Pseudolus

by Plautus

The play Pseudolus provides an introduction to the world of Roman comedy from one of its best practitioners, Plautus. As with all Focus translations, the emphasis is on an inexpensive, readable edition that is close to the original, with an extensive introduction, notes and appendices.

Genres: Plays, Classics, Drama, School, Fiction, Read For School, Theatre

141 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 192

About the author

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's own works and works similar to or influenced by his.

Reviews

[David Sarkies · Rating 3 out of 5]

The folly of boyhood love
10 November 2014

It was interesting to note that in the introduction they mentioned that the plot of this play was one of those really hackneyed plots in the Roman times. That may be the case, but the fact that it has survived suggests that Plautus' take on the subject was a superior version of this well worn plot, or it simply could be the first. It is sort of like Die Hard – an original idea that ended up spawning a bunch of copies that tried, and failed, to live up to the original. Mind you, Pseudolus is not a play about a cop being trapped in a skyscraper on Christmas Eve, painting the words 'now I have a machine gun, ho, ho, ho' on a dead body.



No, Psuedolus is about how the son (Calidorus) of an Athenian nobleman (Simo) falls in love with a woman who is sold as a slave. I initially thought that it may have been similar to the Captivi, where the woman was initially a free woman, however it turns out that the woman is a slave, meaning that she is basically a prostitute (well, that is probably not the best description because prostitutes are generally paid, and enter that profession willingly, where as slaves aren't). The problem is that Calidorus can't afford to purchase his love (and it sounds that Simo is not willing to give him the money – which is not surprising because I am sure Simo had other women in mind to be his wife).

I was about to suggest that this play is similar to a very popular movie from the eighties:



however that happens to be a romantic comedy, and Richard Gere has no problem whatsoever paying for Julia Robert's services. Plautus is certainly not a romantic comedy, it is farce, and I am almost inclined to believe that such, boring, stories were not really written back then (though since we have a very limited sampling of Roman comedy I could quite well be wrong).

As is typical, especially with Plautus' plays, everything turns out good in the end, thanks to the shrewdness and cunning of the play's title character, a slave named Psuedolus. Obviously the slave's owner (referred to in the translation that I read as being a pimp) comes out second best, but then he was the one that was causing all of the problems in the first place. Still, as I suggested, the whole concept is ridiculous. The idea of wealthy son of a nobleman falling in love with a slave would be preposterous, though I am sure it happened quite a lot. I could quite well imagine the audience thinking 'yes, I remember when my stupid son fell is love with that slave, and after he got bored of her I swore that the next time I would not be giving him any more money' (which is probably why Simo didn't want to fork out the cash for his son in the first place.

[esther ☾⋆⁺₊ · Rating 3 out of 5]

“…And you have
no bitches.”

₊˚ʚ 7 out of 10! ₊˚✧ ﾟ🖇️ .
ﾟ 🦢⋆ 𝘋𝘈𝘛𝘌: 17/01/2025 (2 hours) ☂︎ ⋆ ﾟ

˚˖໋ 𝐩𝐫𝐞-𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 ¡!˚ೀ
Reading this for the EVAU (pre-college exams in Spain 😭), my Latin teacher says it’s actually pretty funny and I chose to trust him.

────    ‧     ‹ 🗞 ›     ‧    ────

I didn’t trust anything coming out from ancient societies to be as good as everyone says (that’s rich coming from a humanist, I know, but I don’t mean it like that 😭). But the fact that this man chose to start his book by saying “You better stretch your legs and stand up because this Plautus’ comedy we’re playing is long af 🙏🏻🔥” made me realize I was about to read a masterpiece. Mainly because it’s just 72 pages long, five of them being just an introduction. First click-bait ever? 🤨📸

I cannot believe this but I actually laughed reading this book. I actually laughed. Studying roman comedy I thought there was no way plays back then were so funny they made a dude named Plautus (💀) famous. Turns out they are. And that made me realize that, indeed, humans haven’t changed as much as most people believe. That’s why I chose the Humanism path, for stuff like this.

What makes this ten times funnier is that the only female character and romantic interest had to be played by a man (women weren’t allowed to act in Ancient Rome [or anywhere else after that for a long time, for that matter]).

Actually, thinking about it, is it fair to say this is Deadpool’s first appearance in history? Replace Pseudolus’ name with Wade’s and I’m telling you, nothing changes. Breaking the fourth-wall, being absolutely unhinged, not caring about anything, come on. My favorite Marvel character is Deadpool, can you tell 🥰?

