Fragments on Virtue

Ἀποσπάσματα περὶ Ἀρετῆς

Fragments on Virtue is a modern descriptive title for eleven passages from the lost comedies of the Athenian poet Strattis that mention the concept of aretē, or virtue and excellence. Strattis wrote during the late period of Old Comedy, likely in the late fifth to early fourth century BCE. These dramatic verse fragments are preserved indirectly through quotations in later ancient authors, such as the lexicographical work Suda and Athenaeus’s Deipnosophistae. Embedded within their original comedic plays, the fragments would have engaged with contemporary Athenian discourse through satire. Likely themes include the parody of philosophical debates on virtue, particularly those associated with Socrates and the Sophists, as well as political and social critique targeting figures who presented themselves as paragons of civic excellence. They also exemplify Strattis’s known style of parodying tragic moral speeches and his use of linguistic play, utilizing rare words and elaborate diction for humorous effect.

No manuscripts of Strattis’s plays survive. The fragments are transmitted through the indirect tradition, primarily in the works of Athenaeus from the third century CE and the Suda from the tenth century CE, who quoted them for their unusual vocabulary or cultural references. They are compiled in modern scholarly editions such as Poetae Comici Graeci. These fragments offer valuable historical and philological insights into how a central philosophical concept was disseminated and satirized in Athenian popular culture. They exemplify the parodic and intellectually engaged nature of late Old Comedy and its role in critiquing contemporary intellectual and civic life.