Ichneutae (partially found Sophocles Satyr play; 5th century BCE)

Status: Partially Found

Ichneutae (Ἰχνευταί in Ancient Greek), otherwise known as Tracking Satyrs, Searchers or Trackers is the second best preserved Satyr Play, written in the 5th century BCE by Sophocles (second to Euripedes' Cyclops, which is fully extant).

Satyr Plays

Athenian Theatre was centred on the City Dionysia, a religious festival celebrating the god Dionysus. City officials called Archons would select three competing playwrights, whom would write three tragedies (either a trilogy or unrelated plays connected by theme) and a Satyr play, which was more comedic and would comment on the themes of the preceding trilogy.

Satyr plays are defined and named by their chorus of satyrs, half men-half goats from Greek Mythology whose costumes included prominent phalluses. The plays would include bawdy humour and other jokes related to bodily functions.

Plot

The plot was based on the story of a newborn Hermes stealing Apollo's cattle, which was also told in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes

In the surviving portion, Apollo announces that he will reward anyone who can capture one who stole his cattle. Silenus answers this call, and with the help of the Greek Chorus, goes to search for the thief, tracking the cattle's footprints. The chorus hear a noise in a cave, and flee in fear, before discussing their next move. They find a mountain nymph, Cyllene, who explains that the cave is where a son of Zeus is hiding, and that the noise is from the lyre, the instrument Hermes invented. In the final surviving lines, the chorus and Cyllene argue about whether or not a son of Zeus can be a thief, before Apollo returns.

Notably, Hermes does not appear in the surviving fragments, but due to the events described in the Homeric Hymn, it is assumed that Hermes and Apollo share a scene after the final fragment where the cattle is returned to their owner. Hermes would also give Apollo the lyre.

Availability

The play was almost entirely lost until 1912, where a portion of the 2nd century CE Oxyrhynchus Papyri (which had originally been discovered in the late 19th century) were published.

The original papyrus is kept at the British Library, and has been since 1914 .

Approximately 400 lines of Ichneutae survive in whole or in part, contrasting with the just over 700 lines of the extant Satyr play Cyclops. Copies of the remaining lines, as well as translations, are freely available online.

See Also

• Lost Epics of the Trojan Cycle (partially found epic poems; 800 B.C.-568 B.C.)