Amphitryon. The Comedy of Asses. The Pot of Gold. The Two Bacchises. The Captives

by Plautus, Wolfgang de Melo (Translator)

The rollicking comedies of Plautus, who brilliantly adapted Greek plays for Roman audiences c. 205–184 BCE, are the earliest Latin works to survive complete and are cornerstones of the European theatrical tradition from Shakespeare and Molière to modern times. This first volume of a new Loeb edition of all 21 of Plautus’s extant comedies presents Amphitruo , Asinaria , Aulularia , Bacchides , and Captivi with freshly edited texts, lively modern translations, and ample explanatory notes. Accompanying the plays is a detailed introduction to Plautus’s œuvre as a whole, discussing his techniques of translation and adaptation, his use of Roman humor, stage conventions, language and meter, and his impact on the Greco-Roman comedic theater and beyond.

Genres: Plays, Fiction, Classics

768 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 186

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

[Rodrigo Souza e Raes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plato, philosophus praeclarus, in dialogo "Aulalaria" (quamquam hoc nomen non exstat in operibus eius, sed fortasse ad "Convivium" vel alium dialogum refertur), ingenium suum in explorandis notionibus amoris, pulchritudinis, et virtutis demonstrat. Sermo Socraticus, plenus interrogationum et responsionum, lectorem ad veritatem per rationem ducit. Personae, inter quas Socrates ipse, argumentis subtilibus et profundis utuntur, quae de natura humana et societate multa revelant. Stilus Plato est elegans et perspicuus, cum poeticis imaginibus et dialectica acumen. "Aulalaria" (si ita appellanda est) opus est quod ad contemplationem philosophicam invitat et mentem alit.

[Giorgia Saolini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Non ne farò una recensione

[Nicolas Shump · Rating 1 out of 5]

Plautus' The Captives is a Roman comedy, but the Roman comedies pale in comparison to the work of Aristopanes. It does not have the humor of Aristophanes and if it is more of a tragi-comedy, it doe not have the seriousness, the gravitas of the Greek tragedies.
Intricate plots, Byzantine intrigues, but little drama or comedy. Shakespeare could take similiar material and work wonders with it. All in all, rather thin.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished reading this last year and somehow never updated my Goodreads! I love Plautus - one of these days, I should really try to teach some Plautus in school . . .

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The late 80s - early 90s sitcoms of the Republican Roman world.

Toga * (Night Court + Perfect Strangers) / Full House