The “KomFrag” project was accepted into the Academies Program in 2011 and is scheduled to run for 15 years. It will go some way toward closing a gap in our understanding of literature from classical antiquity—and thus in the history of education.

Large swaths of Greek literature—particularly from the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods—are attested not by fully preserved texts but by fragments. This applies not only—to name a few significant examples—to pre-Socratic and Hellenistic philosophy or early lyric poetry, but also to drama. This means that a history of Greek literature cannot be written without incorporating the fragmentarily preserved texts and must itself remain a fragment.

In contrast to Greek tragedy, we have an enormous number of testimonies and fragments from over 200 authors in the field of comedy; although these have now been published in the monumental edition of Poetae Comici Graeci (edited by R. Kassel and C. Austin), still await scholarly analysis. This research project breaks new ground in literary history by providing commentary on the fragmentarily preserved comedy authors and corrects the previously rather one-sided view of a central genre of European literature.

The aim of the commentaries is, on the one hand, to elucidate the texts—which are generally difficult to understand—from various perspectives (philological, literary-historical, archaeological, and historical), and, on the other hand, where possible, to attempt a reconstruction of the plays themselves as well as to classify the authors within the context of literary history.

The Material

In total, we are aware of 8,501 comedy fragments by 253 poets known by name. In addition, there is a considerable amount of evidence regarding the lives and works of the poets themselves. A large portion of the fragments dates from the 5th century BCE and can be attributed to the poets Kratinos, Aristophanes, and Eupolis. Other well-documented authors include Pherecrates, Theopamp, and Hermippos. The source situation is similarly robust for the 4th century BCE, where Antiphanes and Alexis, in particular, are attested by a large number of fragments. From the Hellenistic period (late 4th century–1st century BCE), Menander is particularly well attested, primarily through the papyrus discoveries of the late 19th century, but also through numerous fragments. Other authors of this era include, for example, Philemon and Diphilos.

Interdisciplinary Approach

The project has a primarily philological focus. However, due to the unique nature of the comedy texts, close collaboration with ancient history and archaeology is necessary. As the first result of the collaboration with archaeologists at the University of Würzburg, an Archaeologia comica is in the planning stages, which will compile, in encyclopedic form, the real-life details described in the comedies and comedy fragments. Another project is the Onomastikon comicum, a compilation of all individuals mentioned in the comedies, intended to serve as a working basis for research in ancient history and onomastics. Interests in literary and cultural studies are addressed through investigations into forms of comedy, while aspects of the history of education and reception are explored through an examination of the tradition and the specific media through which comedy texts have been transmitted.

International Networking

The project is explicitly designed to attract external collaborators. Currently, there are 21 external collaborators from the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States, and Greece. The number of inquiries is steadily increasing. Workshops and conferences contribute to the international visibility of the research project. The international network is particularly evident in the high-caliber academic advisory board, consisting of Professors Glenn W. Most (Pisa), Heinz-Günther Nesselrath (Göttingen), S. Douglas Olson (University of Minnesota), Alan H. Sommerstein (Nottingham), and Antonios Rengakos (Thessaloniki).