The translation for these, done by henry thomas riley, was published in 1912, so its not as archaic as some of the others on the perseus site. Five plays by plautus and terence and casina, amphitryon, captivi, pseudolus, b. This is the first play ive read by plautus that felt like it had something important to impart to the audience. Read captivi or the captives, a play in english and latin by titus maccius plautus available from rakuten kobo. If we were to amend that to most perfect ancient comedy, then i certainly wouldnt squabble with that claim. Plautus pseudolus classics 4 with cain at university.
Captivi the captives, casina, cistellaria the one with the. The social themes in plautus aulularia, arethusa 10 1977 30720. An incredible comedies are ascribed to plautus, the vast majority of which were already in antiquity labeled spurious. Online books about this author are available, as is a wikipedia article plautus, titus maccius. An important addition to contemporary scholarship on plautus and plautine comedy, provides new essays and fresh insights from leading scholars a companion to plautusis a collection of original essays on the celebrated old latin period playwright.
But it is fairly formal, even hifalutin, for such robust and earthy material as plautus. Plautus plays most of them can be found in english online at the perseus site. The title has been translated as the captives or the prisoners, and the plot concerns slavery and prisoners of war. The captivi and the mostellaria of plautus abebooks. In speaking of these officers, plautus, as usual, introduces roman customs into a play the scene of which is in greece. Amphitryo, asinaria, aulularia, bacchides, captivi by. Titus maccius plautus, better known simply as plautus actually a nickname meaning flatfoot, was, between c.
He is the author of several books including roman comedy. The comedies of plautus, literally translated into english prose, with notes 2. In his captivi edition and latin language he says that quadrigenti is the older form. Plautus captivi and the ideology of the ancient citystate, ramus 5 1976 7691 9. Jul 01, 1995 the works of plautus, writes palmer bovie, mark the real beginning of roman literature. Amphitryo, asinaria, aulularia, bacchides, captivi by titus maccius plautus. This text was converted to electronic form by professional data entry and has been proofread to a medium level of accuracy. Plautus pot of gold, the prisoners, the brothers menaechmus, the swaggering soldier and pseudolus by anonymous and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Harvard university is associate professor of classics at the university of arizona. Filopolemo, l affezionato figlio di egione, viene catturato.
Lindsays notes are, of course, magisterial, even in this school edition and as always, i am in awe of these schoolboys its always boys who would need the kind of philological information in these notes and not help with, say, what case is that, etc. Amphitryo, asinaria, aulularia, bacchides, captivi amphitryon, the comedy of asses, the pot of gold, the two bacchises, the captives author. Plautus s latin is quite entertaining and attractive, but full of forms one doesnt encounter in the usual golden age prose authors or poets. Amphitryon, the comedy of asses, teh pot of gold, the two bacchises, and the captives. Jul 19, 2018 in this volume, the plays of menander, plautus, and terence are presented, with explanatory notes and interpretive commentary. His theatrical genius, vitality, farcical humor, and control of the latin language 1 rank him as romes greatest comic playwright. At the same time, the roman republic was expanding in power and influence. Criticism and interpretation, drama, latin drama comedy, latin language materials. His theatrical genius, vitality, farcical humor, and control of the latin language rank him as romes greatest comic playwright during the 3d century b.
Amphitryo, asinaria, aulularia, bacchides, captivi by titus. Plautus, great roman comic dramatist, whose works, loosely adapted from greek plays, established a truly roman drama in the latin language. It launches a muchneeded new series of books, each discussing a comedy that survives from the ancient world. 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. Four chapters highlight the plays historical context, themes, performance and reception, including its reflection of recent. This body of work was first attributed to plautus by the 1st century bce roman scholar varro and the titles are.
Although the play contains much broad humor, it is a relatively serious treatment of significant themes compared to most of plautus other comedies. 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. Stephanie hanson, latin 401 1 plautus pseudolus background o pseudolus was written for the dedication of a temple in 191 bce for the magna mater after the second punic war barsby 60. This article outlines plautus emphasis on fides, or faithfulness in his play captivi. Plautus plays are without exception new comedy palliatae, i. A brilliant comic poet, plautus moved beyond writing latin versions of greek plays to create a uniquely roman cultural. But the amphitryon, though in some ways typical of new comedy. His plays are the earliest complete surviving works from latin theatre and they are noted for adding even more outrageous comedy to traditional. In these lively new translations, which effectively communicate the vitality and verve of the originals, the plays of plautus are accessible to a new generation. Captivi is a latin play by the early roman playwright titus maccius plautus. The editors aim is to establish the play as one of the liveliest of ancient comedies, and in their introduction and.
So plautus is not clumsily breaking the dramatic illusion, as is sometimes implied. Due to his success, plautus plays are not only the oldest roman plays which survived in full other than terences, but the oldest latin literature passed down through manuscripts. It was as schoolchild appropriate as the introduction and plautus prologue promised. The plot, which concerns the competition of a father and his son for the same girl and the various scurrilous tricks employed in the process, gives full scope to plautus inventiveness and richly comic language. Now bovie and david slavitt have brought together a distinguished group of translators for the final two volumes of a fourvolume set containing all twentyone surviving comedies of one of western literatures greatest dramatists. Twenty complete plays by plautus survive along with around 100 lines of vidularia the suitcase and fragments from several others. Hough, the structure of the captivi, in ajp, 63 1942, p. You may copy it, give it away or reuse it under the terms of the project gutenberg license included with this ebook or online at. Plautus was a popular comedic playwright while roman theatre was still in its infancy and still largely undeveloped. The captivi and the mostellaria of plautus, literally translated with notes by titus maccius plautus edited by henry t. Maccius plautus amphitruo, asinaria, aulularia, bacchides, captivi is an unchanged, highquality reprint of the original edition of 1893. The captivi and the mostellaria of plautus, literally.
A short piece written for phillips exeter academys liber magazine volume 1. Full text of the captivi of plautus internet archive. The captivi and the mostellaria of plautus by plautus. Throughout the captivi, characters appeal to the network of roman moral and political concepts, with primary emphasis on fides.
Amphitryon 339 writing burlesque, was the author of an amphitryon. Plautus and terence wikisource, the free online library. 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. Plautuss amphitruo, captivi, and rudens 207 walter stockert. The works of plautus, writes palmer bovie, mark the real beginning of roman literature. Plautus was sometimes accused of teaching the public indifference and mockery of the gods. Prologus these two captives pointing to philocrates and tyndarus, whom you see standing here, are standing here becausethey are both 1 standing, and are not sitting. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. In this volume, the plays of menander, plautus, and terence are presented, with explanatory notes and interpretive commentary. Four chapters highlight the plays historical context, themes, performance and reception. Plautus is the only latin playwright of the periodaside from terence, a whole generation laterwhose works survive in the manuscript tradition. Plautus casina is a lively and well composed farce. This is the first volume dedicated to plautus perennially popular comedy casina that analyses the play for a student audience and assumes no knowledge of latin.