Amphitryon

Amphitryon
Author: Titus Maccius Plautus
Publisher:
Total Pages: 602
Release: 1916
Genre: Drama
ISBN:

The comedies of Plautus, who brilliantly adapted Greek plays for Roman audiences c. 205-184 BCE, are the earliest Latin works to survive complete and cornerstones of the European theatrical tradition from Shakespeare and Molière to modern times. Twenty-one of his plays are extant.

Plautus

Plautus
Author: Titus Maccius Plautus
Publisher:
Total Pages: 596
Release: 1916
Genre: Latin drama (Comedy)
ISBN:

Plautus: Casina

Plautus: Casina
Author: David Christenson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2019-01-10
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1350020559

This is the first volume dedicated to Plautus' perennially popular comedy Casina that analyses the play for a student audience and assumes no knowledge of Latin. It launches a much-needed new series of books, each discussing a comedy that survives from the ancient world. Four chapters highlight the play's historical context, themes, performance and reception, including its reflection of recent societal trends in marriage and property ownership by women after the Punic Wars, and its complex dynamics on stage. It is ideal for students, but helpful also for scholars wanting a brief introduction to the play. Casina pits a husband (Lysidamus) and wife (Cleostrata) against each other in a struggle for control of a 16-year-old slave named Casina. Cleostrata cleverly plots to frustrate the efforts of her lascivious elderly husband, staging a cross-dressing 'marriage' that culminates in his complete humiliation. The play provides rich insights into relationships within the Roman family. This volume analyses how Casina addresses such issues as women's status and property rights, the distribution of power within a Roman household, and sexual violence, all within a compellingly meta-comic framework from which Cleostrata emerges as a surprising comic hero. It also examines the play's enduring popularity and relevance.