Difilo di Sinope, 'Quaestiones selectae'

Diphilus of Sinope was, alongside Menander and Philemon, one of the most important poets of the New Comedy. Primarily, the study aims at giving a chronological frame for the activity of the playwright, on the basis of several elements both inside and outside his dramas (I. Diphilus and his time). Moreover, it focuses on the transmission and the reception of his comedies: in Greece, from the revisions by the author himself to the disappearance, and in Rome, where Plautus and Terence translated some of them; it provides, in addition, a re-examination of the history of the Canon of the New Comedy (II. Tradition in Greece and Rome). Some metrical and structural peculiarities are then analysed, which may lead to believe that Diphilus followed different paths from Menander (III.Metrical problems). In conclusion appears a chapter about the history of editions, commentaries and studies on Diphilus in the Modern Age, especially before the publication of Meineke’s FCG (IV. History of studies).