Editing Plautus (section)

== Influences ==

===Greek New Comedy===
Greek New Comedy greatly differs from those plays of Aristophanes. The most notable difference, according to Dana F. Sutton, is that New Comedy, in comparison to Old Comedy, is "devoid of a serious political, social or intellectual content" and "could be performed in any number of social and political settings without risk of giving offense".<ref name="Sutton57">Sutton 1993, p. 57.</ref> The risk-taking for which Aristophanes is known is noticeably lacking in the New Comedy plays of [[Menander]]. Instead, there is much more of a focus on the home and the family unit—something that the Romans, including Plautus, could easily understand and adopt for themselves later in history.

===Father–son relationships===
One main theme of Greek New Comedy is the father–son relationship. For example, in Menander's ''Dis Exapaton'' there is a focus on the betrayal between age groups and friends. The father-son relationship is very strong and the son remains loyal to the father. The relationship is always a focus, even if it's not the focus of every action taken by the main characters. In Plautus, on the other hand, the focus is still on the relationship between father and son, but we see betrayal between the two men that wasn't seen in Menander. There is a focus on the proper conduct between a father and son that, apparently, was so important to Roman society at the time of Plautus.

This becomes the main difference and, also, similarity between Menander and Plautus. They both address "situations that tend to develop in the bosom of the family".<ref name="Sutton57"/> Both authors, through their plays, reflect a [[patriarchal society]] in which the father-son relationship is essential to proper function and development of the household.<ref>Sutton 1993, p. 59.</ref> It is no longer a political statement, as in Old Comedy, but a statement about household relations and proper behavior between a father and his son. But the attitudes on these relationships seem much different—a reflection of how the worlds of Menander and Plautus differed.

===Farce===
{{For|the Italian tradition of farce|Atellan farce}}
There are differences not just in how the father–son relationship is presented, but also in the way in which Menander and Plautus write their poetry. William S. Anderson discusses the believability of Menander versus the believability of Plautus and, in essence, says that Plautus' plays are much less believable than those plays of Menander because they seem to be such a farce in comparison. He addresses them as a reflection of Menander with some of Plautus' own contributions. Anderson argues there is unevenness in the poetry of Plautus that results in "incredulity and refusal of sympathy of the audience."<ref>Lloyd, R. F., "Two Prologues: Menander and Plautus", ''The American Journal of Philology'' 84.2 (1963, April), p. 141.</ref>

===Prologues===
The poetry of Menander and Plautus is best juxtaposed in their prologues. Robert B. Lloyd makes the point that "albeit the two prologues introduce plays whose plots are of essentially different types, they are almost identical in form..."<ref name="Lloyd149">Lloyd 1963, p. 149.</ref> He goes on to address the specific style of Plautus that differs so greatly from Menander. He says that the "verbosity of the Plautine prologues has often been commented upon and generally excused by the necessity of the Roman playwright to win his audience."<ref name="Lloyd149"/> However, in both Menander and Plautus, [[word play]] is essential to their comedy. Plautus might seem more verbose, but where he lacks in [[physical comedy]] he makes up for it with words, [[alliteration]] and paronomasia (punning).<ref>Lloyd 1963, p. 150.</ref> See also "jokes and wordplay" below.

Plautus is well known for his devotion to puns, especially when it comes to the names of his characters. In ''Miles Gloriosus'', for instance, the female concubine's name, Philocomasium, translates to "lover of a good party"—which is quite apt when we learn about the tricks and wild ways of this prostitute.

===Character===
Plautus' characters—many of which seem to crop up in quite a few of his plays—also came from Greek stock, though they too received some Plautine innovations. Indeed, since Plautus was adapting these plays it would be difficult not to have the same kinds of characters—roles such as slaves, concubines, soldiers, and old men. By working with the characters that were already there but injecting his own creativity, as J. C. B. Lowe wrote in his article "Aspects of Plautus' Originality in the Asinaria", "Plautus could substantially modify the characterization, and thus the whole emphasis of a play."<ref>Lowe, J. C. B., "Aspects of Plautus' Originality in the Asinaria", ''The Classical Quarterly'' 42 (1992), p. 155.</ref>

====The Clever Slave====
One of the best examples of this method is the Plautine slave, a form that plays a major role in quite a few of Plautus' works. The "clever slave" in particular is a very strong character; he not only provides exposition and humor, but also often drives the plot in Plautus' plays. C. Stace argues that Plautus took the stock slave character from New Comedy in Greece and altered it for his own purposes. In New Comedy, he writes, "the slave is often not much more than a comedic turn, with the added purpose, perhaps, of exposition".<ref>Stace, C., "The Slaves of Plautus", ''Greece & Rome'' 15 (1968), p. 75.</ref> This shows that there was precedent for this slave archetype, and obviously some of its old role continues in Plautus (the expository monologues, for instance). However, because Plautus found humor in slaves tricking their masters or comparing themselves to great heroes, he took the character a step further and created something distinct.<ref>Stace 1968, pp. 73–74.</ref>

