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Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus. The word Plautine refers to both Plautus's own works and works similar to or influenced by his. Biography Not much is known about Titus Maccius Plautus's early life. It is believed that he was born in Sarsina, a small town in Emilia Romagna in northern Italy, around 254 BC.''The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'' (1996) Ed. M.C. Howatson and Ian Chilvers, Oxford University Press, Oxford Reference Online According to Morris Marples, Plautus worked as a stage-carpenter or scene-shifter in his early years. It is from this work, perhaps, that his love of the theater originated. His acting talent was eventually discovered; and he adopted the names "Maccius" (a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphitryon (Plautus Play)
''Amphitryon'' or ''Amphitruo'' is a Latin play for the early Roman theatre by playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. It is Plautus’s only play on a mythological subject. The play is mostly extant, but has a large missing section in its latter portion. The plot of the play involves Amphitryon’s jealous and confused reaction to Alcmena’s seduction by Jupiter, and ends with the birth of Hercules. There is a subplot in which Jupiter's son Mercury, keeping watch outside the house while his father is inside, has fun teasing first Amphitryon's servant Sosia, and then Amphitryon himself. The play is thought to be relatively late in Plautus's works, probably from the period 190–185 BC. One indication of this is the large amount of sung verse. Another is the description of Alcumena in line 703 as a bacchant, which may be connected with the Senate decree on Bacchanalia of 186 BC. The mention of another play in lines 91–2 may be a reference to Ennius's play ''Ambracia'' of 188. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asinaria
''Asinaria'' ("The Comedy of Asses") is a comic play written in Latin by the Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. The play concerns a young man called Argyrippus who is in love with a prostitute called Philenium, but does not have the money to pay for her services. With the backing of his benevolent father Demaenetus, two cunning slaves, Libanus and Leonida, manage to steal money from Argyrippus's mother Artemona to buy Philenium's services for a year. But a jealous rival, Diabolus, snitches on Demaenetus to the mother, who storms to the brothel and prevents her husband from enjoying the girl as well. The title , which is short for "the play about donkeys", refers to the scene in which a man arrives bringing money owed for some donkeys which Demaenetus had sold earlier. It is this money which Libanus and Leonida steal in order to pay for Argyrippus's love affair. Similar titles ending in the suffix ''-aria'' are found the plays and . In his edition, de Melo suggests that this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aulularia
''Aulularia'' is a Latin play by the early Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. The title literally means ''The Little Pot'', but some translators provide ''The Pot of Gold'', and the plot revolves around a literal pot of gold which the miserly protagonist, Euclio, guards zealously. The play's ending does not survive, though there are indications of how the plot is resolved in later summaries and a few fragments of dialogue. One scholar, R. L. Hunter, writes of this play: "The ''Aulularia'' has always been one of the most popular and most studied of Pļautus' plays, both because of its intrinsic interest and quality and also because of its later influence in the European dramatic tradition." Plot summary ''Lar Familiaris'', the household deity of Euclio, an old man with a marriageable daughter named Phaedria, begins the play with a prologue about how he allowed Euclio to discover a pot of gold buried in his house. Euclio is then shown almost maniacally guarding his gold from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Captivi
''Captivi'' is a Latin play by the early Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. The title has been translated as ''The Captives'' or ''The Prisoners'', and the plot focuses on slavery and prisoners of war. Although the play contains much broad humor, it is a relatively serious treatment of significant themes compared to most of Plautus’ other comedies. Plautus himself points out the difference in tone between this play and his other works in ''Captivi’s'' prologue. Plot summary Philocrates and his slave Tyndarus, from the Greek district of Elis, have been captured in war with another Greek region, Aetolia. They are now prisoners and slaves bought by Hegio, a well-to-do resident of Aetolia, who is planning to trade them for his son, Philopolemus, who has been captured in Elis. Pretending to be each other, the supposed slave Philocrates is sent to make the trade, while Tyndarus risks his life by remaining. A friend of Philocrates named Aristophontes has also been captured, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casina (play)
''Casina'' is a Latin comedy or farce by the early Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. Set in ancient Athens, the play describes how an Athenian gentleman and his son are both in love with the same slave-girl, Casina. The old man tries to conduct a secret affair with Casina by having her marry his farm-manager; but his plan is foiled by his wife, who dresses her son's armour-bearer up as the bride and sends him into the bridal chamber in place of Casina. The play is probably one of Plautus's later comedies, because of the amount of song which is contains.De Melo (2011), p. 7. There is also a mention Bacchanialian revels, which are said no longer to take place; this may be a reference to a Roman senatorial decree of 187 BC forbidding such revels. If so, it would date the play to shortly before Plautus's death in 184 BC. According to the prologue (which appears to have been written for a revival some years after Plautus's death), the play is adapted from a comedy called ''Klerum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cistellaria
''Cistellaria'' is a comedic Latin play by the early Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. The story, set in the Greek town of Sicyon, concerns a girl called Selenium who was exposed as a baby and brought up by a courtesan called Melaenis. By a happy chance it is discovered that her birth mother, married to a senator Demipho, lives next door, enabling her to marry the young man Alcesimarchus who loves her. The play was adapted from a lost comedy by Menander called ''Synaristosai'' ("The Women Who Lunched Together"). The ''Cistellaria'' appears to be one of Plautus's earliest plays. In line 202, the hope is expressed that the war with Carthage will soon end with victory for the Romans (the Second Punic War in fact ended in 202 BC). The same passage mentions "your allies old and new", which may be a reference to the treaty of alliance made with the Aetolian League in 209. Characters *Selenium: a young courtesan, who turns out to be free-born *Gymnasium: a prostitute, friend of Sel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curculio (play)
