A Companion to Plautus

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.

George Fredric Franko is Professor of Classical Studies at Hollins University, where he holds the Berry Professorship in Liberal Arts. He has published on a variety of topics and has directed productions of Plautus in Latin.

Dorota Dutsch is Associate Professor of Classics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She holds a PhD from McGill University. Her interests include Roman comedy, classical reception, and gender studies.

Notes on contributors

Introduction; A 2020 VISION OF PLAUTUS

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

2.Plautus and Greek Drama
Sebastiana Nervegna

3.Stages and Stagecraft
Anne H. Groton

4.Actors and Audience
Isabella Tardin Cardoso

5.nouo modo nouom aliquid inuentum: Plautine Priorities –
David Christenson

6.Plays of Mistaken Identity
Costas Panayotakis

7.Plautus and the Marriage Plot
Sharon L. James

8.Stock Characters and Stereotypes
Shawn O'Bryhim

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

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

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

12.Archetypal Character Studies: Masculinity and Power
Anne Feltovich

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

14.Tragicomedy and Paratragedy. Plautusʼs Amphitruo, Captivi, and Rudens
Walter Stockert

15.The Language of Plautus
Peter Barrios-Lech

16.Metatheater and Improvisation in Plautus
Christopher Bungard

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

18.Comic Technique in Plautus’s Asinaria and Casina
Martin Dinter

19.Plautus and the Topography of his World
Sophia Papaioannou

20.Warfare and Imperialism in and around Plautus
Paul J. Burton

21.Religion in and around Plautus
Seth A. Jeppesen

22.Gender and Sexuality in Plautus
Serena S. Witzke

23.Owners and Slaves in and around Plautus
Amy Richlin

24.Slave Labor in Plautus
Roberta Stewart

25.Plautus and his Dramatic Successors in the Republican Period
Gesine Manuwald

26.Alii rhetorica tongent: Plautus and Public Speech
Emilia A. Barbiero

27.The Textual Tradition of Plautus
Rolando Ferri

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

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

30.Plautus in Early Modern England
George Fredric Franko

31.Reception Today: Theater and  Movies
Rodrigo T. Gonçalves

32.Trends in Plautus Translation
James Tatum

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