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A Companion to Plautus

Dorota Dutsch (Edited by), D Dutsch (Author), George Fredric Franko (Edited by)

9781118957981, Wiley

Hardback, published 25 June 2020

512 pages
24.6 x 17.3 x 2.8 cm, 1.089 kg

An important addition to contemporary scholarship on Plautus and Plautine comedy, provides new essays and fresh insights from leading scholars 

A Companion to Plautus is a collection of original essays on the celebrated Old Latin period playwright. A brilliant comic poet, Plautus moved beyond writing Latin versions of Greek plays to create a uniquely Roman cultural experience worthy of contemporary scholarship. Contributions by a team of international scholars explore the theatrical background of Roman comedy, the theory and practice of Plautus’ dramatic composition, the relation of Plautus’ works to Roman social history, and his influence on later dramatists through the centuries. 

Responding to renewed modern interest in Plautine studies, the Companion reassesses Plautus’ works—plays that are meant to be viewed and experienced—to reveal new meaning and contemporary relevance. Chapters organized thematically offer multiple perspectives on individual plays and enable readers to gain a deeper understanding of Plautus’ reflection of, and influence on Roman society. Topics include metatheater and improvisation in Plautus, the textual tradition of Plautus, trends in Plautus Translation, and modern reception in theater and movies. Exploring the place of Plautus and Plautine comedy in the Western comic tradition, the Companion:

  • Addresses the most recent trends in the study of Roman comedy
  • Features discussions on religion, imperialism, slavery, war, class, gender, and sexuality in Plautus’ work
  • Highlights recent scholarship on representation of socially vulnerable characters
  • Discusses Plautus’ work in relation to Roman stages, actors, audience, and culture
  • Examines the plot construction, characterization, and comic techniques in Plautus’ scripts 

Part of the acclaimed Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World series, A Companion to Plautus is an important resource for scholars, instructors, and students of both ancient and modern drama, comparative literature, classics, and history, particularly Roman history.

Notes on Contributors x

Acknowledgement xv

Introduction: A 2020 Vision of Plautus 1
George Fredric Franko and Dorota Dutsch

1 The State of Roman Theater, c. 200 BCE 17
Timothy J. Moore

2 Plautus and Greek Drama 31
Sebastiana Nervegna

3 Stages and Stagecraft 47
Anne H. Groton

4 Actors and Audience 61
Isabella Tardin Cardoso

5 Nouo Modo Nouom Aliquid Inuentum: Plautine Priorities 77
David Christenson

6 Plays of Mistaken Identity 93
Costas Panayotakis

7 Plautus and the Marriage Plot 109
Sharon L. James

8 Stock Characters and Stereotypes 123
Shawn O’Bryhim

9 The Servus Callidus in Charge: Plays of Deception 135
Ferdinand Stürner

10 To Hell and Back: Comedy, Cult, and the House of the Meretrix 151
Catherine Connors

11 The Wife in Charge, the Husband Humiliated: Stock Characters in Evolution 165
Barbara K. Gold

12 Archetypal Character Studies: Masculinity and Power 179
Anne Feltovich

13 Plotting the Romance: Plautus’ Rudens, Cistellaria, and Poenulus 193
Stavros Frangoulidis

14 Tragicomedy and Paratragedy: Plautus’s Amphitruo, Captivi, and Rudens 207
Walter Stockert

15 The Language of Plautus 221
Peter Barrios‐Lech

16 Metatheater and Improvisation in Plautus 237
Christopher Bungard

17 Music and Meter in Plautus 251
T.H.M. Gellar‐Goad

18 Comic Technique in Plautus’s Asinaria and Casina 269
Martin T. Dinter

19 Plautus and the Topography of His World 287
Sophia Papaioannou

20 Warfare and Imperialism in and Around Plautus 301
Paul J. Burton

21 Religion in and Around Plautus 317
Seth A. Jeppesen

22 Gender and Sexuality in Plautus 331
Serena S. Witzke

23 Owners and Slaves in and Around Plautus 347
Amy Richlin

24 Slave Labor in Plautus 361
Roberta Stewart

25 Plautus and His Dramatic Successors in the Republican Period 379
Gesine Manuwald

26 Alii Rhetorica Tongent: Plautus and Public Speech 393
Emilia A. Barbiero

27 The Textual Tradition of Plautus 407
Rolando Ferri

28 The Medieval Reception of Plautus’s Aulularia: Querolus and Vitalis Blesensis 419
Antony Augoustakis

29 From Ferrara to Venice: Plautus in Vernacular and Early Italian Comedy (1486–1530) 429
Gianni Guastella

30 Plautus in Early Modern England 445
George Fredric Franko

31 Reception Today: Theater and Movies 461
Rodrigo T. Goncalves

32 Trends in Plautus Translation 473
James Tatum

Index 489

Index Locorum Plautinorum 495

Subject Areas: Literature: history & criticism [DS]
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