Titus maccius plautus biography of martin

The father of the lover agrees with the steal of money, but he demands from his son the rights of the first night. The lover sees he cannot refuse this, and agrees. But a rival, who also wanted to buy the exclusive rights on the girl, is furious because of his missed opportunity. One of this man's parasites tells the lover's mother about her husband's disloyalty.

Full of anger she pulls her titus maccius plautus biography of martin away from the girl. What follows is not very clear, but the result is probably that the lover and his girl can live happily together for a year. The last act has almost completely disappeared. The poor Euclio has found in his house a pot full of money. He lives in constant fear because he thinks his secret will become known and his money will be stolen.

And indeed, the pot is stolen. Meanwhile and older gentleman has asked to marry Euclio's daughter. But his daughter is already pregnant from a young man who has raped her while being drunk. This young man confesses, the pot full of money is also recovered and is used as dowry for the marriage. The plot is petty, but there are many funny scenes, like the long-spun-out misunderstanding about the daughter's loss of virginity and Euclio's loss of his money.

Casina: Casina is the name of the girl this play is about, but she does not appear in the play itself. There are a lot of gaps in the fifth act, and the prologue is written on a later date. A rude farce, with many caricatural features and a complicated plot. An old man is almost mad of sexual desire to a young slave, Casina, who belongs to his wife.

Plautus' range of characters was created through his use of various techniques, but probably the most important is his use of stock characters and situations in his various plays. He incorporates the same stock characters constantly, especially when the character type is amusing to the audience. As Walter Juniper wrote, "Everything, including artistic characterization and consistency of characterization, were sacrificed to humor, and character portrayal remained only where it was necessary for the success of the plot and humor to have a persona who stayed in character, and where the persona by his portrayal contributed to humor.

For example, in Miles Gloriosusthe titular "braggart soldier" Pyrgopolynices only shows his vain and immodest side in the first act, while the parasite Artotrogus exaggerates Pyrgopolynices' achievements, creating more and more ludicrous claims that Pyrgopolynices agrees to without question. These two are perfect examples of the stock characters of the pompous soldier and the desperate parasite that appeared in Plautine comedies.

In disposing of highly complex individuals, Plautus was supplying his audience with what it wanted, since "the audience to whose tastes Plautus catered was not interested in the character play," [ 58 ] but instead wanted the broad and accessible humor offered by stock set-ups. The humor Plautus offered, such as "puns, word plays, distortions of meaning, or other forms of verbal humor he usually puts them in the mouths of characters belonging to the lower social ranks, to whose language and position these varieties of humorous technique are most suitable," [ 59 ] matched well with the stable of characters.

While previous critics such as A. Gomme believed that the slave was "[a] truly comic character, the devisor of ingenious schemes, the controller of events, the commanding officer of his young master and friends, is a creation of Latin comedy," and that Greek dramatists such as Menander did not use slaves in such a way that Plautus later did, Harsh refutes these beliefs by giving concrete examples of instances where a clever slave appeared in Greek comedy.

Evidence of clever slaves also appears in Menander's ThalisHypobolimaiosand from the papyrus fragment of his Perinthia. Harsh acknowledges that Gomme's statement was probably made before the discovery of many of the papyri that we now have. While it was not necessarily a Roman invention, Plautus did develop his own style of depicting the clever slave.

With larger, more active roles, more verbal exaggeration and exuberance, the slave was moved by Plautus further into the front of the action. Another important Plautine stock character, discussed by K. Ryder, is the senex amator. A senex amator is classified as an old man who contracts a passion for a young girl and who, in varying degrees, attempts to satisfy this passion.

Periplectomenos Miles Gloriosus and Daemones Rudens are regarded as senes lepidi because they usually keep their feelings within a respectable limit. All of these characters have the same goal, to be with a younger woman, but all go about it in different ways, as Plautus could not be too redundant with his characters despite their already obvious similarities.

