Amphitryo, Asinaria, Aulularia, Bacchides, Captivi / Amphitryon, The Comedy of Asses, The Pot of Gold, The Two / Bacchises, The Captives
Amphitryon, the Comedy of Asses, the Pot of Gold, the Two Bacchises, and the Captives gather five comedies by the Roman playwright Plautus, each adapted from a lost Greek original of the New Comedy. The plays range across mistaken identity and divine mischief, as Jupiter disguises himself as a general to seduce Alcmena; the schemes of clever slaves to wrest money from masters; a miser driven half-mad guarding his pot of gold; the deceptions of two sister courtesans; and a poignant tale of captured prisoners and a father's lost son. Trickery, disguise, and sudden recognition drive the action throughout.
These comedies established the templates of Western stage farce: the scheming servant, the boastful soldier, the cranky old man, the young lovers. Plautus delights in wordplay, song, and theatrical self-awareness, mixing low humor with surprising tenderness, especially in the Captives. Endlessly imitated by Shakespeare, Molière, and beyond, they remain the liveliest surviving voice of the Roman popular stage.
How it begins
A few typographical errors have been corrected. They have been marked in the text with popups . Greek words that may not display correctly in all browsers are similarly transliterated: ὥς . Footnotes are collected at the end of each play. Where a footnote refers to an omitted passage, the verses before and after the omission have been numbered in parentheses: (182) (184) All other line numbers are from the original text. PLAUTUS WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY PAUL NIXON DEAN OF BOWDOIN COLLEGE, MAINE IN FIVE VOLUMES I AMPHITRYON THE COMEDY OF ASSES THE POT OF GOLD THE TWO BACCHISES THE CAPTIVES CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD First printed 1916 CONTENTS Greek Originals of the Plays vii Introduction ix Bibliography xvii I. Amphitruo, or Amphitryon 1 II. Asinaria, or the Comedy of Asses 123 III. Aulularia, or the Pot of Gold 231 IV. Bacchides, or the Two Bacchises 325 V. Captivi, or the Captives 459 Index The Index of Proper Names is not included in this e-text. 569 THE GREEK ORIGINALS OF THE PLAYS IN THIS VOLUME In this and each succeeding volume a summary will be given of the consensus of opinion 1 regarding the Greek originals of the plays in the volume and regarding the time of presentation in Rome of Plautus's adaptations.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain.