No More Learning

―
XX-723


## p. 11554 (#168) ##########################################

PLATO
11554
•Stranger-We speak of an action as energetic and manly,
quick and manly, or vigorous and manly; this is the common
epithet which we apply to all persons of this class.
Young Socrates - True.
Stranger - And do we not often praise the quiet strain of
action also?
Young Socrates-To be sure.
Stranger - And do we not then say the opposite of what we
Isaid of the other?
Young Socrates - How do you mean?
Stranger-In speaking of the mind, we say, How calm!
How temperate! These are the terms in which we describe the
working of the intellect; and again we speak of actions as delib-
erate and gentle, and of the voice as smooth and deep, and of all
rhythmical movement and of music in general as having a proper
solemnity. To all these we attribute not courage, but a name
indicative of order.
Young Socrates -Very true.
Stranger-But when, on the other hand, either of these is
out of place, the names of either are changed into terms of
censure.
Young Socrates-How is that?
Stranger Too great sharpness or quickness or hardness is
termed violence or madness; too great slowness or gentleness
is called cowardice or sluggishness: and we may observe that
these qualities, and in general the temperance of one class of
characters and the manliness of another, are arrayed as enemies
on opposite sides, and do not mingle with one another in their
respective actions; and if we pursue the inquiry, we shall find
that the men who have these qualities are at variance with one
another.
-
Young Socrates- How do you mean?
Stranger
In the instance which I mentioned, and very likely
in many others, there are some things which they praise as being
like themselves, and other things which they blame as belonging
to the opposite characters; and out of this, many quarrels and
occasions of quarrels arise among them.
Young Socrates - True.
Stranger-The difference between the two classes is amusing
enough at times; but when affecting really important matters,
becomes a most utterly hateful disorder in the State.


## p. 11555 (#169) ##########################################

PLATO
11555
Young Socrates - What part of the State is thus affected? .
Stranger - The whole course of life suffers from the disorder.
For the orderly class are always ready to lead a peaceful life,
and do their own business; this is their way of living with all
men at home, and they are equally ready to keep the peace
with foreign States. And on account of this fondness of theirs
for peace, which is often out of season where their influence
prevails, they become by degrees unwarlike, and bring up their
young men to be like themselves; they are at the command
of others: and hence in a few years they and their children and
the whole city often pass imperceptibly from the condition of
freemen into that of slaves.
-
Young Socrates- That is a hard, cruel fate.
Stranger What now is the case with the more courageous
natures? Are they not always inciting their country to go to
war, owing to their excessive love of the military life? Their
enemies are many and mighty; and if they do not ruin their
cities, they enslave and subject them to their enemies.
Young Socrates-That, again, is true.
Stranger-Must we not admit, then, that these two classes
are always in the greatest antipathy and antagonism to one an-
other?
Young Socrates - We cannot deny that.
Stranger-I want to know whether any constructive art will
make any, even the smallest thing, out of bad and good mate-
rials indifferently, if this can be avoided? whether all art does
not rather reject the bad as far as possible, and accept the good
and fit materials, and out of these like and unlike elements
gathering all into one, work out some form or idea?
Young Socrates-To be sure.
Stranger-Then the true natural art of statesmanship will
never allow any State to be formed by a combination of good
and bad men, if this can be avoided; but will begin by testing
human natures in play, and after testing them, will intrust them
to proper teachers who are her ministers: she will herself give
orders and maintain authority, like weaving, which continually
gives orders and maintains authority over the carders and all the
others who prepare the material for the work; showing to the
subsidiary arts the works which she deems necessary for making
the web.
Young Socrates-Quite true.
-


## p. 11556 (#170) ##########################################

11556
PLATO
Stranger-In like manner, the royal science appears to me
to be the mistress of all careful educators and instructors; and
having this queenly power, will not allow any of them to train
characters unsuited to the political constitution which she desires
to create, but such as are suitable only. Other natures, which
have no part in manliness and temperance or any other virtuous
inclination, and from the necessity of an evil nature are violently
carried away to godlessness and injustice and violence, she ex-
terminates by death, and punishes them by exile and the greatest
of disgraces.
Young Socrates-That is commonly said.
Stranger-But those who are wallowing in ignorance and
baseness she bows under the yoke of slavery.
Young Socrates — Quite right.
Stranger-The rest of the citizens-of whom, if they have
education, something noble may be made, and who are capable
of social science- the kingly art blends and weaves together;
taking on the one hand those whose natures tend rather to cour-
age, which is the stronger element and may be regarded as the
warp, and on the other hand those which incline to order and
gentleness, and which are represented in the figure as spun
thick and soft after the manner of the woof,- these, which are
naturally opposed, she seeks to bind and weave together.
This, then, according to our view, is the perfection of the web of
political action. There is a direct intertexture of the brave and
temperate natures, when the kingly science has drawn the two
sorts of lives into communion by unanimity and kindness; and
having completed the noblest and best of all webs of which a
common life admits, and enveloping therein all other inhabitants
of cities, whether slaves or freemen, binds them in one fabric
and governs and presides over them, omitting no element of a
city's happiness.
—
Young Socrates- You have completed, Stranger, a very perfect
image of the King and of the Statesman.
[The preceding selections from the Dialogues are Professor Jowett's
translations. ]


