Playwright. He was acknowledged as the greatest creator of New Comedy, the last important development in Ancient Greek theatre. His sophisticated handling of situation comedy, with its trend towards contemporary realism, had a major influence on later dramatists. Only one of his estimated 108 plays survives complete, "The Misanthrope" (316 BC); we also have substantial portions of several others, including "The Arbitration", "The Girl from Samos", "The Shield", "The Shorn Girl", and "The Hero", as well as numerous fragments and quotations. Menander was born around 342 BC in Athens, into a rich and aristocratic family. It is believed he studied philosophy with Theophrastus at the Lyceum and was tutored in drama by his uncle, the famous playwright Alexis. His early friendship with Epicurus, who advocated a lifestyle of physical and emotional contentment, influenced his life and work. Ancient authorities described him as fond of luxury, "squinty-eyed but with a sharp mind, and absolutely crazy about women". From his first play, "Anger" (321 BC), he competed in the annual City Dionysia and Lanaia drama festivals until his death. Menander's humane wit was not as popular in his lifetime as his posthumous reputation suggested. Although he won eight prizes for comedy - not a bad record - he was more often defeated by the boisterous comedian Philemon. Later generations found this so unfair they attributed his rival's success to bribery and political influence. (A probably spurious anecdote has Menander asking Philemon, "Don't you feel ashamed whenever you gain a victory over me?"). Politics may indeed have played a role. He was on intimate terms with the anti-democratic governor of Athens, Demetrius of Phalerum, whose overthrow in 307 BC was said to have had serious repercussions for the playwright. Afterwards he declined an invitation from Ptolemy I, the Macedonian ruler of Egypt, to visit his court at Alexandria, where Demetrius had gone into exile. Apart from theatre activity Menander kept out of public affairs, preferring a quiet life at his villa in the Athenian port city of Piraeus. He allegedly drowned while swimming in its harbor in 291 BC. The 2nd Century AD travel writer Pausanias reported seeing Menander's tomb near the cenotaph of Euripides, outside the gates of Piraeus on the road to Athens. Historians conveniently associate the birth of New Comedy with Menander's stage debut. Athens' failed revolt against Macedonia (322 BC) brought an end to its nearly 200 year-old democracy and the freedom of speech that was one of its glories. The bawdy political satire of Old Comedy (epitomized by Aristophanes) and even the milder licentiousness of 4th Century Middle Comedy were no longer possible. Another effect was the withdrawal of state subsidies that allowed poorer citizens to attend the theatre festivals without losing a day's pay. Thus from the start of his career Menander found himself restricted in what and how he could write, and playing to smaller, more educated audiences. A safe solution was already there in the comedy of manners, a minor sub-genre developed by Alexis and other Middle Comedy poets. This became the prevailing format of New Comedy. Menander wrote about ordinary people and their problems, avoiding topical references, and used common Attic dialect for his verse. He relied on stock figures (young lovers, worried parents, grumpy old men) and situations, but had a gift for creating plots with amusing complications that kept spectators wondering how the inevitable happy endings would be reached. The characters, including the villains, were observed with sympathy and gentle irony. Some of his philosophical one-liners were long circulated as maxims, giving him a reputation as a moralist, though within the plays themselves they appear to have been spoken ironically. The apostle Paul quoted Menander in 1 Corinthians 15:33: "Bad company corrupts good character"; Julius Caesar recalled his line "Let the die be cast" while crossing the Rubicon on his way to Civil War. Other proverbial Menander sayings include "Whom the gods love die young", "I am a man, nothing human is alien to me", "We live, not as we wish to, but as we can", "I call a fig a fig, a spade a spade", "The man who runs may fight again", "It is not white hair that engenders wisdom", "Riches cover a multitude of woes", and "Man must be prepared for every event of life, for there is nothing that is durable". The Roman dramatists Plautus and Terence made at least eight Latin adaptations of Menander's plays, handing down their influence to Renaissance comedy and to Molière in France; the comedy of manners particularly flourished in England, from the works of Ben Jonson and the Restoration playwrights to Oscar Wilde. Menander's originals fared less well, gradually disappearing during the early Christian era. In Constantinople in the 11th Century, the Byzantine historian Michael Psellus was able to compile a codex of 23 Menander plays with commentary, but this invaluable collection did not survive the Middle Ages. For most of a millenium the author was known only through quotes and the Latin adaptations. This changed dramatically in the 20th Century, with the discovery of large fragments of Menander plays preserved on papyri in Egypt. The full text of "The Misanthrope", missing only a few lines, was unearthed in 1957 and published the following year. To date only Homer and Euripides surpass Menander in the amount of their material found on Egyptian papyri. While more than 90 percent of his work remains lost, we now have a better understanding of Menander's style and methods.