What they have in common is the ridicule with which their attempts are viewed, the imagery that suggests that they are motivated largely by animal passion, the childish behavior, and the reversion to the love-language of their youth. In examining the female role designations of Plautus's plays, Z. Packman found that they are not as stable as their male counterparts: a senex will usually remain a senex for the duration of the play but designations like matronamulieror uxor at times seem interchangeable.

Most free adult women, married or widowed, appear in scene headings as muliersimply translated as "woman".

Titus maccius plautus biography of martin: Titus Maccius Plautus was

But in Plautus' Stichus the two young women are referred to as sororeslater mulieresand then matronaeall of which have different meanings and connotations. Although there are these discrepancies, Packman tries to give a pattern to the female role designations of Plautus. Mulier is typically given to a woman of citizen class and of marriageable age or who has already been married.

Unmarried citizen-class girls, regardless of sexual experience, were designated virgo. Ancilla was the term used for female household slaves, with Anus reserved for the elderly household slaves. A young woman who is unwed due to social status is usually referred to as meretrix or "courtesan". A lenaor adoptive mother, may be a woman who owns these girls.

Like Packman, George Duckworth uses the scene headings in the manuscripts to support his theory about unnamed Plautine characters. There are approximately characters in the 20 plays of Plautus. Thirty are unnamed in both the scene headings and the text and there are about nine characters who are named in the ancient text but not in any modern one.

Most of the very important characters have names while most of the unnamed characters are of less importance. However, there are some abnormalities—the main character in Casina is not mentioned by name anywhere in the text. In other instances, Plautus will give a name to a character that only has a few words or lines.

Titus maccius plautus biography of martin: The very dates given

One explanation is that some of the names have been lost over the years; and for the most part, major characters do have names. Plautus wrote in a colloquial style far from the codified form of Latin that is found in Ovid or Virgil. This colloquial style is the everyday speech that Plautus would have been familiar with, yet that means that most students of Latin are unfamiliar with it.

Adding to the unfamiliarity of Plautine language is the inconsistency of the irregularities that occur in the texts. In one of his studies, A. Hodgman noted that:. I have gained an increasing respect for the manuscript tradition, a growing belief that the irregularities are, after all, in a certain sense regular. The whole system of inflexion—and, I suspect, of syntax also and of versification—was less fixed and stable in Plautus' time than it became later.

The diction of Plautus, who used the colloquial speech of his own day, is distinctive and non-standard from the point of view of the later, classical period. Hammond, A. Mack, and W. Moskalew have noted in the titus maccius plautus biography of martin to their edition of the Miles Gloriosus that Plautus was "free from convention Hence, many of the irregularities which have troubled scribes and scholars perhaps merely reflect the everyday usages of the careless and untrained tongues which Plautus heard about him.

Plautus's archaic forms are metrically convenient, but may also have had a stylistic effect on his original audience. These forms are frequent and of too great a number for a complete list here, [ 67 ] but some of the most noteworthy features which from the classical perspective will be considered irregular or obsolete are:. These are the most common linguistic peculiarities from the later perspective in the plays of Plautus, some of them being also found in Terenceand noting them helps in the reading of his works and gives insight into early Roman language and interaction.

There are certain ways in which Plautus expressed himself in his plays, and these individual means of expression give a certain flair to his style of writing. The means of expression are not always specific to the writer, i. Two examples of these characteristic means of expression are the use of proverbs and the use of Greek language in the plays of Plautus.

Plautus employed the use of proverbs in many of his plays. Proverbs would address a certain genre such as law, religion, medicine, trades, crafts, and seafaring. Plautus' proverbs and proverbial expressions number into the hundreds. They sometimes appear alone or interwoven within a speech. The most common appearance of proverbs in Plautus appears to be at the end of a soliloquy.

Plautus does this for dramatic effect to emphasize a point. Further interwoven into the plays of Plautus and just as common as the use of proverbs is the use of Greek within the texts of the plays. Hough suggests that Plautus's use of Greek is for artistic purposes and not simply because a Latin phrase will not fit the meter. Greek words are used when describing foods, oils, perfumes, etc.

These words give the language a French flair just as Greek did to the Latin-speaking Romans. Slaves or characters of low standing speak much of the Greek. One possible explanation for this is that many Roman slaves were foreigners of Greek origin. Plautus would sometimes incorporate passages in other languages as well in places where it would suit his characters.

A noteworthy example is the use of two prayers in Punic in Poenulusspoken by the Carthaginian elder Hanno, which are significant to Semitic linguistics because they preserve the Carthaginian pronunciation of the vowels. Unlike Greek, Plautus most probably did not speak Punic himself, nor was the audience likely to understand it. The text of the prayers themselves was probably provided by a Carthaginian informant, and Plautus incorporated it to emphasize the authenticity and foreignness of Hanno's character.

Plautus also used more technical means of expression in his plays. One tool that Plautus used for the expression of his servus callidus stock character was alliteration. Alliteration is the repetition of sounds in a sentence or clause; those sounds usually come at the beginning of words. In the Miles Gloriosus, the servus callidus is Palaestrio.

As he speaks with the character, Periplectomenus, he uses a significant amount of alliteration in order to assert his cleverness and, therefore, his authority. Plautus uses phrases such as "falsiloquom, falsicum, falsiiurium" MG l. These words express the deep and respectable knowledge that Palaestrio has of the Latin language. Alliteration can also happen at the endings of words as well.

For example, Palaestrio says, "linguam, perfidiam, malitiam atque audaciam, confidentiam, confirmitatem, fraudulentiam" MG ll. Also used, as seen above, is the technique of assonance, which is the repetition of similar-sounding syllables. Plautus' comedies abound in puns and word play, which is an important component of his poetry. One well known instance in the Miles Gloriosus is Sceledre, scelus.

Some examples stand in the text in order to accentuate and emphasize whatever is being said, and others to elevate the artistry of the language. But a great number are made for jokes, especially riddle jokeswhich feature a "knock knock - who's there? Plautus is especially fond of making up and changing the meaning of words, as Shakespeare does later.

Further emphasizing and elevating the artistry of the language of the plays of Plautus is the use of meter, which simply put is the rhythm of the play. There seems to be great debate over whether Plautus found favour in strong word accent or verse ictus, stress. Plautus did not follow the meter of the Greek originals that he adapted for the Roman audience.

Plautus used a great number of meters, but most frequently he used the iambic senarius and the trochaic septenarius. Conte has noted that Plautus favours the use of cantica instead of Greek meters. The servus callidus functions as the exposition in many of Plautus' plays. According to C. Stace, "slaves in Plautus account for almost twice as much monologue as any other character He is, then, not only a source for exposition and understanding, but connection—specifically, connection to the humor of the play, the playfulness of the play.

The servus callidus is a character that, as McCarthy says, "draws the complete attention of the audience, and, according to C. Stace, 'despite his lies and abuse, claims our complete sympathy'". The specific type of monologue or soliloquy in which a Plautine slave engages is the prologue. As opposed to simple exposition, according to N. Slater, "these This type of language is used, according to E.

Segal, for "the forceful inversion, the reduction of the master to an abject position of supplication Meat is the most commonly mentioned foodstuff in the plays of Plautus, and where a specific meat is mentioned, it is most commonly porkfollowed by fish. Playwrights throughout history have looked to Plautus for character, plot, humor, and other elements of comedy.

His influence ranges from similarities in idea to full literal translations woven into plays. The playwright's apparent familiarity with the absurdity of humanity and both the comedy and tragedy that stem from this absurdity have inspired succeeding playwrights centuries after his death. The most famous of these successors is Shakespeare—Plautus had a major influence on his early comedies.

Plautus was apparently read in the 9th century. His form was too complex to be fully understood, however, and, as indicated by the Terentius et delusorit was titus maccius plautus biography of martin at the time if Plautus was writing in prose or verse. Sedgwick has provided a record of the Amphitruoperennially one of Plautus' most famous works.

