Epitrepontes
Comic play by Menander / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Epitrepontes (translated as The Arbitration or The Litigants) is an Ancient Greek comedy, written c. 300 BCE by Menander.[1][2] Only fragments of the play have been found, primarily on papyrus, yet it is one of Menander's best-preserved plays.[3]
Fragments of it were found in 1907, alongside Perikeiromene and Samia in the Cairo Codex.[3][4][5][6] Additional fragments of the play have been found since its initial discovery. In 2012, the Michigan Papyrus was published, giving better readings to Acts 3 and 4 of the play.[7]
Epitrepontes (Greek: "arbitration") features a conflict - and attempts to resolve that conflict - between two Athenian households, as well as depicting conflicts in a marriage.[8] The play's most famous incident features a comical scene of legal arbitration. Two parties want the court to decide who should take ownership of goods found alongside an abandoned baby. The play gradually reveals the baby's history, and the identity of its parents, in the process of a complex exploration of marriage and family.[8] The play also features sexual assault.[9][2]