Editing Plautus (section)

===Stock characters===
Plautus' range of characters was created through his use of various techniques, but probably the most important is his use of stock characters and situations in his various plays. He incorporates the same stock characters constantly, especially when the character type is amusing to the audience. As Walter Juniper wrote, "Everything, including artistic characterization and consistency of characterization, were sacrificed to humor, and character portrayal remained only where it was necessary for the success of the plot and humor to have a ''persona'' who stayed in character, and where the ''persona'' by his portrayal contributed to humor."<ref>W.H. Juniper, "Character Portrayals in Plautus." ''The Classical Journal '' 31 (1936), p. 279.</ref>

For example, in '' Miles Gloriosus'', the titular "braggart soldier" Pyrgopolynices only shows his vain and immodest side in the first act, while the parasite Artotrogus exaggerates Pyrgopolynices' achievements, creating more and more ludicrous claims that Pyrgopolynices agrees to without question. These two are perfect examples of the stock characters of the pompous soldier and the desperate parasite that appeared in Plautine comedies. In disposing of highly complex individuals, Plautus was supplying his audience with what it wanted, since "the audience to whose tastes Plautus catered was not interested in the character play,"<ref>Juniper, 1936, p. 278.</ref> but instead wanted the broad and accessible humor offered by stock set-ups. The humor Plautus offered, such as "puns, word plays, distortions of meaning, or other forms of verbal humor he usually puts them in the mouths of characters belonging to the lower social ranks, to whose language and position these varieties of humorous technique are most suitable,"<ref>J.N. Hough, "The Reverse Comic Foil in Plautus." ''The American Philological Association'' 73 (1942), p. 108.</ref> matched well with the stable of characters.

====The clever slave====
In his article "The Intriguing Slave in Greek Comedy," Philip Harsh gives evidence to show that the clever slave is not an invention of Plautus. While previous critics such as [[A. W. Gomme]] believed that the slave was "[a] truly comic character, the devisor of ingenious schemes, the controller of events, the commanding officer of his young master and friends, is a creation of Latin comedy," and that Greek dramatists such as Menander did not use slaves in such a way that Plautus later did, Harsh refutes these beliefs by giving concrete examples of instances where a clever slave appeared in Greek comedy.<ref>P.W. Harsh, "The Intriguing Slave in Greek Comedy," ''Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association'', 86 (1955), pp. 135-142.</ref> For instance, in the works of Athenaeus, Alciphron, and Lucian there are deceptions that involve the aid of a slave, and in Menander's ''Dis Exapaton'' there was an elaborate deception executed by a clever slave that Plautus mirrors in his ''Bacchides''. Evidence of clever slaves also appears in Menander's ''Thalis'', ''Hypobolimaios'', and from the papyrus fragment of his ''Perinthia''. Harsh acknowledges that Gomme's statement was probably made before the discovery of many of the papyri that we now have. While it was not necessarily a Roman invention, Plautus did develop his own style of depicting the clever slave. With larger, more active roles, more verbal exaggeration and exuberance, the slave was moved by Plautus further into the front of the action.<ref>Harsh, 1955, p. 135-142.</ref> Because of the inversion of order created by a devious or witty slave, this stock character was perfect for achieving a humorous response and the traits of the character worked well for driving the plot forward.

====The lustful old man====
Another important Plautine stock character, discussed by K.C. Ryder, is the ''senex amator''. A senex amator is classified as an old man who contracts a passion for a young girl and who, in varying degrees, attempts to satisfy this passion. In Plautus these men are Demaenetus (''Asinaria''), Philoxenus and Nicobulus (''Bacchides''), Demipho (''Cistellaria''), Lysidamus (''Casina''), Demipho (''Mercator''), and Antipho (''Stichus''). Periplectomenos (''Miles Gloriosus'') and Daemones (''Rudens'') are regarded as ''senes lepidi'' because they usually keep their feelings within a respectable limit. All of these characters have the same goal, to be with a younger woman, but all go about it in different ways, as Plautus could not be too redundant with his characters despite their already obvious similarities. What they have in common is the ridicule with which their attempts are viewed, the imagery that suggests that they are motivated largely by animal passion, the childish behavior, and the reversion to the love-language of their youth.<ref>K.C. Ryder, "The '''Senex Amator''' in Plautus," ''Greece & Rome'' 31.2. (Oct., 1984), pp.181-189.</ref>