''Curculio'', also called ''The Weevil'', is a Latin comedic play for the early Roman theatre by Titus Maccius Plautus. It is the shortest of Plautus's surviving plays. The date of the play is not known, but de Melo suggests it may come from the middle period of Plautus's career (c. 205–184 BC), from the moderate amount of musical passages it contains. Other indications of date are a possible reference in lines 509–511 to a law of 197 BC on money-lending, and from the mention of gold philippics (440), a coin which may have become familiar in Rome after the war in Macedonia of 194 BC. Plot In ''Curculio'', Phaedromus is in love with Planesium, a slave girl belonging to the pimp Cappadox. Phaedromus sends Curculio (a stock parasite character) to Caria to borrow money from a friend. Unsuccessful, Curculio happens to run into Therapontigonus, a soldier who intends to purchase Planesium. After Curculio learns of his plans, he steals the soldier's ring and returns to Phaedromus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Menaechmi
''Menaechmi'', a Latin-language play, is often considered Plautus' greatest play. The title is sometimes translated as ''The Brothers Menaechmus'' or ''The Two Menaechmuses''. The ''Menaechmi'' is a comedy about mistaken identity, involving a set of twins, Menaechmus of Epidamnus and Menaechmus of Syracuse, Italy, Syracuse. It incorporates various Ancient Rome, Roman stock characters including the parasite, the comic courtesan, the comic servant, the domineering wife, the doddering father-in-law and the quack doctor. As with most of Plautus' plays, much of the dialogue was sung. The play is set in a street in Epidamnos, Epidamnus, a city on the coast of what is now Albania. Facing the audience are two houses, that of Menaechmus I and that of Erotium, the prostitute he is courting. Plot Prologue: Moschus has twin sons, Menaechmus and Sosicles. Moschus decides to take only one of the twins, Menaechmus, with him on a business trip, while the twins are still young. During the trip, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epidicus
''Epidicus'' is an ancient Roman comedy written by T. Maccius Plautus. It is said to have been one of Plautus's favorite works. Epidicus is the name of the main character, who is a slave. The plot takes many turns as Epidicus tries to please his master's son, Stratippocles. The main plot was based upon a Greek play. However, the storyline was changed in order to prevent a brother from marrying his half-sister. The Romans considered this incest, which deeply disturbed them; the Greeks, however, were not bothered by this. The pronunciation of "Epidicus" is with four short vowels. Characters *Epidicus – slave to Periphanes. *Thesprio – another slave, armour bearer of Stratippocles. *Stratippocles – a young Athenian, son of Periphanes; he is summoned to war in Thebes between the Athenians and Thebans. Has his slave, Epidicus, purchase a slave girl, Acropolistis, after he leaves for war. Once in Thebes, however, he falls in love with another girl, Telestis, whom he purchases o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bacchides (play)
''Bacchides'' is a Latin play by the early Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. The title has been translated as ''The Bacchises'', and the plot revolves around the misunderstandings surrounding two sisters, each called Bacchis, who work in a local house of ill-repute. It includes Plautus' frequent theme of clever servants outwitting their supposed superiors. The play was likely an adaptation of the play Δὶς Ἐξαπατῶν (Dis Exapaton), meaning ''Twice Deceiving'' but more commonly known as ''The Double Deceiver,'' by the Greek New Comedy playwright Menander. The beginning of it is lost to history, and so is often reconstructed in modern-day adaptations using contextual clues as well as twenty surviving fragments. Plot summary Two young friends, Mnesilochus and Pistoclerus, have fallen in love with two sisters, and both are prostitutes named Bacchis. Mnesilochus's Bacchis has been hired for a year by Cleomachus. In order to get the money to buy her release Mnesiloch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Greek Comedy
Ancient Greek comedy was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece (the others being tragedy and the satyr play). Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods: Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, and New Comedy. Old Comedy survives today largely in the form of the eleven surviving plays of Aristophanes; Middle Comedy is largely lost, i.e. preserved only in relatively short fragments by authors such as Athenaeus of Naucratis; and New Comedy is known primarily from the substantial papyrus fragments of Menander. The philosopher Aristotle wrote in his ''Poetics'' (c. 335 BC) that comedy is a representation of laughable people and involves some kind of blunder or ugliness which does not cause pain or disaster. C. A. Trypanis wrote that comedy is the last of the great species of poetry Greece gave to the world. Periods The Alexandrine grammarians, and most likely Aristophanes of Byzantium in particular, seem to have been the first to d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Latin
Old Latin, also known as Early Latin or Archaic Latin (Classical la, prīsca Latīnitās, lit=ancient Latinity), was the Latin language in the period before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin. It descends from a common Proto-Italic language; Latino-Faliscan is likely a separate branch from Osco-Umbrian with possible further relation to other Italic languages and to Celtic; e.g. the Italo-Celtic hypothesis. The use of "old", "early" and "archaic" has been standard in publications of Old Latin writings since at least the 18th century. The definition is not arbitrary, but the terms refer to spelling conventions and word forms not generally found in works written under the Roman Empire. This article presents some of the major differences. The earliest known specimen of Latin seems on the Praeneste fibula. A new analysis done in 2011 declared it to be genuine "beyond any reasonable doubt" and dating from the Orientalizing period, in the first half of the seventh century ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
