Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Plautus: Curculio

Plautus: Curculio

Gellar-Goad, T. H. M.

Hardcover

Series: Bloomsbury Ancient Comedy Companions

Literary CriticismFiction AnthologiesPlays

ISBN10: 135007974X
ISBN13: 9781350079748
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published: Feb 11 2021
Pages: 200
Weight: 0.82
Height: 0.50 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English

This is the first book-length study of Plautus' shortest surviving comedy, Curculio, a play in which the tricksy brown-nosed title character (The Weevil) bamboozles a shady banker and a pious pimp to secure the freedom of the enslaved girl his patron has fallen for while keeping her out of the clutches of a megalomaniacal soldier. It all takes place in the Greek city Epidaurus, the most important site for the worship of the healing god Aesculapius, an unusual setting for an ancient comedy. But a mid-play monologue by the stage manager shows us where the action really is: in the real-life Roman Forum, in the lives and low-lifes of the audience.

This study explores the world of Curculio and the world of Plautus, with special attention to how the play was originally performed (including the first-ever comprehensive musical analysis of the play), the play's plots and themes, and its connections to ancient Roman cultural practices of love, sex, religion, food, and class. Plautus: Curculio also offers the first performance and reception history of the play: how it has survived through more than two millennia and its appearances in the modern world.

1 different editions

Also available

Also in

Plays

View All