Roman Comedy IX: Plautus’s Truculentus, or Don’t Let the Riley Translation Confuse You

Posted byTriumvir ClioPosted inRoman Comedy, The Romans

The Riley translation gets in the way of Plautus’s Truculentus.

No translation problems when the play is done in Latin!
But since you probably don’t speak Latin, here’s a selection in English.

I confess to getting horribly confused by the Riley translation. As I was trying to clear up the character names, I stumbled across this delightful “blog” featuring posts from the primary characters of Diniarchus, Phronesium, and Stratophanes.

Discussion Prompts
  1. Who, if anyone, is honorable in this play? Why? If no one, why not?
  2. What does this play have to say about women?
  3. How would you present this play today? The examples above are in modern dress. Would you choose a similar update? Why or why not?

Published by Triumvir Clio

I have a BA in History and Classical Civilization from Loyola University Chicago and an MPH from Western Michigan University. I've been a geometry teacher, a religion teacher, a writing tutor. I'm a writer, a knitter, a dancer, a singer, an actor. And, yes, for fun I like to reread everything that was assigned while getting my classics degree.

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