Saturday, July 30, 2005

 

Lost Classics

William Annis compiles a wish list of classical manuscript finds, and challenges other classics bloggers to make their own lists. I feel odd making such a list, because I have not read lots of surviving classical literature, most of which is therefore "lost" to me. Nevertheless, here is my idiosyncratic list:
  1. The plays of the Greek comic dramatist Diphilus. Some of these served as models for surviving plays by Plautus and Terence.
  2. The works of the Cynic philosopher Bion of Borysthenes. See Diogenes Laertius 4.44-58 for tantalizing samples.
  3. The Atellan farces of L. Pomponius.
  4. Cicero's Hortensius, which inspired St. Augustine (Confessions 3.4.7).
  5. The missing or incomplete books of Tacitus' Annals.
I look forward to Sauvage Noble's list. Maybe it will start with Livius Andronicus' translation of the Odyssey, but maybe not, because all those new Saturnians would delay completion of his dissertation.

# posted by Michael Gilleland @ 9:26 AM


<< Home
Newer›  ‹Older

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?