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Modern archeological finds (artifacts found during an archaeological dig
) can still contribute much to the study of ancient literature. For example, forty years ago a survey of the early Greek dramatist Aeschylus’ plays would have started with The Suppliant Women. Many factors internal to the play, but perhaps most especially the prominence of the chorus合唱，choir (which in this play has the main role), led scholars to consider it one of Aeschylus’ earlier works. The consensus was that here was a drama truly reflecting an early stage in the evolution of tragedy out of choral lyric. The play was dated as early as the 490’s B.C., in any event, well before Aeschylus play The Persians of 472 B.C. Then in 1952, a fragment of papyrus found at Oxyrhynchus was published stating the official circumstances and results of a dramatic contest. The fragment announced that Aeschylus won first prize with his Danaid tetralogy (a series of four dramas or operas), of which The Suppliant Women is the opening play, and defeated Sophocles in the process. Sophocles did not compete in any dramatic contest before 468 B.C., when he won his first victory. Hence, except by special pleading (e.g., that the tetralogy was composed early in Aeschylus’ career but not produced until the 460’s B.C.), the Danaid tetralogy must be put after 468 B.C. In addition, a few letters in the fragment suggest the name Archedemides, archon in 463 B.C., thus perhaps tying the plays to that precise date, almost exactly halfway between Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes of 467 B.C. and his Oresteia.
Oxyrhynchus
Archaeological site, Egypt, on the western bank of the Nile River.
Many ancient papyri dating from 250 BC to AD 700 were discovered there in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The papyri, written mainly in Greek and Latin, contain both religious texts and masterpieces of Greek classical literature. Some of these texts, once considered lost, were by Pindar and Callimachus. The modern village of Al-Bahnasā is located on the site.
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