===Understanding of Greek by Plautus' audience===
Of the approximate 270 proper names in the surviving plays of Plautus, about 250 names are Greek.<ref>Seaman, W.M., "The Understanding of Greek by Plautus' Audience," ''Classical Journal'' 50 (1954), p. 115.</ref> William M. Seaman proposes that these Greek names would have delivered a comic punch to the audience because of its basic understanding of the Greek language.<ref>Seaman 1954, p. 116.</ref> This previous understanding of Greek language, Seaman suggests, comes from the "experience of Roman soldiers during the first and second Punic wars. Not only did men billeted in Greek areas have opportunity to learn sufficient Greek for the purpose of everyday conversation, but they were also able to see plays in the foreign tongue."<ref>Seaman 1954, p. 115.</ref> Having an audience with knowledge of the Greek language, whether limited or more expanded, allowed Plautus more freedom to use Greek references and words. Also, by using his many Greek references and showing that his plays were originally Greek, "It is possible that Plautus was in a way a teacher of Greek literature, myth, art and philosophy; so too was he teaching something of the nature of Greek words to people, who, like himself, had recently come into closer contact with that foreign tongue and all its riches."<ref>Seaman 1954, p. 119.</ref>

At the time of Plautus, Rome was expanding, and having much success in Greece. W.S. Anderson has commented that Plautus "is using and abusing Greek comedy to imply the superiority of Rome, in all its crude vitality, over the Greek world, which was now the political dependent of Rome, whose effete comic plots helped explain why the Greeks proved inadequate in the real world of the third and second centuries, in which the Romans exercised mastery".<ref>W.S. Anderson, "The Roman Transformation of Greek Domestic Comedy," ''The Classical World'' 88.3 (1995), pp. 171-180.</ref>

===Disputed originality===
Plautus was known for the use of Greek style in his plays, as part of the tradition of the variation on a theme. This has been a point of contention among modern scholars. One argument states that Plautus writes with originality and creativity—the other, that Plautus is a copycat of Greek New Comedy and that he makes no original contribution to playwriting.{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}}

A single reading of the ''Miles Gloriosus'' leaves the reader with the notion that the names, place, and play are all Greek, but one must look beyond these superficial interpretations. W.S. Anderson would steer any reader away from the idea that Plautus' plays are somehow not his own or at least only his interpretation. Anderson says that, "Plautus homogenizes all the plays as vehicles for his special exploitation. Against the spirit of the Greek original, he engineers events at the end... or alter[s] the situation to fit his expectations."<ref>Anderson 1995, p. 178.</ref> Anderson's vehement reaction to the co-opting of Greek plays by Plautus seems to suggest that they are in no way like their originals were. It seems more likely that Plautus was just experimenting putting Roman ideas in Greek forms.

===''Contaminatio''===
One idea that is important to recognize is that of ''contaminatio'', which refers to the mixing of elements of two or more source plays. Plautus, it seems, is quite open to this method of adaptation, and quite a few of his plots seem stitched together from different stories. One excellent example is his ''Bacchides'' and its supposed Greek predecessor, Menander's ''Dis Exapaton.''  The original Greek title translates as "The Man Deceiving Twice", yet the Plautine version has three tricks.<ref>Owens, W. M., "The Third Deception in Bacchides: Fides and Plautus' Originality," ''The American Journal of Philology'' 115 (1994), pp. 381-382.</ref>  V. Castellani commented that:

<blockquote>
Plautus' attack on the genre whose material he pirated was, as already stated, fourfold. He deconstructed many of the Greek plays' finely constructed plots; he reduced some, exaggerated others of the nicely drawn characters of Menander and of Menander's contemporaries and followers into caricatures; he substituted for or superimposed upon the elegant humor of his models his own more vigorous, more simply ridiculous foolery in action, in statement, even in language.<ref>V. Castellani. "Plautus versus Komoidia: popular farce at Rome," in Farce, ed. 5 J. Redmond (Cambridge and New York, 1988), pp. 53-82.</ref> </blockquote>

By exploring ideas about Roman loyalty, Greek deceit, and differences in ethnicity, "Plautus in a sense surpassed his model."<ref>Owens 1994, p. 404.</ref>  He was not content to rest solely on a loyal adaptation that, while amusing, was not new or engaging for Rome. Plautus took what he found but again made sure to expand, subtract, and modify. He seems to have followed the same path that Horace did, though Horace is much later, in that he is putting Roman ideas in Greek forms. He not only imitated the Greeks, but in fact distorted, cut up, and transformed the plays into something entirely Roman. In essence it is Greek theater colonized by Rome and its playwrights.