτίλος Ι | Φιλύλλιος Ι | Εὐφάνη[ς —] | Φ[ι]λήμων ΙΙΙ | 10 |
| [Εὔ]πολις ΙΙΙ | Φιλόνικος Ι | Ἄλεξις ΙΙ [—] | Ἀπολλόδωρο[ς—] | ||
| — | [.......]ς Ι | [Ἀρ]ιστ[οφῶν —] | Δίφιλος ΙΙΙ | ||
| — | [Κηφισόδοτος Ι | — | Φιλιππίδης ΙΙ[— | ||
| — | — | — | Νικόστρατος [— | ||
| 15 | — | — | — | Καλλιάδης Ι | 15 |
| — | — | — | Ἀμεινίας Ι | ||
| — | — | [Ἀσκληπιό?δω]ρος Ι | Ι Ι Ι |
Besides some other inscriptions of lesser importance than those already discussed, Aristotle’s Didascaliae was the source, directly or indirectly, also of several treatises, collections of classified data, catalogues, etc., dealing with various phases of Greek theatrical history and compiled by such men as Dicaearchus, Callimachus, and Aristophanes of Byzantium. I shall close with an account of one of these. I refer to the system of numbering which was applied to ancient plays. Thus, according to the ancient hypothesis (argument) to Sophocles’ Antigone that drama “was counted the thirty-second” (λέλεκται δὲ τὸ δρᾶμα τοῦτο τριακοστὸν δεύτερον), and the first hypothesis to Aristophanes’ Birds declares that that comedy “is the thirty-fifth” (ἔστι δὲ λέ). Before going farther it will be best to state that the latter numeral is inexplicable under any theory, but that Dindorf’s substitution of ιέ for λέ (“fifteen” for “thirty-five”) is a satisfactory and convincing emendation. With the publication of the Vatican hypothesis to Euripides’ Alcestis in 1834 a third numeral came to light: τὸ δρᾶμα ἐποιήθη ι̅ζ̅ (“the drama was made seventeenth”). By far the most significant numeral, however, was published in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri in 1904. Here at the top of the last column of a hypothesis to Cratinus’ lost Dionysalexandros stood the following heading, doubtless repeated from the beginning of the hypothesis, which is now lost:
| Διονυσ[αλέξανδρος] | “The Dionysalexandros |
| η̅ | Eighth |
| κρατ[εινου] | Of Cratinus” |
Finally, one of the fragmentary hypotheses to two of Menander’s plays published in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri of 1914 begins as follows: “The Imbrians, commencing ‘For how long a time, Demeas, my good man, I ... you.’ This he wrote in the archonship of Nicocles, being his [7·]th play (ταύτην [ἔγρα]ψεν ἐπὶ Νικοκλέο[υς..]την καὶ ἑβδομηκοστ[ήν]), and he gave it for production at the Dionysia; but on account of the tyrant Lachares the festival was not celebrated. Subsequently it was acted by the Athenian Callippus.” This numeral is partly illegible, but was in the seventies, probably seventy-first, seventy-third, seventy-sixth, or seventy-ninth, possibly seventy-fourth or seventy-fifth.
The interpretation of these numerals has suffered from the fact that they did not become known simultaneously and from the further fact that for the most part explanations have been advanced by editors who contented themselves with proposing the most plausible interpretation of the particular numeral before them without taking the others into consideration. Of the many suggestions offered I shall here confine my discussion to two, the chronological and the alphabetical. The former interpretation is the oldest and receives confirmation from the fact that Terence’s comedies are not only arranged chronologically in our manuscripts but are provided with numerals on that basis in the didascalic notices which are prefixed to these Latin plays. These numbers, of course, would trace back the system only to the Romans and to about the time of Varro in the first century b.c. But inasmuch as Aeschines’ speeches are arranged on the same principle, there can be no doubt that the Alexandrian Greeks were familiar with it. The chronological interpretation, however, has been open to three objections: (1) It is impossible for Aristophanes’ Birds to have been thirty-fifth in a chronological arrangement of his plays. This obstacle may be evaded by accepting Dindorf’s emendation. (2) The Antigone and Alcestis numerals are somewhat smaller than we might expect, since they seem to assign too few plays to the earlier years of Sophocles’ and Euripides’ activity as playwrights. This is not a serious objection but must be taken into account. (3) The Alcestis took the place of a satyric drama and therefore stood fourth in its group. Consequently its numeral ought to be divisible by four, and the number seventeen does not satisfy this requirement and does not seem consistent with the tetralogic system employed at the City Dionysia during this period.
These difficulties are not insuperable, but first I wish to refer to another interpretation, which has enjoyed great popularity. There is no doubt that the Greeks were acquainted, and at an early date, with the alphabetical arrangement of titles. The Oxyrhynchus arguments to Menander’s plays, for example, seem to have been arranged in accordance with this principle. The objection that there would be no point in recording numerals derived from an alphabetical system for the reason that it would be as easy to turn to a given play by means of its initial letters as by means of its number is invalid because in alphabetical lists the Greeks ignored all letters except the first. For example, fifteen of Euripides’ extant titles begin with alpha, and there was no a priori method of knowing which of the fifteen places available the Alcestis would occupy ([Fig. 80]).[380] It becomes necessary, then, to examine the alphabetical explanation without prejudice, and fortunately it is now possible to reach an incontrovertible conclusion. The numerals have never lent themselves cordially to this interpretation, but the final coup de grâce was delivered by the recent discovery of the numeral for Menander’s Imbrians. Menander is said to have written from one hundred and five to one hundred and nine pieces, but only eighty-six titles are now known. Fifty-one of these, however, have initial letters which come after iota in the Greek alphabet. Now the smallest restoration which is possible for the Menander numeral is seventy-one, and seventy-one plus fifty-one make one hundred and twenty-two, or thirteen more than the largest number recorded by any authority as the aggregate of Menander’s works. Therefore the alphabetical explanation must be rejected.
