Theristai

Theristai
Written by	Euripides
Chorus	Satyrs
Date premiered	431 BC
Place premiered	Athens
Original language	Ancient Greek
Genre	Satyr play

Theristai (Ancient Greek: Θερισταί, also known as Reapers or Harvesters), is a lost satyr play by Attic playwright Euripides. It was initially performed at the Dionysia in Athens in 431 BCE along with the tragedies Medea, Philoctetes and Dictys.^[1] The tetralogy finished in 3rd place, behind tetralogies by Euphorion (Aeschylus' son), who won 1st prize, and Sophocles.^[2][3]

The play was recorded as having been lost as early as 200 BCE by Aristophanes of Byzantium in his hypothesis for Medea.^[4] No fragments have been assigned to Theristai. It has been suggested that this play may be an alternate title for Euripides' lost play Syleus, for which several fragments are extant.^[4][5]

References

1. Olson, S.D. (April–June 1991). "Politics and the Lost Euripidean Philoctetes". Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 60 (2): 269–283.
2. Knox, B.M.W. (1977). "The Medea of Euripides". In Gould, T. & Herington, C.J. Greek Tragedy. Cambridge University Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-521-21112-3.
3. Ewans, M. (2007). "Medee: Benoit Hoffman and Luigi Cherubini". Opera from the Greek: studies in the poetics of appropriation. Ashgate Publishing. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-7546-6099-6.
4. Collard, C. & Cropp, M. (2008). Euripides Fragments: Aegeus-Meleager. Harvard University Press. p. 413. ISBN 978-0-674-99625-0.
5. Collard, C. & Cropp, M. (2008). Euripides Fragments: Oedipus-Chrysippus; Other Fragments. Harvard University Press. pp. 170–171. ISBN 978-0-674-99631-1.