Academia.edu is a platform for academics to share research papers. An Analysis of Plautus' 'The Pot of Gold' themes in pot of gold themes in pot of gold pot of gold plautus theme of pot of gold the pot of gold story plautus. The Pot of Gold expenditure on goods considered unnecessary. There is also a fairly lengthy reference to festivals of Bacchus (ll. 406–14), so one can assume that the play was written around the time the Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus was decreed. This regulation from 186 made it much more difficult to hold such celebrations. The Pot of Gold The Pot of Gold Plot Summary 1. Euclio, a stingy old man who would barely trust himself, finds a pot with great wealth buried in his house. He hides it deep down again and watches over it, pale with fear and full of anxiety. Lyconides had violated his daughter’s chastity.

'Aulularia' is a Latin play by the early RomanplaywrightTitus Maccius Plautus. The title has been translated as 'The Pot of Gold', and the plot revolves around a literal pot of gold that the miserly protagonist, Euclio, guards zealously. The play’s ending does not survive, though there are indications of how the plot is resolved in later summaries and a few fragments of dialogue.

Plot summary

Lars Familiaris, the household deity of Euclio, an old man with a marriageable daughter named Phaedria, begins the play with a prologue about how he allowed Euclio to discover a pot of gold buried in his house. Euclio is then shown almost maniacally guarding his gold from real and imagined threats. Unknown to Euclio, Phaedria is pregnant by a young man named Lyconides. Phaedria is never seen on stage, though at a key point in the play the audience hears her painful cries in labor.

Euclio is persuaded to marry his daughter to his rich neighbor, an elderly bachelor named Magadorus, who happens to be the uncle of Lyconides. This leads to much by-play involving preparations for the nuptials. Eventually Lyconides and his slave appear, and Lyconides confesses to Euclio his ravishing of Phaedria. Lyconides’ slave manages to steal the by now notorious pot of gold. Lyconides confronts his slave about the theft.

At this point the manuscript breaks off. From surviving summaries of the play, we know that Euclio eventually recovers his pot of gold and gives it to Lyconides and Phaedria, who marry in a happy ending. In the Penguin Classics edition of the play, translator E.F. Watling actually wrote the ending as it might have originally been constructed, based on the summaries and a few surviving scraps of dialogue. Other writers down through the centuries have also written endings for the play, with somewhat varying results.

Key themes

The figure of the miser has been a stock character of comedy for literally centuries. Molière'sHarpagon is perhaps the best known of Euclio’s many reincarnations in later plays, but avarice has inspired mockery by many playwrights. Ben Jonson, for instance, adapted the plot of 'Aulularia' for his early comedy 'The Case is Altered'.Plautus does not spare his protagonist various embarrassments caused by the vice, but he is relatively gentle in his satire. Euclio is eventually shown as basically a good-hearted man who has been only temporarily affected by greed for gold.

The play also ridicules the ancient bachelor Megadorus for his dream of marrying the nubile and far younger Phaedria. The silly business of preparing for the marriage provides much opportunity for satire on the laughable lust of an old man for much younger flesh, in a clever parallel to Euclio’s lust for his gold. Again, Megadorus is eventually shown as sensible and kind-hearted enough to abandon his foolish dream.

The play also includes Plautus’ frequent theme of clever servants outwitting their supposed superiors. Not only does Lyconides’ slave manage to filch Euclio’s beloved gold, but Euclio’s housemaid Staphyla is shown as intelligent and kind in her attitude toward the unfortunately pregnant Phaedria.

Critical evaluation

Despite its incomplete form in surviving manuscripts, 'Aulularia' has attracted relatively favorable comment from critics. E.F. Watling called it a “peculiarly enjoyable and genial” comedy, and Plautus’ broad but witty satire on the monetary and sexual lusts of old men has been much appreciated. The happy ending takes the sting from what might have been too sour a satire, and the play focuses on the main action with few digressions or distractions.

No surviving Greek play seems to be a model for 'Aulularia', though the character Smicrines in 'Epitrepontes' by Menander may have influenced Plautus’ conception of Euclio. Scholars have dated the play to roughly 195 B.C. due to an indirect reference to the Oppian Law, which was relaxed about that time. But the dating is not conclusive.

Warenar

A Dutch play, 'Warenar', based on Alularia was written by Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft in 1617.