## p. 11557 (#171) ##########################################

11557
TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS
(254-184 B. C. )
BY GONZALEZ LODGE
ITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS, Rome's greatest comic poet, died in
184 B. C. According to the very meagre tradition recorded
by Gellius, he was born at Sarsina in Umbria, but came as
a young man to Rome. There he worked in a subordinate capacity
with a theatrical troupe, and accumulated some money. He then
engaged in foreign trade, but was unsuccessful, and therefore returned
to Rome and worked in a mill. Here he produced three plays which
were accepted by the ædiles; and from this time on he devoted him-
self, with the greatest success, to writing.
The number of his plays has been a matter of discussion since
shortly after his death. His great popularity caused the work of
other writers to be ascribed to him. Hence in Cicero's time, the
great antiquarian Varro found it necessary to make a careful exam-
ination of the plays then circulating under the name of Plautus,—
one hundred and thirty in number, according to some authorities. He
found that twenty-one were acknowledged by all critics as genuine;
and he himself decided that nineteen others were probably so. At
the revival of learning, but eight comedies were known. Later how-
ever other manuscripts were discovered, giving twenty more or less
complete plays; finally, in 1815, an important palimpsest of the fourth
century A. D. was found, which showed fragments of still another.
Hence it has generally been assumed that we have the twenty-one
undisputed dramas referred to by Varro.
The most striking peculiarity of these plays is, that though writ-
ten for Romans and in Latin, the plot and character are generally
Attic, and the scene is usually Athens. This was due to the literary
conditions at Rome. Until after the first Punic War, the life of
Rome had been one long succession of wars for existence, during the
latter period of which the Romans came into contact with Greek
culture and civilization in Sicily and lower Italy. There had been no
opportunity for a native literature to develop. That there were at
hand the elements of one, which under normal circumstances might
soon have shown a sturdy growth, we have abundant evidence; but
when they found time to turn their attention to literature, it was
found to be much easier to transfer the finished products of Greek


## p. 11558 (#172) ##########################################

11558
TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS
culture to Rome, than to develop the native product to suit a taste
already grown critical from foreign contact.
The bloom of the New Comedy was just past in Greece, and the
stage in Greek lands was still held by the masters of this school,—
Menander, Philemon, and others. They portrayed with greater or
less accuracy the rather ignoble social life of the period, sometimes
descending to the coarseness of burlesque. Plautus had probably
become familiar with such plays during his wandering youth, and he
naturally turned to them for the inspiration of his maturer years.
Accordingly we cannot expect to find in Plautus's comedies a
representation of the Roman life of the time. Their originals were
Greek; and however much worked over, they remained Greek.
Roman allusions and jokes, and some purely Roman features, were
introduced, probably to lessen the jar on the Roman sensibility: but
these were of minor importance; for it must be remembered that any
criticism of the public life of Rome was vigorously repressed by a
strict police censorship, and that only such Roman allusions would
be tolerated as would cause laughter without ill-feeling. How far
the plays as thus recast were still untrue to Roman life, we cannot
decide; but they were probably much less realistic to the Romans
than are French plays to us.
The chief interest centres about the young men. There are two
principal types, which may be roughly called the good and the bad;
but there are numerous variations in the individual characters. The
minority are represented as brave, high-minded, and genial, cultured
in manners, prudent and economical in habits; the majority are
audacious or vacillating spendthrifts, moody and dissipated, living
from hand to mouth. Frequently the contrast between the two types
is made more striking by their juxtaposition in the same play.
Almost all are in love, but are hindered from gaining possession of
their loved ones by lack of money. Being still under the control of
their fathers, they are without resources; and their expedients to raise
money, and their success or misfortune in this pursuit of their loves,
form the subject of the play. They are themselves more or less
passive, the brunt of the work falling upon their slaves; but they are
keenly interested in the slave's efforts, and follow his actions with the
liveliest emotions. When the outlook is gloomy they threaten to leave
home forever, or to destroy themselves; supplicating the slaves most
abjectly, or threatening them with the direst punishments. When
success seems assured they break out into violent transports, calling
their slaves by the most endearing names, and often showing their
gratitude by manumitting them. At other times they testify to the
strength of their passion by lackadaisical soliloquies, and are in gen-
eral "very hard to endure. "


