The Athenian Constitution

The Athenian Constitution by Aristotle Greek Classics Translated by Sir Frederic G. Kenyon The Constitution of the Athenians, or Athenaion Politeia, or The Athenian Constitution, is the name of either of two texts from Classical antiquity, one probably by Aristotle or a student of his, the other attributed to Xenophon, but not by him. The Aristotelian text is contained in two leaves of a papyrus codex discovered at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt in 1879. The other work was traditionally included among the shorter works of Xenophon. The Aristotelian text is unique, because it is not a part of the Corpus Aristotelicum. It was lost until two leaves of a papyrus codex carrying part of the text were discovered in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt in 1879 and published in 1880. A second, more extensive papyrus text was purchased in Egypt by an American missionary in 1890. E. A. Wallis Budge of the British Museum acquired it later that year, and the first edition of it by Frederic G. Kenyon was published in January, 1891. The editions of the Greek text in widest use today are Kenyon's Oxford Classical Text of 1920 and the Teubner edition by Mortimer H. Chambers (1986, second edition 1994).