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"Comedy Tonight!". The Roman World of Plautus. Plautus: first writer of musical comedy. “ A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum ” opened in 1962 with Zero Mostel Many were surprised to learn it was a mixture of scenes from Plautine comedy
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Plautus: first writer of musical comedy • “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” opened in 1962 with Zero Mostel • Many were surprised to learn it was a mixture of scenes from Plautine comedy • Authors of musical were updating Plautus’ techniques, just as he had done with his “sources” • Plautus fountainhead of modern comedy
Life of Plautus • Titus Maccius Plautus • Born at Sarsina in Umbria, ca. 254 B.C. • Recently conquered area • Native speech probably Umbrian, NOT Latin! • Perhaps educated in Rome?
Life of Plautus cont’d • Earned living in theatrical work – “in the working of the scenes and sets.” • Invested his savings in an overseas trading venture, but lost everything. • Probably traveled himself on this venture. • Acquired knowledge of Greek language and culture?
Life of Plautus cont’d • Arrived back in Rome broke. • Went to work in a flour-mill. • While working here, he composed his first three plays, produced after 215 B.C. • Success allowed him to devote the rest of his life to dramatic composition. • Roman Citizen?
Life of Plautus cont’d • Over 130 plays were attributed to him, but Varro claims only 21 genuine: we now have 20 plus fragmentary play. • Wildly popular in his day. • Died in 184 B.C. • Epitaph: Postquam est mortem aptus Plautus, comoedia luget, scaena est deserta, dein risus, ludus, iocusque Et numeri innumeri simul omnes conlacrimarunt.
Second Century Rome • New, extra-Italian provinces to administer and tax. • Proconsuls, propraetors, etc. • “Tax-farming” $$$ • In West, Spain provided metals and manpower (slaves) $$$. • In East, well-established and wealthy Hellenistic city-states and kingdoms brought increased contact with cultural achievements of Hellenism: philosophy, science, and literature, including dramatic comedy.
Roman Theaters • Early wooden structures - temporary. • Most often free-standing. • Very elaborate scene buildings. • Later, built of stone, sheathed with marble
Greek Influence in Plautus’ Plays • Greek “New Comedy” (Menander c. 342-293 B.C.) cf. “Old Comedy” • Purposefully non-political/escapist • Limited number of stock characters and plot-elements shuffled to produce new plays • Characters: the old man (father, grumpy/randy/drunken), the young man (son, angry, amorous, spendthrift), the young lady (prostitute/long-lost noblewoman), the slave (wily, greedy, self-interested) • Plot elements: love triangle, frustrated love, get the money, trick the father/uncle/authority figure, slave saves master, etc.
Plautus’use of Greek New Comedy • Formerly thought that Plautus slavishly copied Greek plays. • True that in some cases (e.g. The Rope, Casina, Mercator, etc.) we know his plays to have been based on Greek archetypes. • But papyri suggest Plautus used considerable ingenuity to shape Greek plays for Roman audience.
Plautus and “New Comedy,”cont’d • Fragment of Greek archetype for Bacchides shows that Plautus felt free to cut and/or meld scenes for his Roman purposes and setting. • Added new (often rude) jokes, puns, often very specific to Roman culture, much physical comedy • Role of stock character, “The Parasite,” is greatly expanded - fits Roman client system • Character and Plot development less important than immediate comic effect.
Plautus and “New Comedy,”cont’d • Much more use of “metatheatrical” elements - bringing in the crowd. • Dramatic illusion not maintained • (before a long-winded speech) “ O.K., but hurry, the crowd’s getting thirsty….” • In general, much more focus on clever verbal effects like alliteration, word-play, unexpected personifications, and riddling phraseology. • “…twist the neck of wrongdoing…”
Plautus’ musical comedy • Roman comedy composed in verse • Plautus uses many different meters • Songs may have made up as much as 40% of each play, some of dialogue also chanted or recited to flute • Song and dance routines perhaps Italian influence
The “Magic” of Plautus • Why was he so popular? • Secret lies in the context of ancient drama, i.e. religious festival days - official holidays spent drinking, feasting, watching athletic contests, and drama. • Holidays as “inversion” of the normal Roman world.
Roman Festivals and Comic Inversion • Licentia and Libertas ruled on festival days, as opposed to the severitas and disciplina of daily routine. • Likewise, comedy allows a temporary reversal of social norms: what is not done and said in real life is done and said on the comic stage. • “The joy of release (laughter) is in direct proportion to the severity of the restraint.”
Plautus’ Comic Inversion • So, in Plautus’ comedies, performed on festival days: • The action takes place in the Greek East (pergraecamini!) • Sons hate/trick/swindle their fathers and mothers • Young aristocrats care nothing for money, only love • Slaves have little real loyalty to or fear of masters, whom they often make ridiculous. • The gods are humanized and humans approach godhead • In sum, the characters are made to act as un-Roman as possible while making jokes that would only make sense in a Roman world. Finis
Mostellaria • Date: ??? • Model:??? • Main Characters (note types) • Philolaches: love-smitten son of • Theopropides: foolish, grumpy old man • Tranio: wily slave • Callidamates: drunken friend of Philolaches
Plot Summary • Grumio and Tranio, slaves of absent Theopropides, argue about Tranio’s corruption of Philolaches and the household. • Philolaches enters and reveals that he has spent his father’s wealth buying the freedom of his sweetie. • Philolaches goes to meet his love, and on the way home they meet the very drunk Callidamates with his girlfriend. • They go to Phil’s place to party.
Plot Summary cont’d • Tranio comes in and announces that dad has come back from out of town. • Phil et al. freak out, but Tranio tells them to keep cool and shuts them inside • Tranio meets Theopropides outside the house and tells him that it’s haunted. • The old man is persuaded and departs.
Plot Summary cont’d • Banker comes to collect $ Phil borrowed to buy his lover’s freedom. • Dad comes back, having found out that the house is not haunted. He hears the banker, and asks why Phil owes money. • Tranio lies and says that he has bought the neighbor’s (very nice) house. • Tranio and Dad go see the “new purchase.”
Plot Summary cont’d • Tranio smooth-talks his way inside the neighbor’s house with Dad, who is happy with his son’s “investment.” • Theopropides sends Tranio to fetch Phil. • Theopropides runs into a servant of Callidamates, who spills the beans. • The old man confronts slaves and son, but forgives all.
