Plautus

Titus Maccius Plautus (born at Sarsina, Umbria in 254 B.C.) was a comic playwright in the time of the Roman Republic. The years of his life are uncertain, but his plays were first produced between about 205 BC and 184 BC. Twenty-one plays survive.

Related Topics:
Sarsina - Umbria - Playwright - Roman Republic - 205 BC - 184 BC

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Plautus' comedies, which are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature, are all adaptations of Greek models for a Roman audience. The characters remain in Greek settings, or perhaps a Greek setting imagined by a Roman. His most typical character is the clever slave who manipulates his master, reversing the master-slave dynamic expected of such relationships in the Roman world.

Related Topics:
Comedies - Latin literature - Greek

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Plautus' work gave ideas to many playwrights afterwards, such as William Shakespeare, Molière, Lessing and others. His comedies Miles Gloriosus and Pseudolus were also the basis for the 1962 musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Related Topics:
William Shakespeare - Molière - Lessing - Miles Gloriosus - Pseudolus - 1962 - Musical - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

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He wrote the plays Poenulus, Amphitryon, Captivi, Persa, Pseudolus, Miles Gloriosus, Aulularia, Trinummus, Rudens, Mercator, Curculio, Stichus, Menaechmi and Asinaria.

Related Topics:
Poenulus - Amphitryon - Captivi - Persa - Pseudolus - Miles Gloriosus - Aulularia - Trinummus - Rudens - Mercator - Curculio - Stichus - Menaechmi - Asinaria

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