## p. 11559 (#173) ##########################################

TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS
11559
Opposed to these young men, who are still under their father's
control, we have in several plays the braggart soldier. He is usually
the rival most feared by the young men, for he has the money of
which they are in such urgent need. He is usually portrayed with
the bearing of a lion but the courage of a hare, always boasting of
his prowess but ready to yield to the slightest display of force, the
type immortalized once for all in Falstaff. He is the victim of all
the intrigues, and is invariably cheated out of both his money and
his mistress.
-
The inamoratas of the young men are usually slave girls, who
were originally free-born, but were either exposed or stolen in
infancy, and have been brought up in low surroundings for immoral
purposes. There is usually a genuine attachment between them and
the young men; the desire of both is matrimony, which the young
men hope to accomplish by purchasing the girls and manumitting
them. Frequently their origin is discovered; they are acknowledged
by delighted parents, who hasten to betroth them to their happy
lovers. Sometimes however the women are much more debased, and
the plays too coarse to be at all enjoyable.
The most important rôle is that of the slaves. These usually
stand shoulder to shoulder with their young masters, and give them
their loyal and constant support. Naturally they fall into two
classes, the honest and the dishonest. The former are few in num-
bers; and are either old slaves who have grown up in the family,
and perhaps served as tutors for the children, or stupid country
clowns, coarse in speech and habit, who serve mainly as foils to their
unscrupulous fellows. The dishonest slaves are the life of the play,
and ancient critics regarded their rôles as the most important. Their
chief characteristics are an extraordinary boldness and skill in inven-
tion and trickery, with the most utter shamelessness in carrying out
their plans. They help their young masters out of their difficul-
ties, supply the necessary money, and at the same time furnish the
broad humor so essential to comedy. Running the risk of the most
condign punishment from the fathers, or others whom they have
deceived, they preserve a careless coolness in the most trying cir-
cumstances, and almost always manage to secure a full and com-
plete pardon, and often manumission at the end.
The lovers and their assisting slaves are often opposed by stern
fathers. These are sordid and miserly elders, who have either accu-
mulated a competence by severe toil or have married for money.
In their youth they were dissipated, but they have no sympathy
with their sons when they follow a similar course. They are there-
fore the objects of attack by the slaves, and are usually cheated out
of the money needed. Their feeling towards their wives is one of
1
8


## p. 11560 (#174) ##########################################

11560
TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS
aversion and contempt, and they take delight in deceiving them.
The wives in their turn are usually depicted as shrewish and un-
lovely, which may be for comic effect merely. The other class of
fathers is more attractive. These are genial and mild, prudent and
wise in council. They have frequently gained their wealth in for-
eign trade, and settled down to enjoy a quiet and dignified old age.
They are their sons' confidants instead of enemies, and look kindly
upon their youthful follies out of remembrance of their own youth.
Peculiar to Comedy are the Parasites. These are decayed gen-
tlemen who live by their wits. They often attach themselves to
some family, or young man, and assist the latter in his love intrigues.
They are perpetually hungry, and during the most serious discussions
their minds run continually upon the prospects of a dinner. They
endure the most scornful snubs if they can get but the lowest seats
at the feast. They are the perpetual objects of mockery, and their
exaltation or depression when they are invited to a dinner or cheated
of it furnish some of the liveliest scenes. The plots in which these
and minor characters appear are somewhat stereotyped, and the
motives are few and simple. But the most of the plays may be
grouped roughly in four classes: those in which some particular type
of character is portrayed; those which turn upon the recovery of
children lost or stolen in infancy; plays of simple intrigue; and those
which turn upon the impersonation of an individual or a pair of
individuals by another.
The best of the first class is the 'Aulularia,' which gives us the
fortunes and misfortunes of a miser who has discovered a pot of gold
in his house, and imagines that every one knows it and has designs
upon it. The 'Miles, Gloriosus' portrays the braggart soldier, who is
always boasting of his glorious deeds in war, and trying his fortune
with the ladies,- with indifferent success. The most interesting ex-
ample of the second class is the 'Rudens'; which, though faulty in
construction, shows Plautus at his best, and is really of a high order.
Of a lower order are the Curculio' and the Epidicus'; the latter of
which, as Plautus tells us in another comedy, was his favorite drama.
In these plays, opportunity is given for the liveliest play of feel-
ing, and some of the scenes where the child is recognized are very
pathetic. The most interesting example of the third class is the Tri-
nummus. An old man going abroad on a business venture has com-
initted to the care of a faithful friend a sum of money, which in
case of necessity shall be used to preserve his family, a son and
daughter, from the excesses of the profligate son. The play records
the devices of the friend to employ some of it as a dower for the
daughter, without allowing the son to know that he has it in his pos-
session. A parasite is accordingly hired for three nummi (shillings)


