Plautus was a Latin comediographer who became the most popular of comedy authors of his day. As with the rest of the data about his life, his date of birth is uncertain. Some indirect reference has led to think that he was born in the year 254 BC. C. and that he died in 184 a. C., in the then Roman Republic.
Some 130 works are attributed to Plautus, although he probably only wrote 21, which have survived to this day. With them, the author became the dominator of the art scene of the time, as he achieved great success among the public thanks to his mastery of reflecting the image of the Roman people of that time..
This author is also recognized for having been the first to specialize in a specific genre. His humor was simple, as was the language used, so that he could reach the majority of the population. Likewise, he introduced some novel elements that gave his works great expressiveness and made the public acclaim him..
Among his most important works are Aulularia or Comedy of the Pot, Host, The Asinaria, The Carthaginian, The Baquides Y The Escota. When he passed away, Plautus had amassed a considerable fortune, proof of the success of his work.
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The author's full name was Tito Maccio Plauto, although as with other aspects of his life, some experts doubt that this was his real name. His date of birth is unknown and has only been set at 254 BC. C. by a note written by Cicerón. The future playwright was presumably born in Sarsina, Umbria
Equally indirect is the knowledge about his date of death: during the consulate of Plauto Claudio and L. Porcio, when Cato was censor, that is, in 184 BC. C.
The vast majority of his biographical data come from compilations made by Marco Terencio Varrón, a Roman polygraph. The rest, as with the dates of birth and death, are speculations based on the historical context and some parts of his works..
The life of Plautus passed during the Second Punic War and the first Roman intervention on Greece. It was that time when the Roman people suffered from many deficiencies and were forced to do very demanding jobs in exchange for a miserable pay..
Plautus is believed to have moved to Rome to work in a theater company when he was still quite young. The money he obtained he invested in some commercial activity, whose lack of success led him to ruin.
Other experts, on the other hand, affirm that he worked in Rome as a soldier and as a merchant. According to this version, Plautus would have been part of the crew of some ships, which would explain the knowledge of the seafaring language that appears in several of his works..
Lacking money, he had to work in a mill pushing the stone stick, spinning around it for several hours. It was at this time that he began to write some comedies adapted from the Greek.
It is unknown how Plautus made his way into the Roman scene, but from 210 BC on. C. his comedies were performed with great success in the capital. Thanks to his works and the favor of the Roman public, the author died rich in 184 BC. C.
130 works were attributed to Plautus, although already in the 1st century, the Roman polygraph Marco Terencio Varrón collected in his monograph By comoediis Plautinis that only 30 had been written by the playwright. The rest would have been the work of admirers or imitators.
Plautus devoted himself entirely to comedy. Thus, he used the model created by authors of the new Greek comedy, such as Menander and Dífilo, and adapted it to Roman taste. With this, he created a new style that was completely different from the rest of the works of the time.
In most of his arguments, the action started from conventional situations, to which Plautus gave a very lively rhythm by masterfully mixing dialogue and action..
One of the causes of his great popular success was the use he made of simple resources, both in the construction of the characters, as well as in the settings and the story. The humor he used was simple and straightforward, so that everyone could understand him regardless of their cultural background..
In addition, Plauto introduced some new resources for the time, such as exaggerated gestures or the appearance of characters making gestures contrary to what they were saying. Likewise, he also used scenic duplications with the mirror effect.
His language, following the tone of the rest of the elements, were surprising, colloquial and even obscene. There were also some parodies about other languages of the region.
Host, which later inspired Moliere, was the only mythological-themed work written by Plautus. In it, Jupiter takes advantage of the fact that Ahost is fighting the Thebans to assume his appearance and maintain relations with his wife, Alcmena..
Deméneto, a man married to a wealthy woman who does not agree to give him money, manages to keep the profits obtained from the sale of donkeys.
The character tries to use that money to pay his son a mistress, but his wife ends up discovering the deception.
This work, whose end is not known, since it has reached our days incomplete, tells the story of an old miser who has hidden his money in a kettle. A young couple who wish to marry, a suitor for the bride and a cook who finds the kettle complete this comedy of entanglements..
While on his way to Ephesus to collect a payment in gold, Mnesilochus meets Baquide and falls in love with her. However, she continues on her way, while she is betrothed to a soldier and moves to Athens..
The girl's sister, also named Báquide, lives in that city. The resemblance of both sisters will become the main plot when Mnesilochus sends a slave to search for his beloved..
Some critics consider this work, based on Menander's Synaristosai, as Plautus' masterpiece. In it, a fisherman pulls out of the waters a suitcase full of toys that belonged to his master's daughter, who had been kidnapped..
- The captives
- Casina
- Curculio or Weevil
- Epidic
- The two Menecmos
- The boastful soldier
- Mostellaria or The Appeared
- The Persian
- Poenulus
- Pséudolo or the impostor
- Rudens
- Aesthetic
- Trinummus or The Three Coins
- The truculent
- Vidularia or The Comedy of the Suitcase
- The young Carthaginian
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