Title
Metagenre and the competent audience of Plautus' Captivi
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2022
Disciplines
Classical Literature and Philology
Abstract
Writing on Poenulus and Plautus' genre, Henderson has proposed that the extant Plautine plays are 'emphatically heterogeneous', such that 'no one play typifies the oeuvre.' His argument counters a charge often leveled against Roman Comedy, that the plays are all the same, or at least that they all amount to the same thing. Henderson was right that they are not and do not, but the fact remains that Plautus' plays have a certain predictability. Their formulaic nature is what promises, in the face of manifold obstacles, a happy ending. It is what indicates that the fragments of Vidularia once added up to a recognition play-and what defines 'recognition plays' as a group. It is what prompts claims that Captiui is 'unusual', filled with 'oddities' and 'mistakes'.
Recommended Citation
Mazzara, R. 2022. Metagenre and the competent audience of Plautus' Captivi. Ramus: Critical Studies in Greek and Roman Literature 51(2): 160-181. https://doi.org/10.1017/rmu.2022.10