It was the most popular Plautine play in the Middle Ages, and publicly performed at the Renaissance; it was the first Plautine play to be translated into English. The influence of Plautus's plays was felt in the early 16th century. Limited records suggest that the first known university production of Plautus in England was of Miles Gloriosus at Oxford in —3.

The magnum jornale of Queens College contains a reference to a comoedia Plauti in either or This fits directly with comments made in the poems of Leland about the date of the production. The next production of Miles Gloriosus that is known from limited records was given by the Westminster School in From our knowledge, performances were given in the house of Cardinal Wolsey by boys of St.

Paul's School as early as Shakespeare borrowed from Plautus as Plautus borrowed from his Greek models. Barber, "Shakespeare feeds Elizabethan life into the mill of Roman farce, life realized with his distinctively generous creativity, very different from Plautus' tough, narrow, resinous genius". The Plautine and Shakespearean plays that most parallel each other are, respectively, the Menaechmi and The Comedy of Errors.

According to Marples, Shakespeare drew directly from Plautus "parallels in plot, in incident, and in character", [ 83 ] and was undeniably influenced by the classical playwright's work. Watt stresses the importance of recognizing the fact that the "two plays were written under conditions entirely different and served audiences as remote as the poles".

The differences between the Menaechmi and The Comedy of Errors are clear. In the MenaechmiPlautus uses only one set of twins—twin brothers. Shakespeare, on the other hand, uses two sets of twins, which, according to William Connolly, "dilutes the force of [Shakespeare's] situations". It can be noted that the doubling is a stock situation of Elizabethan comedy.

On the fusion between Elizabethan and Plautine techniques, T. Baldwin writes: "[ Shakespeare was writing for an audience whose minds weren't restricted to house and home, but looked toward the greater world beyond and the role that they might play in that world. Another difference between the audiences of Shakespeare and Plautus is that Shakespeare's audience was Christian.

At the end of Errorsthe world of the play is returned to normal when a Christian abbess interferes with the feuding. Menaechmion the other hand, "is almost completely lacking in a supernatural dimension". The relationship between a master and a clever servant is also a common element in Elizabethan comedy. Shakespeare often includes foils for his characters to have one set off the other.

In Elizabethan romantic comedy, it is common for the plays to end with multiple marriages and couplings of pairs. This is something that is not seen in Plautine comedy. At the end, all the couples are happily together. By writing his comedies in a combination of Elizabethan and Plautine styles, Shakespeare helps to create his own brand of comedy, one that uses both styles.

Also, Shakespeare uses the same kind of opening monologue so common in Plautus' plays. He even uses a "villain" in The Comedy of Errors of the same type as the one in Menaechmiswitching the character from a doctor to a teacher but keeping the character a shrewd, educated man. Later playwrights also borrowed Plautus' stock characters.

One of the most important echoes of Plautus is the stock character of the parasite. The best example of this is FalstaffShakespeare's portly and cowardly knight. Draper notes, the gluttonous Falstaff shares many characteristics with a parasite such as Artotrogus from Miles Gloriosus. Both characters seem fixated on food and where their next meal is coming from.

But they also rely on flattery in order to gain these gifts, and both characters are willing to bury their patrons in empty praise. As well as appearing in Shakespearean comedy, the Plautine parasite appears in one of the first English comedies. In Ralph Roister Doisterthe character of Matthew Merrygreeke follows in the tradition of both Plautine parasite and Plautine slave, as he both searches and grovels for food and also attempts to achieve his master's desires.

Cole discusses the influence of Plautus and Terence on the Stonyhurst Pageants. The Stonyhurst Pageants are manuscripts of Old Testament plays that were probably composed after in Lancashire. Cole focuses on Plautus' influence on the particular Pageant of Naaman. The playwright of this pageant breaks away from the traditional style of religious medieval drama and relies heavily on the works of Plautus.