## p. 11561 (#175) ##########################################

TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS
11561
to act as messenger from the absent father; and he gives his name to
the play. To the fourth class belong the three most important come-
dies: the Captives' and the 'Menæchmi,' abstracts of which follow;
and the Amphitruo,' a tragicomedy, which is interesting as showing
some tendency to burlesque the religious myths of the people. The
play gives the story of how Jupiter and Mercury personated Amphi-
truo and his slave Sosia, for the purpose of beguiling Amphitruo's
wife Alcmena.
Two of the best plays may be sketched in outline. We place
first the 'Captives,' though the plot hardly justifies Lessing's extrava-
gant praise of it as the best ever devised. At the outset we are
informed that Philopolemus, only son of a certain Hegio, was some
time previously captured in battle and made a slave in Elis; since
which time Hegio has been buying war captives, with the hope that
he might finally secure some Elean of quality with whom to effect an
exchange for his son. The stage represents Hegio's court-yard. He,
entering, informs us that he has recently made a purchase of import-
ant captives, two of whom he thinks may serve his purpose. After
he retires, the two captives, Philocrates and his slave Tyndarus, are
brought in, guarded, and lamenting their fate. They plan to person-
ate each other, with the hope that Philocrates, if looked upon as the
slave, may the easier escape. In the next scene Hegio learns from
them that his son is actually in bondage to Philocrates's father, and
the supposed Tyndarus (really the master, Philocrates) is sent away
to negotiate an exchange. Subsequently Hegio introduces another of
the captives, Aristophontes, who claims to have known Philocrates in
He being brought face to face with the supposed Philocrates,
immediately discloses the true state of affairs; and Hegio in a fury
orders the now discovered Tyndarus to punishment. Later, Philocra-
tes returns with Philopolemus; and in the ensuing explanation Tyn-
darus is discovered to be a long-lost son of Hegio, who was stolen
when he was but four years old.
In the Menæchmi,' the prologist states that an old Syracusan
merchant had two sons. Once on a business trip to Tarentum he
took one of the boys, who strayed away in the crowd and was stolen.
On his return the father was shipwrecked and drowned. The grand-
father bestowed the name of the lost boy, Menæchmus, upon the
surviving son at home. Long afterwards the son set out in search
of his brother; and in the course of his travels arrived at Epidamnus,
where the play opens. The first scene is an interview between a
parasite and Menæchmus I. (the lost one), who gleefully explains how
he has stolen his wife's cloak, and is going to bestow it upon Erotium,
a courtesan. On the appearance of Erotium he presents the cloak,
and bespeaks a dinner for himself and the parasite. In the next
scene Menæchmus II. and his servant Messenio appear. Then follow


