Fragments of Sophocles’ Polyxena are analysed here in order to deduce information on the plot of the tragedy. Special attention is given to the apparition of Achilles’ ghost and to the question whether the hero’s tomb was erected on the stage.
The present discussion aims to suggest that the introduction to the published version of Callimachus’ Pinakes was a possible source of information on the origin of the Alexandrian Library as provided by Tzetzes in the second prooemium in his Prolegomena de comoedia Aristophanis, and that the same source was alluded to by Athenaeus (V 203e).
The article analyses the function of letters in Euripides’ plays, showing how the use of a letter can help the playwright to limit the action to one day and one place.