Plautus - Mostellaria or, The Haunted House

by Plautus

Titus Maccius Plautus is better known in English as Plautus, a prolific Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. As can be expected little is known of his early life. Accounts are reconciled that he was born in Sarsina, a small town in Emilia Romagna in northern Italy, around 254 BC. He first worked in the theatre as a stage-carpenter or scene-shifter. It would take quite some time for his acting talent to develop and then to be recognised. Redolent of the characters he originally portrayed he adopted the names ‘Maccius’ (a sort of clownish stock-character popular in farces) and ‘Plautus’ (to mean "flat-footed" or "flat-eared", like a hounds’ ears). In acting he appears to have met with some success and from it a regular income. An account now suggests that he then returns to manual labor and to have used his spare time to study Greek drama, especially the New Comedy of Menander. Whatever the impulse it is clear that he would, between c. 205 BC and the time of his death in 184 BC write a large and significant canon of plays. Indeed, his name became a byword of theatrical success. His comedies are, in the main, sourced from standard Greek models and this includes his reworking and adapting the plays of the earlier Greek playwrights for a Roman audience, adding local nuance and cultural aspects to ensure both their acceptability and understandability. These works are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. Unfortunately, of the 130 plays which are attributed to him a mere 20 survive intact and a further 30 only in part or fragmented form. The historical context within which Plautus wrote can be seen, to some extent, in his comments on contemporary events and persons. In Plautus’s lifetime Rome was becoming increasingly powerful, gathering influence and flexing its undoubted muscle to its greater good. The 17 year Second Punic War (218 BC – 201 BC) where for many years Italy itself was rampaged by Hannibal and his armies before his own final, crushing defeat back in Africa were seismic events in the Ancient world, with hundreds of thousands killed and entire regions of Europe overrun and devastated. Against this horrific backdrop Roman theater was at the early stage of development and still dependent on the earlier Greek classics for a supply line of stories and characters. Expanding empires tend to appropriate from other cultures and call it their own. Plautus was a popular comedic playwright, who along with his near-contemporary, Terence, was able to integrate these earlier works into the demands of a vast new cultural, economic and military power that was growing at an incredible rate. Plautus died in Rome in 184 BC.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama, Classics, School, Ancient History, Ancient

77 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 185

About the author

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 works in Latin literature 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.

Reviews

[Clàudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

el personatge de Tranió es resumeix en les següents paraules: gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss

[Albs · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plaute pots donar-nos més del que has fet aquí

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slave manages a haughty master and his errant son.

[Dorotea · Rating 3 out of 5]

La scena iniziale con Grumione e Tranione ("M'hai mandato una zaffata d'aglio, letamaio che non sei altro, tanghero, caprone, porcaio, sozza mistura di brago e sterco! / Che vuoi farci? Non è consentito a tuti odorari di profumi esotici come te, nè sedere a capotavola come fai tu, nè mangiare pietanzine delicate come quelle che mangi tu") e la scena con Callidamate ubriaco (Atto I, Scena Quarta) mi hanno fatto spaccare; in generale però ho trovato la trama abbastanza fastidiosa e non ho apprezzato pienamente la commedia.

[maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

pel cole.
4 estrelles merescudíssimes perquè no podia parar de riure tota l'estona amb frases del tipus et penjaré, ets un moc ben penjat o carallot i gamarús. pel que fa la història, què vols que et digui, curta.

[olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

philolaches would’ve made tik toks of him living off of daddy’s money

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una obra divertida que té el seu encant als seus primers actes però va degradant-se a mesura que s'allarga la trama.

Tot i que sembla molt actual i el llenguatge és molt proper, potser una representació teatral renovant el IV i el V acte seria millor.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I can’t understand why this play by Plautus was lauded in the critical introduction for its vivid characterization when we are given just more of the same with the clever slave, the “slow burn” master, the miserly money-lender, etc. Like a modern situation comedy, the plot has an amusing concept, but includes pointless characters (let’s call them “guest stars”), filler dialogue, and an all-too-neat ending. It wasn’t bad...just not very memorable.

[Beverley Sylvester]

Were it not for being told before reading this play, I would not have known this is a rewritten Roman version of the Greek play The Malcontent (AKA The Grouch) by Menander (which I have also read). They are both realistic plays which stood apart from others at the time as they contained neither gods nor heroes. Beyond that, however, they did not seem to be the same play to me.

[Andràș-Florin Răducanu · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Casa cu stafii" de Plaut

Citită în 23 mai.

Număr de pagini: 120.

Prima comedie de Plaut, foarte similară cu scrierile lui Moliere. Foarte bine scrisă și gândită. O comedie a moravurilor valabilă și astăzi.

Nota: 10.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Viktig föregångare till den västerländska komedin, som Comedia dell'arte och Shakespeares förväxlingskommedier osv. Men det känns inte som om den listige tjänaren i denna pjäs är så listig, utan snarare strular till det för sig.

[Nicoletta · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t think this one was too funny but Tranio was pretty entertaining. In Menaechmi I thought the characters were assholes. In this one, they were just boring.

[Katsuro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as his best work, but still funny.

[Thordur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Titus Maccius Platus var rómverskt leikritaskáld. Þessi bók er stutt, eitt leikverk og góður formáli á undan. Ef þú hefur áhuga á leikritagerð þá er þetta bók fyrir þig til þess að lesa.

[Caín · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cuando Simó le dice al Teopròpides que han sacado un muerto q estaba vivo antes solté una carcajada genuina

[Annagutierrezxox · Rating 4 out of 5]

me he cagado de risa

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

ups

[mire ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

tranión petardo

[Santiago González · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bastante mediocre, para bien y para mal. Funciona pero no es especialmente graciosa

[Recensioni in tre parole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Metatestuale. Divertente. Rocambolesco.

[Noa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una comèdia de les típiques romanes, llegida a classe de llatí. M’ha agradat però, no es dels meus llibres preferits.

[Paula :) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 ⭐️

[luuucííía · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5

[Sofía Jiménez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo he disfrutado bastante e incluso me he reído a pesar de ser un libro de tantos y tantos años y ser obligatorio del instituto.
3,5 estrellas.

[Yooperprof · Rating 2 out of 5]

Humor doesn't always translate well.

[pau rofes · Rating 3 out of 5]

plaute t'hauries pogut lluir més amb el final

[mia ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡]

read for intro to theatre & drama.

what is up w/ roman comedies being based on slaves somehow exploiting their masters???