Roman Laughter: The Comedy of Plautus

by Erich Segal

"Mr. Segal has performed the by no means trifling task of making [Plautus's] achievement credible and understandable."-- Times Literary Supplement . "It is refreshing to find Plautus examined for what he undeniably was--a theatrical phenomenon."-- Classical World . "We certainly need in English a book devoted to Plautus alone and here we have it."-- Phoenix . "Many readers will do as I have read Roman Laughter with enjoyment and profit."-- Classical Philology . "Of all the Greek and Roman playwrights," Erich Segal writes, "Titus Maccius Plautus is the least admired and the most imitated." In Roman Laughter , the first book-length study of Plautus, Segal argues that this neglected writer, often denounced by scholars for such crimes as "barbarous clownery," merits our serious attention precisely because he was the most successful poet of the ancient world. He analyzes the reasons behind this success, placing the author in his social and historical context and observing that
Plautus's wildly comedic flouting of Roman law and custom had a cathartic effect upon a people bound by rule in every aspect of their lives. This expanded edition contains a new preface that reconsiders the work of Plautus in light of recent scholarship and also contains essays on the Amphitryon and the Captivi .

Genres: Nonfiction, Comedy

272 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1968

About the author

Erich Wolf Segal was an American author, screenwriter, and educator. He was best-known for writing the novel Love Story, a bestseller, and writing the motion picture of the same name, which was a major hit.

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing.

I can't get over how the basic principles of comedy haven't changed over the last couple thousand of years. As is evident by these plays, we're still joking about sex, marriage, the lack of sex after marriage, cuckolded husbands, shrewish and bitchy wives, and getting caught trying to find a little happiness on the side.

I don't laugh out loud often while reading, but these plays had me doing just that.. I could picture the players on the stage, going about their messy business of tricking one another and everyone trying to get their own just desserts with the appropriate sex.

It's no wonder that Shakespeare borrowed liberally from Plautus' pen. The material works -- still!

Anyone with am interest in theatre should check these plays out. Segal's notes are often just as amusing as the play, but he does a good job of explaining how and why he translated some things the way he did.

As with reading Shakespeare, this can sometimes be a challenege because it is all in verse. At times I found that I had gotten into a rhythm of reading the meter rather than reading the words and I had to back-track in order to get a sense of what was happening.

Worth the read. I would love to see someone perform these!

[Jo Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este libro me gusto mucho. Tuvimos que leerlo en clase, en mi optativa, que es literatura y cine, y como estábamos haciendo literaturas clásicas, fue elegido este librito por la profesora. A todos nos daba muchísima pereza, y creíamos que iba a ser un mierda, pero quedamos encantados. Como es teatro, nos repartimos los papeles y estuvimos riéndonos toda la clase. Lo leímos en dos sesiones, es muy ameno,divertido, entretenido y una gran lectura para reír con los amigos.

(No fue este libro concreto, porque eran las comedias de Plauto un poco modernizadas. Se llamaba ¨Totus Plautus, o casi¨.

3,5 estrellas

[Katrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really informative, well written, easy to follow the author's thought. Abundance of interesting notes. Introduces wide range of new titles for research. I found it very useful.