## p. 11562 (#176) ##########################################

11562
TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS
two amusing scenes, first with the cook who is to prepare the dinner,
and later with Erotium; both think they are talking with Menæch-
mus I. finally Menæchmus II. goes in with Erotium to dinner. Later
the parasite appears, complaining that he has been detained and is
afraid he has lost his dinner. Menæchmus II. comes out of Erotium's
house with the cloak, which he is to take to a cleaner's to be cleaned.
The parasite, thinking that he is Menæchmus I. , attacks him for not
waiting for him, and finally, in high dudgeon departs to inform the
wife of her husband's doings. After Menæchmus II. leaves the stage,
Menæchmus I. appears and is met by his angry wife, whom he tries
to pacify by promising to return the cloak. After his departure
Menæchmus II. enters with the cloak. He has an amusing discus-
sion with the wife, and later with the wife's father, whom she has
summoned in desperation. He finally gets rid of them by feigning
madness; and the old man goes in search of a physician, while
Menæchmus II. hurries away. Then Menæchmus I. enters, and is
pounced upon by the physician and his attendants. He is rescued by
Messenio, who has just entered in search of his master, Menæchmus
II. In the final scene the two Menæchmi are brought face to face;
and the kinship of the long-separated brothers is explained by Mes-
senio, who is given his freedom for his services.
Certain of the plays were performed occasionally down to the
close of the Republic, or even later. Indeed, Plautus remained a
much read and appreciated author from the time of Varro and Cicero
until the dark ages. The Christian fathers, especially Jerome, were
very fond of him. At the Renaissance the newly discovered plays
were eagerly caught up in Italy, and later in France and Germany.
Translations were made; and great authors wrote plays based upon
those of Plautus, of which a few may be mentioned: Molière's
'Amphitryon' was based upon the 'Amphitruo,' and the two together
inspired Dryden's 'Amphitryon. ' Molière's 'L'Avare' was an imita-
tion of the 'Aulularia,' and it in turn inspired Shadwell's 'Miser'
and Fielding's 'Miser. ' The Captivi' was the basis of Ariosto's
'Suppositi' and of Rotrou's 'Les Captifs. ' Ben Jonson's 'The Case
is Altered' has scenes from the 'Aulularia' and 'Captivi. ' To the
Menæchmi must be referred Cecchi's 'Le Moglie,' Goldoni's 'I due
Gemelli, Shakespeare's 'Comedy of Errors,' and many others. The
< Miles Gloriosus' formed a favorite type; and we find traces of it in
Dolce's 'Il Capitano,' Corneille's 'L'Illusion Comique,' Udall's 'Ralph
Roister Doister,' and others. A careful study of Plautus's influence on
modern literature may be found in Reinhardtstöttner's 'Spätere Be-
arbeitungen Plautinischer Lustspiele' (Leipzig, 1886).
(
By reason of the great difference between the archaic Latin of
Plautus and the later classical Latin, the manuscript tradition soon
became faulty and the text corrupt. During this century great


## p. 11563 (#177) ##########################################

TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS
11563
progress has been made in the reconstruction of the text, through
the labors of many scholars, notably Ritschl and Studemund. Ritschl
began a critical edition of Plautus as early as 1849. This was com-
pleted after his death by three of his pupils,- Goetz, Schoell, and
Loewe, the last part appearing in 1894. This edition has a marvel-
ously complete apparatus criticus, but the text is marred by many
violent emendations and arbitrary changes. Two of the same editors,
Goetz and Schoell, have since published a complete text in the Teub-
ner series (Leipzig, 1893-95); but this edition is as conservative as
the larger one is radical, and the text has been left incomprehensi-
ble in many places through despair of certain emendation. The best
text for practical use is that of Leo (Berlin, 1895–96). No adequate
English translation of the whole of Plautus has appeared. That of
Thornton, published in the last century, in blank verse, follows a
poor text, and that by Riley in the Bohn collection has no merit but
that of literalness. In 1893 appeared the first volume of a new trans-
lation in the original metres by Sugden, comprising the Amphitruo,
Asinaria, Aulularia, Bacchides, and Captivi.
The editor has taken
surprising liberties, not merely expurgating his text, but actually
"correcting" the plots.
Gonzalez Lorly
>
[The citations from Plautus are translated for the Library by William C.
Lawton. ]
FROM MILES GLORIOSUS) (THE BRAGGART SOLDIER)
[The soldier himself opens the play, coming forth from his house, which,
with a neighbor's, forms the back of the scene. He is attended by his Fal-
staffian retinue, and also by his especial flatterer and shadow Artotrogus,—
"Breadeater. " The pompous veteran has the first word. ]
YRGOPOLINICES See to it that more splendid be my shield,
Than the sun's rays are when the day is bright;
So when there's need, in battle's close array
Its sheen may blind the eyes of enemies.
And this my cutlass I would comfort too,
That it be not downhearted, nor lament
That it is worn so long in idleness,
Though sadly bent on massacre of foes! -
But where is Artotrogus?
PYRO
Ρ


