Distinguishing Satyric from Tragic Fragments: Methodological Tools and Practical Results

When quoting from satyr dramas, ancient sources were not always consistent in indicating this: sometimes they added the relevant label (mostly σατυρικός, σατυρική, or σάτυροι); at other times, they just gave the play’s title. The consequence of this state of things is clear, namely that a certain number of fragments of satyr dramas might still lurk unidentified among their tragic companions in the five volumes of Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta. This means that we should remain aware of, and open to, the possibility that, besides the ones explicitly marked as σατυρικός, σατυρική, or σάτυροι in TrGF (which are basically those already labelled as such in the sources), some other fragmentary plays might have been satyr dramas, and not tragedies. This contributions proposes a new method for sorting out the unknown satyric dramas from the larger group of tragedies and applies it to a particularly apt case study, Sophocles' fragmentary play Andromeda.