Oxford Readings in Menander, Plautus, and Terence

by Segal, Erich

• ISBN13: 9780198721932
• ISBN10: 0198721935
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-05-23
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book documents the origins of modern comedy by examining the evolution of "New Comedy," the Greek genre of which the works of Menander are the only surviving example. It looks at the quiet domestic dramas of Menander, the farces of Plautus, and the comedies of Terence. An authoritative Introduction sets the papers, which are by leading experts in their field, in context and explores connections between them thus examining the legacy for modern comedies. All Latin and Greek is translated.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Greek Antecedents

Euripidean Comedy

Menander

The Conventions of the Comic Stage and Their Exploitation

Marriage and Prostitution in Classical New Comedy

Love and Marriage in Greek New Comedy

Tragic Space and Comic Timing in Menander's Dyskolos

Plautus

Plautus and the Public Stage

Traditions of Theatrical Improvisation in Plautus: Some Considerations

Plautus' Mastery of Comic Language

The Menaechmi: Roman Comedy of Errors

Crucially Funny, or Tranio on the Couch: The Servus Callidus and Jokes About Torture

Aulularia: City-State and Individual

The Art of Deceit: Pseudolus and the Nature of Reading

The Theatre of Plautus: Playing to the Audience

The Theatrical Significance of Duplication in Plautus' Amphitruo

Amphitruo, Bacchae, and Metatheatre

Terence

The Originality of Terence and His Greek Models

The Dramatic Balance of Terence's Andria

Terence's Hecyra: A Delicate Balance of Suspense and Dramatic Irony

Problems of Adaptation in the Eunuchus of Terence

The Intrigue of Terence's Self-Tormentor

Phormio parasitus: A Study in Dramatic Methods of Characterization

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