## p. 11564 (#178) ##########################################

11564
TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS
Artotrogus [promptly] —
Here, beside
The man so valiant, kingly, fortunate,
Mars might not such a warrior call himself,
Nor dare to match your valor with his own!
Pyrgopolinices—
That one I saved on the Curculionian plains,
When Búmbomáchides Clýtomestóridysárchides,
Grandson of Neptune, was commander-in-chief —
Artotrogus-
I remember. He, you mean, in arms of gold,
Whose legions with your breath you puffed away,
As wind doth leaves and rushes good for thatch.
Pyrgopolinices-
Why, that is nothing!
[And the complacent warrior goes striding, with nodding helmet-plumes
and waving locks, up and down the stage; so that the weary flatterer, begin-
ning his return compliment, presently has an instant to tell us of the audience
- behind his hand-something of his real opinions. ]
Artotrogus
So forsooth it is,
To deeds I'll tell-
[Aside] which you did never do!
If you can find a more mendacious man,
Or one more boastful than this fellow is,
Take me and hold me for your chattel, then!
Just one thing: olive salad he can bolt!
Pyrgopolinices [turning]—
Where are you?
[The parasite pretends he has been all the time cataloguing the hero's
exploits: -]
Artotrogus-
Pyrgopolinices —
How with a fisticuff you broke his arm!
Here! Then, there's that elephant:
Artotrogus-
Pyrgopolinices -
Artotrogus-
What's that? his arm?
I didn't try to strike.
His thigh I meant, of course.
No! If you had,
With effort, through the creature's hide and heart
And through his bones your arm had made its way.
Pyrgopolinices [modestly] —
That doesn't matter.
Artotrogus-
No, 'tis not worth while
For me to tell, who know your valorous deeds.


## p. 11565 (#179) ##########################################

TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS
11565
[Aside] -
My belly makes this misery; and my ears
Must hearken, lest my teeth have naught to do.
To every lie he tells I must assent!
Pyrgopolinices-
What am I saying?
Artotrogus-
I remember, it happened.
Pyrgopolinices-
Artotrogus [rather wearily]-
Pyrgopolinices [more sharply]
You remember - ?
Artotrogus [rapidly]—
Pyrgopolinices —
Yes, a hundred in Cilicia,
And fifty, a hundred in Scytholatronia,
Thirty from Sardis, sixty Macedonians,-
All of them in a single day you slew.
Artotrogus-
Pyrgopolinices [complacently]-
Artotrogus-
-
What is the grand sum total?
Artotrogus
Pyrgopolinices-
―
-
Your memory's good.
Artotrogus-
I know what you would say:
-
So many should it be. You reckon well.
Pyrgopolinices —
Artotrogus-
What?
I have no records,-I remember it so.
Pyrgopolinices—
Whatever it is.
Seven thousand!
Pyrgopolinices [eagerly]—
Artotrogus-
While you shall play your part as you do now,
Table companion will I hold you still.
The tidbits prompt me aright!
What! In Cappadocia, at a single blow
You had slain five hundred! But-your sword was dull.
Poor wretched infantry, I let them live.
Why say what all men know, that on the earth
You only, Pyrgopolinices, live
In valor, beauty, deeds, unconqueredest ?
All women love you,- and good reason too,
You are so handsome. Like those yesterday
That plucked my cloak.
What did they say to you?
They asked me: "Is this Achilles? " so said one.


## p. 11566 (#180) ##########################################

11566
TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS
"Yes, 'tis his brother," said I. Then the other:
"Well, he is handsome, surely," so she said,
"And noble. See how well his hair becomes him!
Happy the women are with whom he wives! "
Pyrgopolinices-
Did they say so?
Artotrogus-
Why, yes! Both made me swear
To-day I'd bring you in procession by.
Pyrgopolinices [pensively]-
To be too handsome is a piteous thing!
Artotrogus-
It bores me! For they pray and crowd and beg,
So that I cannot get your business done.
[A movement of the soldier at this word "business" gives the quick-witted
flatterer his cue. ]
Pyrgopolinices-
Have you
Artotrogus-
Pyrgopolinices —
Artotrogus-
You give your mind to mine right wittily.
Pyrgopolinices-
You mean your tablets? Yes, and pen.
'Tis fit that I should know your nature well,
And try to scent out that which you desire.
Artotrogus-
'Tis time, methinks, to hasten to the Forum;
For there must I bestow their wage upon
The hirelings I enlisted yesterday.
For King Seleucus begged me earnestly,
To gather and enroll him mercenaries.
Why, then, let's go.
Pyrgopolinices—
Attendants, follow me!
[Exeunt omnes.
[The prologue, rather singularly, is now spoken, at the opening of the
second act. It may be interesting to cite a few lines, though its literary merit
is small. ]
Palæstrio [a slave, appearing from the soldier's house, as Prologue]-
This argument I'll tell you courteously,
If you to listen will be mannerly.
Who will not listen, let him up and go,
So making room for one disposed to hear.
This comedy we are about to play,


