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Titus Maccius Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andronicus, the innovator of Latin literature. The word Plautine () refers to both Plautus's own works and works similar to or influenced by his. Biography Not much is known about Titus Maccius Plautus's early life. It is believed that he was born in Sarsina, a small town in Emilia Romagna in northern Italy, around 254 BC.''The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'' (1996) Ed. M.C. Howatson and Ian Chilvers, Oxford University Press, Oxford Reference Online According to Morris Marples, Plautus worked as a stage-carpenter or scene-shifter in his early years. It is from this work, perhaps, that his love of the theater originated. His acting talent was eventually discovered; and he adopted the nomen "Maccius" (from Maccus, a clownish st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarsina
Sarsina () is an Italian town situated in the province of Forlì-Cesena, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. Its territory is included in the Tuscan-Romagnolo Apennines. History Ancient Sarsina or Sassina was a town of the Umbri. In 266 BC Roman ''consuls'' celebrated a triumph over the Sassinates. It is mentioned in the ''Fasti'', and in the enumeration of the Italian allies of the Romans in 225 BCE the Umbri and ''Sassinates'' are mentioned, on an equal footing, as providing 20,000 men between them. It is possible that the ''tribus Sapinia'' (the name of which is derived from the river Sapis) mentioned by Livy in the account of the Roman marches against the Boii in 201 BC and 196 BC formed a part of the Sassinates. The playwright Plautus was native of Sassina. The town had a strategic importance, as inscriptions, preserved in the local museum, show. Its milk is frequently mentioned; it was the centre of a pasture district and it provided a number of recruits for the Praetoria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Greek Comedy
Ancient Greek comedy () was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece; the others being tragedy and the satyr play. Greek comedy was distinguished from tragedy by its happy endings and use of comically exaggerated character archetypes, the latter feature being the origin of the modern concept of the comedy. Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods; Old Comedy survives today largely in the form of the eleven extant plays of Aristophanes; Middle Comedy is largely lost and preserved only in relatively short fragments by authors such as Athenaeus of Naucratis; New Comedy is known primarily from the substantial papyrus fragments of Menander. A burlesque dramatic form that blended tragic and comic elements, known as phlyax play or hilarotragedy, developed in the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia by the late 4th century BC. The philosopher Aristotle wrote in his '' Poetics'' (c. 335 BC) that comedy is a representation of l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epidaurus
Epidaurus () was a small city (''polis'') in ancient Greece, on the Argolid Peninsula at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros: ''Palaia Epidavros'' and ''Nea Epidavros''. Since 2010 they belong to the new municipality of Epidaurus, part of the regional unit of Argolis. The seat of the municipality is the town Lygourio. The nearby Temple of Asclepius, Epidaurus, sanctuary of Asclepius and Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, ancient theatre were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988 because of their exemplary architecture and importance in the development and spread of healing sanctuaries and cults across the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. Name and etymology The name "Epidaurus" is of Greek language, Greek origin. It was named after the hero Epidaurus (mythology), Epidauros, son of Apollo. According to Strabo, the city was originally named Ἐπίκαρος (Epíkaros) under the Carians, (Aristotle claimed that Caria, as a naval empire, occupied Epidau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curculio (play)
''Curculio'', also called ''The Weevil'', is a Latin comedic play for the early Roman theatre by Titus Maccius Plautus. It is the shortest of Plautus's surviving plays. The date of the play is not known, but de Melo suggests it may come from the middle period of Plautus's career (c. 205–184 BC), from the moderate amount of musical passages it contains. Other indications of date are a possible reference in lines 509–511 to a law of 197 BC on money-lending, and from the mention of gold philippics (440 BC), a coin which may have become familiar in Rome after the war in Macedonia of 194 BC. Plot In ''Curculio'', Phaedromus is in love with Planesium, a slave girl belonging to the pimp Cappadox. Phaedromus sends Curculio (a stock parasite character) to Caria to borrow money from a friend. Unsuccessful, Curculio happens to run into Therapontigonus, a soldier who intends to purchase Planesium. After Curculio learns of his plans, he steals the soldier's ring and returns to Pha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cistellaria
''Cistellaria'', translated as ''The Casket'', is a comedic Latin play of the late 3rd century BC by the early Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. The story, set in the Greek town of Sicyon, concerns a girl called Selenium who was exposed as a baby and brought up by a courtesan called Melaenis. By a happy chance it is discovered that her birth mother, married to a senator Demipho, lives next door, enabling her to marry the young man Alcesimarchus who loves her. The play was adapted from a lost comedy by Menander called ''Synaristosai'' ("The Women Who Lunched Together"). The ''Cistellaria'' appears to be one of Plautus's earliest plays. In line 202, the hope is expressed that the war with Carthage will soon end with victory for the Romans (the Second Punic War in fact ended in 202 BC). The same passage mentions "your allies old and new", which may be a reference to the treaty of alliance made with the Aetolian League in 209. Characters *Selenium: a young courtesan, who t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casina (play)