Always listening to my Latin teacher from now on, Vae Victis, I guess 🙌🏻

[Tamoghna Biswas · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's an astounding meta-theatrical quality to the drama, which even if present more or less in all of Plautus's other plays, is significantly more evident here. Of all the plays that I've read by him, this also features the wittiest protagonist.

[Emma Ann]

UPDATE: Read in Latin for the first time for comps. I’m done with comedy/tragedy now, and I think this was my favorite of the plays I had to read.



***

[NOV ’22] Read this in English for my students, but not sure how to find the English edition on here.

[Aida]

Completamente sugestionada por la introducción de la obra pero quizás sí que es la mejor obra de plauto??

[Izzy Gough · Rating 2 out of 5]

read for uni
no women !

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. For a play with rather clichéd elements (the wily slave, the sleazy pimp, the well-worn plot of stealing back the maiden from sexual slavery), this is an entertaining read. It feels more fleshed out that Plautus’s early work, with a tighter plot (despite its longer length), fewer unnecessary scenes and characters we actually grow to care about by the end of the play. I wouldn't have minded reading more plays with the return of these characters, like watching a movie that will inevitably spawn sequels. Pseudolus is not Plautus's best work, but it might be the ideal play to introduce readers to his comedy.

[Wolf Vanlaer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pierke Pierlala voor volwassenen

[idoska · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was fun

[aliyah overturf · Rating 2 out of 5]

ick

[Illiterate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pseudolus is the most inventive of Plautus’ clever slaves.

[Tati · Rating 3 out of 5]

CALIDORO: Cuánto Ardo de rabia por las palabras de éste. ¿Qué la juventud ateniense tolere que este individuo habite aquí? ¿Dónde están, dónde se esconden los jóvenes llenos de vida que por amores acuden al rufián? (...)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MICO: ¿Podrías callarte? Al memorioso lo hace desmemoriada el que le recuerda lo que el memorioso memora.

[nats · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encantó esta edición del libro. Al ser una traducción dirigida a alumnos de ESO y Bachillerato, se decidieron por un lenguaje coloquial, que hace que los diálogos te sorprendan y acrecienten aun mas el humor en esta comedia latina.

[AJ (the.booknerd.reads) · Rating 2 out of 5]

kinda didn't like it
i think i'd like seeing a production of it live better bc it'd be more comedic
and then i wouldn't fall asleep during it lmao

[josee argumedo · Rating 4 out of 5]

es fácil hacer una comedia cuando tenés un tan buen protagonista. Plauto inversor

[NattiCalore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lowkey me ha hecho gracia

[Olivia Áres]

idk it was cliche but still a good time I laughed once or twice

[liliane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I forgot I was reading this til today 😭

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

As my first roman play, it was pretty damn good. Pseudolus had very sneaky and cunning qualities, and I do love the cunning slave and dumb master storyline in ancient plays, it was very like the Frogs. Pseudolus also reminded me of Odysseus because he always knew the best ways to get himself out of trouble.

[Emma (dearestemma) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a theatre major, I have learned about Greek and Roman theatre only about 500 times and Romans are notorious for their pretty crappy plays. However, this one was very witty, fast-paced, and enjoyable!

[gio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Le letture (e traduzioni) obbligatorie sfiancano. Specie se sei alla boh, terza rilettura?
End of the story.

[ross motter · Rating 3 out of 5]