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TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS
11567
For sake of which you sit so festive there,-
Its argument and name I'll tell to you.
'Alazon is the drama's name in Greek,
And Braggadocio is our word for it. .
This's Ephesus. Yon soldier is my master,
Who went thence townward; boastful, insolent,
Filthy, and full of crapulence and lies.
He says the women chase him all unsought.
A laughing-stock he is, where he appears.
So, while with mocking lips they lead him on,
Most of the girls you'll see with mouths awry!
[The last line is perhaps a random jest aimed at the extravagant comic
masks. If so, it is an indication of post-Plautine date. One of the most
interesting prologues, that of the Casina,' was certainly composed for a late
revival of a remarkably coarse and brutal play. A few examples of these pro-
logues may be instructive. ]
PROLOGUE OF CASINA ›
THE
HE men who drink old wine I count as wise,
And those that gladly hear an ancient play.
Since antique words and phrases please you well,
An old-time drama should delight you more.
For the new comedies that now appear
Are even more debased than these new coins.
Now we have hearkened to the people's cry,
That you desire to hear the Plautine plays,
And so bring out this ancient comedy,
Which you approved; — that is, you elder men:
The younger sort, I am sure, have known it not;
But that you may, we earnestly shall strive.
All dramas it surpassed, when acted first.
The flower of poets still were living then,
Though now departed whither all must pass, -
In absence helpful still to those that are.
And with full earnestness we beg you all
Kindly to give attention to our troop.
-
Cast from your minds your cares and debts away.
Let no one stand in terror of his dun.
'Tis holiday. The banks keep holiday.
'Tis peace! The forum has its halcyon days.


## p. 11568 (#182) ##########################################

11568
TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS
PROLOGUE OF TRINUMMUS›
Enter Two Female Figures
M
OTHER - Follow, my daughter, to fulfill your task.
Daughter-I follow, ignorant what the end may be.
Mother-'Tis here: lo, yonder house; go straightway in.
[Exit daughter.
[To the audience] —
Now, lest you err, I'll give you guidance brief,-
At least if you will promise to attend.
Who then I am, and she who passed from here
Within, if you but hearken, I will tell.
First, Plautus made my name Extravagance,
And called my daughter yonder, Poverty.
But why impelled by me she entered there,
Hearken and lend your ears while I explain.
A certain youth, who in that house abides,
Has squandered, with my aid, his heritage.
And seeing he can no longer nourish me,
I have given my daughter to abide with him. -
Do not expect the argument of our play.
The old men coming yonder will make clear
The story.
In Greek, Thesaurus' was it called.
Philemon wrote it. Plautus rendering it
(
In barbarous speech, called it Trinummus': now
He begs the drama may retain the name.
That's all. Farewell. In silence now attend.
[As these characters do not appear again, Plautus "made their names »
here only. That is, this passage claims at least to be from the dramatist's
own hand. ]
WITH
PROLOGUE OF RUDENS›
Arcturus speaks, as Prologue
ITH him who moves all races, seas, and lands,
In the celestial city I abide.
Such am I as you see,
-a glorious star
That rises ever at the fitting time,
Here and in heaven. Arcturus is my name.
Shining by night in heaven amid the gods,
By day I walk on earth among mankind.
And other stars to earth from heaven descend:


## p. 11569 (#183) ##########################################

TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS
11569
Jupiter, ruler over gods and men,
Among the several nations sends us forth,
To know the deeds, ways, piety, and faith
Of men, according to the means of each.
[Such poetic passages are rare. Equally characteristic of Roman com-
edy are the Epilogues. We give two very brief examples, illustrating the two
extremes of moral pretentiousness. ]
EPILOGUE OF THE CAPTIVES ›
TH
HIS our comedy, spectators, is for honest morals made.
No love-making is there in it, nor a love intrigue at all.
No false fathering of children, nor embezzlement of money.
Rarely do the poets fashion such a comedy as this,
Where the good are rendered better.
EPILOGUE OF THE ASINARIA)
F BEHIND his goodwife's back this old man had a little fun,
Nothing new or strange he did, nor different from the com-
mon run!
If you wish to beg him off and save him from his cudgeling,
This by loud applause you'll have no trouble in accomplishing.
[A few miscellaneous passages will indicate the various tones struck in
these rollicking comedies. Of course we rarely know how much is translation
from the Greek, how much original invention. ]
WHO
XX-724
BUSYBODIES
HO, knowing nothing, claim to know it all.
What each intends, or will intend, they know.
What in the queen's ear the king said, they know.
They know what Juno chatted of with Jove.
What never was or is, - they know it, though!


