Manuscripts and Repositories of the Works of Euripides in Ancient Greek

The provenance of the ancient Greek text of Euripides is a complex story involving ancient manuscripts, papyri, medieval scribes, and modern textual criticism. Here’s an overview:

**Ancient Transmission (5th Century BCE – 3rd Century BCE)**
- Euripides (c. 480–406 BCE) wrote approximately 90 plays, of which 18 or 19 have survived in full (depending on whether *Rhesus* is considered authentic).
- His works were likely disseminated through both performances and written copies.
- The Athenian archives and libraries, such as those in Alexandria (after the 3rd century BCE), played a role in preserving his plays.

Two major groups of his works survive:

• The select plays (e.g., Medea, Hippolytus, Bacchae), chosen by scholars for their literary excellence.

• The alphabetic corpus, a collection of his less famous plays that survived by chance.

**Hellenistic and Roman Periods (3rd Century BCE – 5th Century CE)**
- The Library of Alexandria compiled and edited classical texts, including Euripides. Scholars such as Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace contributed to textual preservation and standardization.
- Copies of Euripides' plays were reproduced on papyrus scrolls, some of which have been discovered in Egypt (e.g., Oxyrhynchus Papyri).
- The survival of complete plays depended on selection; a “Byzantine triad” of *Hecuba*, *Orestes*, and *Phoenician Women* was particularly popular.

**Byzantine and Medieval Manuscripts (9th – 15th Century CE)**
- By the 9th century, Euripides' plays were copied into medieval manuscripts on parchment.
- Key Byzantine manuscripts include the **Laurentian Codex (Codex Mediceus, 10th century)** and the **Vatican Codex**.
- The "Alphabetic Trilogy" transmission preserved all extant Euripidean plays in a single volume.
- Medieval scribes copied and recopied the plays, sometimes adding scholia (commentary).

**Renaissance and Modern Critical Editions**
- The rediscovery of Greek texts during the Renaissance (15th century) led to the first printed editions of Euripides.
- Modern editions rely on collation of medieval manuscripts, ancient papyri, and scholia.
- The **Loeb Classical Library**, **Oxford Classical Texts (OCT)**, and **Budé editions** provide critical texts based on manuscript comparisons.

Thus, Euripides' works have survived through a combination of ancient copying, Byzantine preservation, and modern philological efforts. References and Further Reading

Oxford Classical Texts: Euripidis: Fabulae, Vol. 1: Cyclops; Alcestis; Medea; Heraclidae; Hippolytus; Andromacha; Hecuba - Euripides - Oxford Scholarly Editions Oxford Classical Texts: Euripidis: Fabulae, Vol. 2: Supplices; Electra; Hercules; Troades; Iphigenia in Tauris; Ion - Euripides - Oxford Scholarly Editions Oxford Classical Texts: Euripidis: Fabulae, Vol. 3: Helena; Phoenissae; Orestes; Bacchae; Iphigenia Aulidensis; Rhesus - Euripides - Oxford Scholarly Editions Scaife Viewer | Euripides Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana - Internet Archive