Amphitryon 339 writing burlesque, was the author of an amphitryon. Plautus article about plautus by the free dictionary. Hans elektronisches buch is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. And captivi and bacchides mention the wars in greece and magnesia. Scroll down the next page until you get to plautus. Captivi the captives, casina, cistellaria the one with the. Pseudolus, the most plautine of plautus plays, is his masterpiece. The following note is extracted from thorntons translation of this play. Moreover, from the way in which naevius and plautus are mentioned together, we may con clude that the latter was older than ennius.
He probably began his career in operis artificum scaenicorum in the works of the stageartisans, aulus gellius, na 3. T res unam pereunt adulescentes mulierem, r ure unus, alter urbe, peregre tertius. S eruos est ac trucibus moribus, l upae ne rapiant domini parsimoniam. The captivi and the mostellaria of plautus abebooks. His theatrical genius, vitality, farcical humor, and control of the latin language rank him as romes greatest comic playwright during the 3d century b. The captivi and the mostellaria of plautus, literally translated with notes by titus maccius plautus edited by henry t. The captivi and the mostellaria of plautus by plautus. This first volume of a new loeb edition of all 21 of plautuss extant comedies presents amphitruo, asinaria, aulularia, bacchides, and captivi with freshly edited texts, lively modern translations, and ample explanatory notes. Those of terence are adelphoe, andria, hautontimorumenos, and phormio.
An epitaph on plautus has the goddess comedy in deep mourning and the stage empty. Titus maccius plautus, the captivi and the mostellaria. Plautus simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. According to the critical introduction, this play was lauded by lessing as the most perfect comedy ever staged. The contrast or plautus and terence in this paper is based on four plays or each writer. This is best illustrated by plautuss captivi, a comedy that appears to violate established rules, but in reality, incorporates all of the traditional elements of a plautine comedy. Willcocks edition, the first in english for over fifty years, remains one of the most. The captivi and the mostellaria of plautus, literally translated with notes, ed. Click on the english version of the play you want although you may read the latin, if you wish. Amphitryon, the comedy of asses, teh pot of gold, the two bacchises, and the captives. The reader s indulgence for the coinage of a new term and perhaps not quite so much out of character from the mouth of a parasite is here requested in the use of the word invocated in a sense, which it is owned, there is no authority for, but without it no way occurs to explain the. The captivi and the mostellaria of plautus, literally. His plays, adapted from those of greek new comedy, are popular and vigorous rep. Amphitryo, asinaria, aulularia, bacchides, captivi by.
Plautus used puns, he played with words, or he gave the words another meaning. Plautus quotes author of the pot of gold and other plays. Bloomsbury academic, jun 1, 1991 foreign language study 170 pages. As it turned out, this was a watershed experience that inaugurated the romans into a centurylong. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Only about 40% of plautus text is in the standard spoken rhythm of latin and greek drama, the iambic trimeter or its latin variant the senarius 6footer.
Titus maccius plautus, roman actor and playwright, born 254 b. This is the first play ive read by plautus that felt like it had something important to impart to the audience. Delphis ancient classics series provides ereaders with the wisdom of the classical world, with both english translations and the original latin texts. Although the play contains much broad humor, it is a relatively serious treatment of significant themes compared to most of plautus other comedies. Early roman literary drama derived from the greeks the turning point in roman drama came in 240 bce, when a greekspeaking slave living in rome, livius andronicus, translated homers odyssey into latin. Click on the blue trianglearrow to get the whole list. An incredible comedies are ascribed to plautus, the vast majority of which were already in antiquity labeled spurious. The title has been translated as the captives or the prisoners, and the plot concerns slavery and prisoners of war.
Titus maccius plautus was one of ancient romes greatest playwrights. Captivi is a latin play by the early roman playwright titus maccius plautus. Plautus definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Along with his younger roman counterpart, terence, plautus kept greek new comedy alive for later generations of theatregoers. Usually, the humorous characters in plautine plays are of low social standing. Captivi in opera omnia 191 190 lingua latina in lat0549. Plautus is the only latin playwright of the periodaside from terence, a whole generation laterwhose works survive in the manuscript tradition. Plautus was not a political writer, and the average roman must have felt that gelasimus got his just deserts, having wrecked the brothers fortunes and then having the cheek to ask epignomus for a. Plautus definition of plautus by the free dictionary. This article outlines plautus emphasis on fides, or faithfulness in his play captivi. Plautus captivi by the accademici intronati siena 1530 and goldonis adaptation of voltaires lecossaise venezia 1761.
The word plautine refers to both plautus s own works and works similar to or influenced by his. His plays are the earliest complete surviving works from latin theatre and they are noted for adding even more outrageous comedy to traditional comic plays. Pseudolus was written by titus maccius plautus and is one of the oldest plays that survives from ancient rome. He wrote palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of latin literature, livius andronicus.
Maccius plautus amphitruo, asinaria, aulularia, bacchides, captivi is an unchanged, highquality reprint of the original edition of 1893. Plautus synonyms, plautus pronunciation, plautus translation, english dictionary definition of plautus. Little is known about his life but it is believed that he worked as a stage carpenter as a young man. Accompanying the plays is a detailed introduction to plautuss. Loosely adapted from lost greek plays, the works of plautus helped establish a truly roman drama in the latin language for the first time. If we were to amend that to most perfect ancient comedy, then i certainly wouldnt squabble with that claim. This helps the comedy overall, because lowerclass characters were often taken less seriously, and had to be less careful what they said. Little is known of the life of titus maccius plautus.
Almost nothing is known of these plays, it is usually assumed that the immediate original of the latin play was a comedy of the middle or new period. The comedies of plautus, literally translated into english prose, with notes 2 volumes. Read captivi or the captives, a play in english and latin by titus maccius plautus available from rakuten kobo. Plautus a famous roman playwright from 240 bce who wrote comical plays.
He was born in sarsina, central italy in 254 bc his name means flatfooted or flateared his threeword name means titus maccius clown plautus. Little is known for certain about the life and personality of plautus, who ranks with terence as one of the two great roman comic dramatists. On all these topics, christensons commentary is very good, and you should use it as needed. Hide browse bar your current position in the text is marked in blue. The readers indulgence for the coinage of a new term and perhaps not quite so much out of character from the mouth of a parasite is here requested in the use of the word invocated in a sense, which it is owned, there is no authority for, but without it no way occurs to explain the.
His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in latin literature. Unless you have read roman comedy before, plautus is likely to be the most difficult text to read this semester, if only because the language is archaic and the vocabulary unfamiliar. Casina in opera omnia 186 185 lingua latina in lat0549. Italydied 184 bce, great roman comic dramatist, whose works, loosely adapted from greek plays, established a truly roman drama in the latin language life. Dictionary of greek and roman biography and mythologyplautus. Part one is a historical discussion on the origin of. This book contains the latin text of plautuss pseudolus, with a detailed introduction including sections on greek new comedy, figures of language and thought and the presentation of the text. List of works available at intratext this list contains only essential information. Criticism and interpretation, drama, latin drama comedy, latin language materials. A short piece written for phillips exeter academys liber magazine volume 1. Online books about this author are available, as is a wikipedia article plautus, titus maccius. The transposition of lines 23 proposed by fay, edwin w. V tque ista ingenti militem tangat bolo, c lam sibi supposuit clandestino editum. The plays of plautus are aulularia, captivi, menaechmi, and miles gloriosus.