## p. 11570 (#184) ##########################################

11570
TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS
UNPOPULARITY OF TRAGEDY
Mercury speaks, in the Prologue of the Amphitruo
HE plot of this our tragedy next I'll tell-
Why did you knit your brows? Because I said
'Twould be a tragedy? I'm a god, I'll change it.
From tragedy I'll make it, if you will,
A comedy,- with every verse the same.
Will you, or not? - Why! stupid that I am,
As if, a god, I knew not your desire!
Upon this point I understand your minds.
I'll make a mixture, tragicomedy.
MIXTURE OF GREEK AND ROMAN MANNERS
From Prologue to 'Casina'
SOME
OME here, methinks, will say among themselves,
"Prithee, what's this? A wedding among slaves?
A strange thing this to play, that's nowhere done! "
I say, in Carthage this is done, and Greece,
And of our country, in Apulia too.
Yes, servile marriages more carefully
Are celebrated than a freeman's there.
REWARDS OF HEROISM
[From the Captives. ' Tyndarus, a slave, captured in war with the young
master who has been his lifelong comrade, exchanges name and station with
him, and the supposed slave has been sent off to secure the ransom. The
trick has just been discovered and acknowledged. ]
HR
EGIO- To your own utter misery this was done.
Tyndarus-Since for no sin I fall, little I reck.
If he who promised comes not, and I die,
This will be counted honor still, in death,
That I from servitude and hostile hands
Restored my master to his home and father;
And here I rather chose to put my life
In peril, than that he should be destroyed.
Hegio- Enjoy that glory, then, in Acheron!


## p. 11571 (#185) ##########################################

TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS
11571
Tyndarus-
Hegio-
Tyndarus-
Hegio-
Tyndarus
I saved my lord; I exult that he is free,
Whom my old master trusted to my charge:
This you account ill done?
Most wickedly.
But I, opposing you, say—righteously:
Bethink you, if a slave of yours had wrought
For your son this, what thanks you'd render him.
Would you release him from his servitude?
Would he be in your eyes a slave most dear?
Answer.
I think so.
Why then wroth at me?
[In one note of sad defiance we seem to hear an echo of Antigone's voice:
it occurs a little later in the same scene. ]
Beyond my death no ill have I to fear.
And though I live to utmost age, the time
Of suffering what you threaten still is brief.
FISHERMEN'S LUCK
[This passage is of unique interest as the one notable choral ode in Plau-
tus. Its dramatic purpose is not very evident; and indeed, the fishermen do
little more than add "local color" to the scene of shipwreck. ]
M
OST wretched in every way is the life of men that are poverty-
stricken;
And especially those who have learnt no trade, who are des-
titute of employment.
Whatever they happen to have in the house, they perforce therewith
are contented.
But as for ourselves, how wealthy we are you may judge pretty well
from our costume.
These hooks that you see, and bamboo poles, are our means for
attaining a living;
And every day from the city we come to secure a subsistence hither.
Instead of gymnastics and boyish games, this toil is our exercise
only.
Sea-urchins and limpets we strive to secure, with oysters and scallops
and cockles;
The nettles as well, in the sea that dwell, and the striped crabs and
the mussels.


## p. 11572 (#186) ##########################################

11572
TITUS MACCIUS PLAUTUS
And among the rocks after that with our hooks and lines we go
a-fishing,
But if no luck is our por-
And we catch no fish, then, salted ourselves, well drenched in the
briny water,
To our homes we go, and slink out of sight, and to bed without any
To capture our food from out of the sea.
tion,
supper.
And unless we have eaten the cockles we caught, our dinner has
been no better.
[Lastly, we may echo the epitaph, in rather awkward hexameters, which
is said to have been composed by Plautus on himself. Gellius, who trans-
mits it, evidently doubts its authenticity, but cites it on the high authority of
Varro:-]
SIN
INCE he has passed to the grave, for Plautus Comedy sorrows;
Now is the stage deserted; and Play, and Jesting, and Laughter,
Dirges, though written in numbers yet numberless, join in la-
menting.


## p. 11573 (#187) ##########################################

11573
PLINY THE ELDER
(23-79 A. D.