The Rope and Other Plays
By Plautus
1964
First Published
3.68
Average Rating
286
Number of Pages
Brilliantly 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' only excursion into divine mythology, offers a cheerful account of how Jupiter became father to Hercules.
Avg Rating
3.68
Number of Ratings
254
5 STARS
23%
4 STARS
36%
3 STARS
30%
2 STARS
9%
1 STARS
2%
goodreads
Author
Plautus
Author · 55 books
Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest works in Latin literature to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus. The word Plautine refers to both Plautus' own works and works similar to or influenced by his.
