An Introduction to Plautus Through Scenes

Plautus (c.254 BC–184 BC), translated/authored by Hardin, Richard F. (contact-email)

The collection celebrates the comic artist Plautus, an influential Roman comic playwright from around 200 B.C. who adapted Greek New Comedies with his unique touch. His Roman predecessors produced abulae palliatae plays featuring Greek attire, contrasting them with the more anarchic Old Comedies of Aristophanes. Plautus’s legacy endures from the Renaissance today; his work forms the basis for Shakespearean comedies and modern adaptations like Molière’s L’Avare and Gelbart and Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Designed for multiple audiences, the collection includes scenes suitable for auditions or separate performances. It aims to attract not only comedy enthusiasts but also scholars and practitioners interested in the historical evolution of comedy. The collection serves as a gateway to explore Plautus’s complete works, particularly those that inspired iconic playwrights like Shakespeare, Molière, and Sondheim. It underscores Plautus’s varied comedic talent in character development, tone, and plot design.

Author Details

Titus Maccius Plautus, born around 254 BC in Sarsina, a small town in northern Italy, was a pioneering Roman playwright. His early years remain largely undocumented, but it is claimed that he began his career in theatre as a stage-carpenter and scene-shifter. His acting talent was eventually recognised and he adopted his nom de plume Plautus (meaning “trampled flat”) - derived from the character ‘Maccus’, a clownish figure in the Atellan Farce genre. He is believed to have been sufficiently successful to fund a nautical venture, which later failed, returning him to manual labour. During this period, Plautus studied Greek drama, particularly Menander's New Comedy.

His own theatrical works, predominantly comedies, emerged between approximately 205 and 184BC. Plautus specialised in adapting Greek plays to Roman audiences. His contributions are notable as the earliest complete Latin literary works that remain extant today.

Plautus wrote within the ‘Palliata comoedia’ genre, a form established by Livius Andronicus, marking a significant development in Latin literature. The term ‘Plautine’ is used to describe not only his own creations but also those influenced by or similar to his style. Plautus's plays, rich in Roman cultural references yet grounded in Greek narrative structures, became synonymous with the theatrical success of his era.

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Hardin, Richard F.

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