Étude comparative entre des personnages de Ménandre et les Caractères de Théophraste
Diogenes Laërtius tells us that Theophrastus was Menander's teacher in the Peripatetic school. However, it is difficult to observe directly the influence of the philosopher on the comic poet since few texts from them have been preserved. Nevertheless, several critics have alluded to resemblances between Theophrastus' Characters and characters from Menander's plays. Yet these analyses have often been superficial or mainly focused on secondary characters such as cooks, or slaves, who are considered as « stock characters ». For this reason, Menander's main characters have figured little in research. The purpose of the present study is to see if and how similarities exist between them and Theophrastus' work. This thesis examines the speech and behavior of five characters from the plays: Moschion in Samia, Knemon in Dyskolos, and Smikrines, who appears in different plays:Men at Arbitration,The Shield and Sicyonians.
Menander Characters New Comedy Theophrastus' Characters