''Casina'' is a Latin comedy or farce by the early Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. Set in ancient Athens, the play describes how an Athenian gentleman and his son are both in love with the same slave-girl, Casina. The old man tries to conduct a secret affair with Casina by having her marry his farm-manager; but his plan is foiled by his wife, who dresses her son's armour-bearer up as the bride and sends him into the bridal chamber in place of Casina. The play is probably one of Plautus's later comedies, because of the amount of song which it contains.De Melo (2011), p. 7. There is also a mention of Bacchanalian revels, which are said no longer to take place; this may be a reference to a Roman senatorial decree of 187 BC forbidding such revels. If so, it would date the play to shortly before Plautus's death in 184 BC. According to the prologue (which appears to have been written for a revival some years after Plautus's death), the play is adapted from a comedy called ''K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elis
Elis also known as Ellis or Ilia (, ''Eleia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was Elis Prefecture, covering the same territory. The modern regional unit is nearly coterminous with the ancient Elis of the classical period. Here lie the ancient ruins of cities of Elis, Epitalion and Olympia, known for the ancient Olympic Games which started in 776 BC. Geography The northernmost point of Elis is 38° 06'N, the westernmost is 22° 12′E, the southernmost is 37° 18′N, and the easternmost is 21° 54′E. The length from north to south is , and from east-to-west is around . The modern regional unit is not completely congruent with ancient Elis: Lampeia belonged to ancient Arcadia, and Kalogria is now part of Achaea. The longest river is the Alfeios. Other rivers are the Erymanthos, Pineios an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aetolia
Aetolia () is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania. Geography The Achelous River separates Aetolia from Acarnania to the west; on the north it had boundaries with Epirus and Thessaly; on the east with the Ozolian Locrians; and on the south the entrance to the Corinthian Gulf defined the limits of Aetolia. In classical times Aetolia comprised two parts: "Old Aetolia" () in the west, from the Achelous to the Evenus and Calydon; and "New Aetolia" () or "Acquired Aetolia" () in the east, from the Evenus and Calydon to the Ozolian Locrians. The country has a level and fruitful coastal region, but an unproductive and mountainous interior. The mountains contained many wild beasts, and acquired fame in Greek mythology as the scene of the hunt for the Calydonian Boar, also called the Aetolian Boar. History Ancient era Tribes known as Curetes – named after the nea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Captivi
''Captivi'' is a Latin play by the early Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus, written circa 200 BCE. The title has been translated as ''The Captives'' or ''The Prisoners'', and the plot focuses on slavery and prisoners of war. Although the play contains much broad humor, it is a relatively serious treatment of significant themes compared to most of Plautus’ other comedies. Plautus himself points out the difference in tone between this play and his other works in ''Captivi’s'' prologue. Plot summary Philocrates and his slave Tyndarus, from the Greek district of Elis, have been captured in war with another Greek region, Aetolia. They are now prisoners and slaves bought by Hegio, a well-to-do resident of Aetolia, who is planning to trade them for his son, Philopolemus, who has been captured in Elis. Pretending to be each other, the supposed slave Philocrates is sent to make the trade, while Tyndarus risks his life by remaining. A friend of Philocrates named Aristophonte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bacchides (play)
''Bacchides'' is a Latin (language), Latin comedy by the early Ancient Rome, Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. The title has been translated as ''The Bacchises'', and the Plot (narrative), plot revolves around the misunderstandings surrounding two sisters, each called Bacchis, who work in a brothel. It includes Plautus' frequent theme of a clever servant outwitting his supposed superior to get money. The play is probably an adaptation of the play Δὶς Ἐξαπατῶν (''Dis Exapaton''), meaning ''Twice Deceiving'' or ''The Double Deceiver,'' by the Greek playwright Menander. The beginning of it is lost, but the outline of the missing scenes can be partly reconstructed from twenty surviving fragments. One feature of the play which has puzzled scholars is that while Menander's original play was called "The Twice Deceiving", there appear to be three deceptions in the ''Bacchides''. Various solutions to this have been suggested. Several scholars have proposed that the thir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aulularia
''Aulularia'' is a Latin play by the early Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. The title literally means ''The Little Pot'', but some translators provide ''The Pot of Gold'', and the plot revolves around a literal pot of gold which the miserly protagonist, Euclio, guards zealously. The play's ending does not survive, though there are indications of how the plot is resolved in later summaries and a few fragments of dialogue. One scholar, R. L. Hunter, writes of this play: "The ''Aulularia'' has always been one of the most popular and most studied of Plautus' plays, both because of its intrinsic interest and quality and also because of its later influence in the European dramatic tradition." Plot summary ''Lar Familiaris'', the household deity of Euclio, an old man with a marriageable daughter named Phaedria, begins the play with a prologue about how he allowed Euclio to discover a pot of gold buried in his house. Euclio is then shown almost maniacally guarding his gold fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thebes, Greece
Thebes ( ; , ''Thíva'' ; , ''Thêbai'' .) is a city in Boeotia, Central Greece (administrative region), Central Greece, and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is the largest city in Boeotia and a major center for the area along with Livadeia and Tanagra. It played an important role in Greek myths, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus, Heracles and others. One myth had the city founded by Agenor, which gave rise to the (now somewhat obscure) name "Agenorids" to denote Thebans. Archaeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed a Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean settlement and clay tablets written in the Linear B script, indicating the importance of the site in the Bronze Age. Thebes was the largest city of the ancient region of Boeotia and was the leader of the Boeotian confederacy. It was a major rival of Classical Athens, ancient Athens, and sided with the Achaemenid Empire, Persians during the Second Persian invasi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
