Editing Lycophron (section)

===Debate over the author of ''Alexandra''===
Through most of antiquity there seems to be a mostly universal opinion that the tragedy was written by Lycophron. The only real skeptics from antiquity instead believe that ''Alexandra'' was rather written by a homonymous poet who probably was a grandson of Lycophron and lived during the first half of the second century B.C.<ref name=":1" />

Many support that it was written by a revisionist. The reasoning behind this is that there are many historical inconsistencies within ''Alexandra.'' Many of the key elements of the poem do not line up with the third century B.C., notably its mentions of Rome. ''Alexandra'' takes place in the Hellenistic period, and says that Rome was on the rise to be a great world power. An example is in verses 1444-1450, in which the poet describes the Romans' successes against the Macedonians. Many historians believe that for somebody living in the second century B.C., describing the [[first Macedonian War]] as a victory for Rome is unfitting, the details and predictions for the Roman's triumph fit better with the [[second Macedonian War]].<ref name=":1" /> Some modern studies have concluded that the ''Alexandra'' cannot be the work of the third-century BC author; in one scholar's summary of this view, the poem was:<ref>Peter Marshall Fraser, "Lycophron," in ''Who's Who in the Classical World'', ed. Simon Hornblower and Tony Spawforth, Oxford University Press, 2000.</ref><blockquote>written in the immediate aftermath of the victory of [[Flamininus]] at [[Battle of Cynoscephalae]] over [[Philip V of Macedon]] in 197/6 BC. The author, whose true name and place of origin are probably concealed beneath the impenetrably enigmatic biographical tradition concerning "Lycophron," probably used the name, and some of the literary substance, of Lycophron, not in emulation, but as an [[irony|ironic]] reminiscence of the earlier writer, who had combined the practice of tragedy and the elucidation of comedy. Only on this assumption of a deliberate [[pseudepigraphon]] can the full irony of his work be appreciated.</blockquote>

Cassandra prophesies that her [[Founding of Rome#Aeneas|Trojan ancestors' descendants]] "shall with their spears win the foremost crown of glory, obtaining the sceptre and monarchy of earth and sea" and elaborates with allusions to the course of historical events.  Some scholars, such as Stephanie West, regard these passages as [[Interpolation (manuscripts)|interpolations]] and defend the attribution of the bulk of the poem to Lycophron the tragic poet.<ref>Stephanie West, "Lycophron," in ''Encyclopedia of ancient Greece'', ed. N.G. Wilson, Routledge, 2006 (cf. eadem, "Notes on the Text of Lycophron," ''Classical Quarterly'', 33 (1983), pp. 114-135, and "Lycophron Italicised," ''Journal of Hellenic Studies'' 104 (1984), pp. 127-151).</ref> Thomas Nelson and Katherine Molesworth have argued that 'Lycophron' is a pen name to signpost the poem's style, aligning it with the 'frigidity' of [[Lycophron (sophist)|Lycophron the sophist]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nelson |first1=Thomas J. |last2=Molesworth |first2=Katherine |title=Tragic Noise and Rhetorical Frigidity in Lycophron's Alexandra |date=2021 |journal=The Classical Quarterly |language=en |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=200–215 |doi=10.1017/S0009838821000409 |issn=0009-8388|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Many scholars are certain that the Ptolemaic court would not have commissioned a piece to praise the Romans. Although the Egyptians and Romans had established a political relationship in 273 B.C., the two powers did not do much diplomacy together during the rule of [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus|Ptolemy II]]. Egypt became more dependent on Rome after the second century B.C. when the nation was a shell of its former self due to a series of weak pharaohs. This is why many historians believe that ''Alexandra'' was written after the military success of the Roman general [[Titus Quinctius Flamininus|Titus Quinctus Flamininus]] over [[Philip V of Macedon]]ia at [[Battle of Cynoscephalae|Cynoscephalae]], which, if correct, would then give 197 B.C. as a beginning date or creation.<ref name=":1" />