Overall, the playwright cross-references eighteen of the twenty surviving plays of Plautus and five of the six extant plays by Terence. It is clear that the author of the Stonyhurst Pageant of Naaman had a great knowledge of Plautus and was significantly influenced by this. Heywood sometimes translated whole passages of Plautus.

Titus maccius plautus biography of martin: Plautus was a great Roman comic

By being translated as titus maccius plautus biography of martin as imitated, Plautus was a major influence on comedy of the Elizabethan era. In terms of plot, or perhaps more accurately plot device, Plautus served as a source of inspiration and also provided the possibility of adaptation for later playwrights. In the first series Willie Rushton plays Plautus who pops up on occasion to provide comic comments on what is going on in the episode.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikisource Wikidata item. For the Roman noble, see Rubellius Plautus. Plautus captures the language of ordinary life, and to it he contributes novelty, vitality, and spontaneity.

At a time when the Latin language was still quite fluid in inflection, syntax, and vocabulary, Plautine selection, combination, and invention set a high standard. Dialogue is rapid, racy, and filled with assonance, alliteration, and picturesque expressions. The vocabulary exploits and augments the available supply of terms of affection and abuse.

Often tautology catches the carelessness or garrulity of ordinary speech. Plautus has no rival in ability to coin comic terms and names, for instance, Bumbomachides Clutomestoridysarchides, "Battlebomski Mighty-adviser-of-wretched-strategy. The plays of Plautus enjoyed immediate success during his lifetime and were restaged and read by Romans after his death.

The Middle Ages found his language difficult and his morality objectionable. During and after the Renaissance in Italy and other European countries, Plautine comedies were staged, translated, and imitated in vernacular compositions. Lodovico Ariostocalled the true founder of the modern European stage, reproduced in an Italian setting, in his La cassaria and I suppositi, the form and spirit of Plautine models.

The esteem Plautus enjoyed among 16th-century dramatists is clear when Shakespeare has Polonius in Hamlet say, "Seneca cannot be too heavy nor Plautus too light. Paul Nixon, Plautus 5 vols. Duckworth, The Complete Roman Drama 2 vols. The Greek sources of Plautus's work are considered in Philippe E. Legrand, The New Greek Comedy See also W.

Beare, The Roman Stage ; 3d ed. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. January 9, Retrieved January 09, from Encyclopedia. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.

Because Plautus was the most popular playwright in Roman history, there are many biographical details about him from many sources. It is ultimately impossible to determine which are true, or even partly true, and which are wholly false. In any case, the stories about Plautus bestow on him a colorful life, with a dramatic rise from slavery to comic sovereign.

It is said that he was born in Sarsina, Umbria, around b. This name would have been Romanized as "Plautus. His gentilician or family name, Maccius or Maccus the manuscripts are unclearwas very probably made up as a joke on the Roman nobility with prestigious family names like Julius and Claudius. There was a typical character named "Maccus," a clown, in the native Italic dramatic genre known as Atellan farce.

Though Plautus was born a free citizen, his popular biography told that he was a slave who had been a performer in Atellan farce and mime, and who then came to Rome as a freedman and rose to greatness on the comic stage. In the second century b. Certainly he was a prolific author, but part of this overwhelming number of attributions may be a result of his name itself: any play said to be written by the great Plautus would certainly have attracted more audience members.

At the end of the century, the Library of Alexandria began to collect manuscripts and put together reliable editions of the best known authors, and in the first century, one of the foremost scholars in Rome, Varro, made what he considered a definitive list of 21 plays that could accurately be called Plautine. These plays are the ones that have been recognized by modern scholars, mostly complete with some fragmentation.

The chronology of the plays is uncertain and has been a source of scholarly debate for hundreds of years. Because New Comedy focused on general social situations and avoided most topical references, allusions to historical events are few and often hard to assess. The titles of Plautus' best-known plays are as follows: Casinathe name of a household maidservant c.