surprisingly meta

[Ian Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been reading Latin literature for over 30 years but I’m ashamed to say that this is the first Roman comedy that I have read in full. No excuses. I’ve read plenty of history, philosophy and poetry but very little drama.
You might think that comedy would be one of the most accessible genres for a modern student but it turns out to be surprisingly problematic. One reason for this is the language. Plautus was writing in the early second century BCE using an early form of Latin that is quite different from the language of Caesar and Cicero 150 years later that has become the standard version taught today. Plautus’s Latin also reflects the everyday speech of ordinary people such as slaves, cooks and soldiers, rather than the elegant prose of the educated elite. That means you get lots of expletives and idioms and mixed-up genders. You also get a range of complex verse forms that often involve elision and compression as well as some peculiar word order. On a first read through, these take a lot of disentangling.
Another problem is the subject matter of the play. Pseudolus’s master, Calidorus, has fallen in love with Phoenicium, a slave owned by his neighbour Ballio. He is a leno, who hires her out to chaps like Calidorus for good times. Ballio has three other female slaves and he introduces us to all of them but none of them speak, including Phoenicium. He has arranged to sell her to a Macedonian soldier and Pseudolus must use his ingenuity to forestall the deal and make sure that Calidorus gets his girl. Plot spoiler, there is a happy ending and we are told that Phoenicium is free and making merry with Calidorus, but what kind of freedom does she have, in modern terms at least?
This edition has a useful introduction explaining the differences between Roman comedy and the Greek comedy that Plautus drew on. It’s interesting that the play is set in Athens, not Rome, although the editor helpfully points out how far Plautus has Romanised the original plot. The extensive commentary helpfully explains obscure words and phrases and ends with a section on Plautus’s use of various verse forms.
I am grateful to the Bristol Classical Press for continuing to publish a large number of Latin texts, but I repeat my usual gripe: this edition was first published 1987 and scholarship has moved on. It would be good if they could commit to doing an update every forty or fifty years. Despite that, this was an enjoyable read and I will explore the other Roman comedies that BCP publish.

[alyss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mi è stato impossibile distrarmi o annoiarmi: la scorrevolezza e la semplicità del contesto caratterizzano questa commedia in modo particolare e bizzarro; ammetto di avere avuto basse aspettative per questo libro soprattutto perché mi aspettavo un contesto a me lontano, quando in realtà l'astuzia e la scaltrezza, tipica del protagonista pseudolus, sono tanto attuali quanto fonte di comicità. Non c'è bisogno di conoscere particolarmente la storia greca antica e le usanze romane (per questo la commedia in questione si chiama palliata): il testo si presenta abbastanza intuitivo, però di solito il libro può presentare un'introduzione. Penso sia adatto soprattutto a coloro che vogliono affacciarsi al mondo antico in modo carino e divertente🫶

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si bien gran parte del ingenio de Plauto se pierde con la traducción al español (no son pocos los juegos de palabra ni pocas las sugerencias mucho más nítidas en el texto latino), la comedia sigue siendo disfrutable y muchas bromas de doble sentido o incluso metáforas ("desaloja de inquilinos los aposentos de tus orejas, para que mis palabras puedan instalarse en ellas", por ejemplo) se mantienen con mayor o menor eficacia. En cuanto a las reflexiones que esta comedia puede suscitar, quizás podamos rescatar dos nociones: la vulnerabilidad que la soberbia produce en el soberbio y el equívoco, referido por el mesurado Califón, que supone inculcar la virtud al ser poco virtuoso.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tremendously clever and enjoyable, "Pseudolus" follows the titular slave as he attempts to help his master's son, the lovelorn Calidorus, raise enough money to purchase Calidorus' lady love, the prostitute Phoenicium, from her pimp, the greedy Ballio. Along the way, Pseudolus makes a wager with his master (also Calidorus' father), the miserly Simo. Through trickery and wordplay, Pseudolus proves that even the poorest and most looked-down upon members of society can triumph in the end, and they can, at least in the world of Plautus' self-aware stage, have a rollicking good time while doing so.

[Viviana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una delle commedie più amate e quasi certamente la più nota di Plauto, in cui lo schiavo astuto trionfa ma, soprattutto, si fa archetipo di tutta quella molteplicità di commedie distanti anche secoli che vedranno schiavi, servi e servette avere la meglio, grazie ad acume ed intraprendenza, su antagonisti infidi e spietati, su padroni avari o senza cuore, sulla vita stessa.
Un caposaldo della letteratura e del teatro europei.

[Brooke Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for introduction to Roman Life and Literature with instructor Professor E. Cova.
This was the second play by Plautus that we read in class. Pseudolus was hard to follow. Honestly Plautus, there are too many characters and it takes away from the main characters creating the action of the story. At least he warned us in the Prologue that this play was going to be a long one.
But anyway, you’re dead so you’re not gonna read this. And you couldn’t even try because this is in English.

[Pegasus & Chrysaor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relatively easy to follow and understand. I Plautus' subtle mockery of Greeks and how he employs it where it is most potent for comedy. Ballio is a classic stupid villain and, in my opinion, creates unity in the comedy through being the common hatred of all other characters.

[Santiago González · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funciona bien, buena historia, buenos chistes y buen final feliz donde, como ha hecho otras veces, Plauto ridiculiza al proxeneta.
No es como el Cautivo que es más innovador, es el típico Plauto pero mostrando la mejor versión de cada uno de los aspectos característicos