Triptolemos (Ancient Greek: Τριπτόλεμος) is a lost play of Sophocles. It was one of the plays which he produced in 468 BC for the City Dionysia, the year he first won the prize for tragedy at the festival.[1] Though the play is usually assumed to have been a tragedy, this is not certain, and it might instead have been a satyr play.[2] The plot of the play is not known, though it probably centered around Triptolemos' mission to bring the art of agriculture to Greece.[3] Fragments of the lost play still remain.[4] For example, Dionysius of Halicarnassus claims that in this play, Sophocles made reference to Italy in the following iambic verses:

And after this, first, then, upon the right, Oenotria wide-outstretched and Tyrrhene Gulf, And next the Ligurian land shall welcome thee.

References

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  1. ^ Zuntz 1993, p. 107.
  2. ^ Matheson 1995, p. 348.
  3. ^ Matheson 1995, pp. 347–348.
  4. ^ "Fragments of Known Plays: Ajax the Locrian".

Works cited

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  • Matheson, Susan B. (1995). "The Mission of Triptolmus and the Politics of Athens". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • Zuntz, G. (1993). "Aeschyli Prometheus". Harvard Studies in Classical Philology. 95: 107–111. doi:10.2307/311378. JSTOR 311378.