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Mostellaria

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Excerpt from Mostellaria

Your lover still will to your yoke submit, And be your own for life, then humor him, And him alone; become his wedded wife.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

62 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 185

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About the author

Plautus

1,878 books120 followers
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.

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5 stars
26 (8%)
4 stars
74 (23%)
3 stars
157 (48%)
2 stars
53 (16%)
1 star
11 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
Profile Image for Clàudia.
3 reviews
April 16, 2024
el personatge de Tranió es resumeix en les següents paraules: gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss
Profile Image for Illiterate.
2,891 reviews57 followers
March 16, 2021
A slave manages a haughty master and his errant son.
Profile Image for olivia.
51 reviews7 followers
May 15, 2024
philolaches would’ve made tik toks of him living off of daddy’s money
Profile Image for Dorotea.
406 reviews74 followers
April 14, 2019
La scena iniziale con Grumione e Tranione ("M'hai mandato una zaffata d'aglio, letamaio che non sei altro, tanghero, caprone, porcaio, sozza mistura di brago e sterco! / Che vuoi farci? Non è consentito a tuti odorari di profumi esotici come te, nè sedere a capotavola come fai tu, nè mangiare pietanzine delicate come quelle che mangi tu") e la scena con Callidamate ubriaco (Atto I, Scena Quarta) mi hanno fatto spaccare; in generale però ho trovato la trama abbastanza fastidiosa e non ho apprezzato pienamente la commedia.
Profile Image for maria.
89 reviews1 follower
December 4, 2023
pel cole.
4 estrelles merescudíssimes perquè no podia parar de riure tota l'estona amb frases del tipus et penjaré, ets un moc ben penjat o carallot i gamarús. pel que fa la història, què vols que et digui, curta.
Profile Image for Phillip.
Author 2 books67 followers
March 15, 2026
So, the play itself isn't bad, but I hated this translation. It's a translation from the 1850s, by Henry Thomas Riley, an old school classicist, and so it's got that awkward stilted style like bad Shakespeare--people going around saying things like "prithee" or "by my troth," which are probably not accurate to Roman republic-era linguistic styles, and aren't really that well performable.

As a plot, Mostellaria is probably more more enjoyable and interesting than this translation makes it. The play is about a young man named Philolaches, who has been living the life or Riley while his father has been abroad, including borrowing a bunch of money to free Philanatium, the music-girl whom he loves. When his father, Theuropides, returns, the clever slave Tranio needs to try and salvage the situation, which he does by telling Theuropides that Philolaches has moved out of the house because it's haunted. Theuropides buys this, and even agrees to pay a banker the money for Philolaches' debt, having been told by Trani it's the cost of buying the house next door so Philolaches can avoid living in a haunted house. Tranio successfully navigates preventing Theuropides and the neighbor Simo from figuring out what's going on, until a slave of Philolaches' friend shows up at Theuropides' house and tells the old man about his son's riotous lifestyle. This gives the game away, and Theuropides fears he's financially and reputationally ruined, determining to punish Tranio and his son, until the friend whose slave gave the game away arrives to reconcile everyone.
https://youtu.be/Wl7dQpkIum4
Profile Image for Laia ♡.
55 reviews
April 27, 2026
Una obra bona, però crec que no és la seva millor. Els monòlegs de Filòlaques i Fanisc m'han agradat molt, crec que són molt interessants des d'un punt de vista acadèmic, però la història com a tal podria ser més divertida. No hi ha res com els Bessons
Profile Image for Joan .
42 reviews
February 25, 2025
Una obra divertida que té el seu encant als seus primers actes però va degradant-se a mesura que s'allarga la trama.

Tot i que sembla molt actual i el llenguatge és molt proper, potser una representació teatral renovant el IV i el V acte seria millor.
Profile Image for Mike.
1,461 reviews56 followers
May 9, 2018
2.5 stars. I can’t understand why this play by Plautus was lauded in the critical introduction for its vivid characterization when we are given just more of the same with the clever slave, the “slow burn” master, the miserly money-lender, etc. Like a modern situation comedy, the plot has an amusing concept, but includes pointless characters (let’s call them “guest stars”), filler dialogue, and an all-too-neat ending. It wasn’t bad...just not very memorable.
Profile Image for Beverley Sylvester.
Author 2 books10 followers
Read
September 14, 2020
Were it not for being told before reading this play, I would not have known this is a rewritten Roman version of the Greek play The Malcontent (AKA The Grouch) by Menander (which I have also read). They are both realistic plays which stood apart from others at the time as they contained neither gods nor heroes. Beyond that, however, they did not seem to be the same play to me.
Profile Image for Andràș-Florin Răducanu.
816 reviews
May 23, 2020
"Casa cu stafii" de Plaut

Citită în 23 mai.

Număr de pagini: 120.

Prima comedie de Plaut, foarte similară cu scrierile lui Moliere. Foarte bine scrisă și gândită. O comedie a moravurilor valabilă și astăzi.

Nota: 10.
Profile Image for Eva.
1,597 reviews31 followers
May 25, 2020
Viktig föregångare till den västerländska komedin, som Comedia dell'arte och Shakespeares förväxlingskommedier osv. Men det känns inte som om den listige tjänaren i denna pjäs är så listig, utan snarare strular till det för sig.
Profile Image for Justin.
156 reviews3 followers
February 1, 2018
I didn’t think this one was too funny but Tranio was pretty entertaining. In Menaechmi I thought the characters were assholes. In this one, they were just boring.
Profile Image for Thordur.
338 reviews5 followers
January 31, 2020
Titus Maccius Platus var rómverskt leikritaskáld. Þessi bók er stutt, eitt leikverk og góður formáli á undan. Ef þú hefur áhuga á leikritagerð þá er þetta bók fyrir þig til þess að lesa.
Profile Image for Caín.
1 review
November 26, 2023
Cuando Simó le dice al Teopròpides que han sacado un muerto q estaba vivo antes solté una carcajada genuina
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Noa.
31 reviews
October 28, 2025
Una comèdia de les típiques romanes, llegida a classe de llatí. M’ha agradat però, no es dels meus llibres preferits.
55 reviews
February 2, 2026
Lo he disfrutado bastante e incluso me he reído a pesar de ser un libro de tantos y tantos años y ser obligatorio del instituto.
3,5 estrellas.
Profile Image for pau rofes.
77 reviews1 follower
May 27, 2025
plaute t'hauries pogut lluir més amb el final
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews