Description
Book SynopsisBrilliantly adapting Greek New Comedy for Roman audiences, the sublime comedies of Plautus (c. 254-184 BC) are the earliest surviving complete works of Latin literature. The four plays collected here reveal a playwright in his prime, exploring classic themes and developing standard characters that were to influence the comedies of Shakespeare, Molière and many others. In
The Ghost, a dissolute son who has squandered his father's money is thrown into disarray when he returns from abroad, a theme that is explored further in the comedy of errors
A Three-Dollar Day. In
The Rope—regarded by many as the best of Plautus' plays—the shipwreck of a pimp and his slaves leads to the touching reunion of a father and his daughter, while Amphitryo, Plautus's only excursion into divine mythology, offers a cheerful account of how Jupiter became father to Hercules.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in
Table of ContentsThe Rope and Other PlaysIntroduction
The Ghost Mostellaria
The Rope Rudens
A Three-Dollar Day Trinummus
Amphitryo