References

*'The Pot of Gold and Other Plays' by Plautus, translated and introduced by E.F. Watling, Penguin Classics 1965 ISBN 0-14-044149-2

External links

* [http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/aululariaeng.html English translation of 'Aulularia']
* [http://www.vroma.org/~plautus/aulu.main.html Original Latin version of 'Aulularia']
* [http://www.geocities.com/athens/academy/6422/rev0222.html Review of 'Aulularia' and E.F. Watling’s translation]
* [http://www.apaclassics.org/AnnualMeeting/01mtg/abstracts/major.html Abstract of paper on endings to 'Aulularia' composed by later writers]

St. Olaf Latin Play MMIX

Click here to download a slideshow from the 2009 production of Plautus’ Aulularia.

Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254-184 B.C.) composed over 100 comedies in Latin, adapting them from Greek originals. The play on which he based his Aulularia (“The Pot of Gold”) has not survived. Molière’s 17th-century L’Avare (“The Miser”) is the most famous of the later comedies inspired by the Aulularia.

Like all classical drama, the Aulularia is written in verse, and certain sections are meant to be sung by the actors. We have set five of these lyrical passages to music. In ancient times accompaniment would have been provided by an aulos, a double-reed instrument similar to an oboe.

Although the characters in the Aulularia speak Latin, nearly everything else about them is Greek: they have Greek names, Greek clothing, and Greek customs. The action takes place on a residential street in Athens.

All of Plautus’ actors were men or boys, and they wore masks. The Aulularia would have been performed without intermission, as we too perform it.

Prologue: The Lar (guardian god of the household) tells the audience about Euclio, a poor, stingy man who lives alone except for an old housekeeper named Staphyla and Euclio’s daughter Phaedria, nicknamed Aula (“Pot”). Euclio has no idea that Phaedria is pregnant and about to give birth. He has just discovered a pot filled with gold and is frantic that someone may steal it from him. The Lar assures us that the pot of gold will eventually enable Phaedria to marry Lyconides, the young man who loves her and has fathered her baby.

Scenes 1-2: Euclio drives Staphyla out of the house, suspecting that she is after his pot of gold–when, in fact, no one except Euclio even knows that it exists. He then leaves for the marketplace, where there is to be a free handout.

Scenes 3-5: Eunomia has come to visit her bachelor brother Megadorus, Euclio’s rich neighbor. She advises him to get a wife (Song #1). Reluctant at first, he soon relents and decides to ask Euclio for his daughter’s hand in marriage, not knowing that she is pregnant. As Eunomia departs, Euclio shows up and is persuaded to accept Megadorus’ proposal. Megadorus volunteers to pay for two wedding feasts, one in his house and one in Euclio’s; he takes his slave Strobilus with him to the marketplace to help him hire cooks and buy food. Euclio, after giving directions to Staphyla, leaves to go shopping himself.

The Pot Of Gold Plautus Sparknotes Summary

Scenes 6-15: Strobilus leads back from the market four silly cooks. After lamenting their bad reputation as crooks (Song #2), the cooks enter Euclio’s and Megadorus’ houses. Euclio, returning to find his home filled with commotion, chases everyone out, sure that his gold has been stolen. Finding it still safe, he lets the cooks continue with their work while he carries the pot with him under his cloak.

Scenes 16-18: Megadorus comes on stage, reflecting on the wisdom of marrying a poor girl with no dowry (Song #3). Euclio, overhearing the song, is pleased with its sentiments but still suspect Megadorus of wanting to marry his daughter only to get at his gold. Megadorus leaves to prepare for the wedding as Euclio goes into the shrine of Fides (“Trust” or “Faith”) to hide his pot there. Lyconides’ slave Pythodicus now appears, having been sent by his master to spy out the situation. He boasts about his perfect behavior (Song #4).

Scenes 19-23: Euclio, talking to himself about his gold as he leaves the shrine, is overheard by Pythodicus. As soon as Euclio enters his house, the slave rushes into the shrine to steal the pot. At that moment the sound of a bleating sheep sends Euclio running back into the shrine to check on the gold. Finding Pythodicus there, he drives him outand interrogates him, finally letting him go when he sees that the slave is empty-handed. He decides to hide the pot in a remote grove; as he exits, he is followed secretly by Pythodicus.

The Pot Of Gold Plautus Sparknotes Of Mice And Men

Scenes 24-28: Lyconides and his mother Eunomia arrive at Megadorus’ house. Eunomia, having learned the truth from her son, goes inside with Lyconides to convince her brother to abandon his wedding plans. Pythodicus joyfully runs by with the pot he has pilfered; after him comes Euclio, bemoaning the loss of his gold (Song #5). Lyconides now confesses to Euclio and reports that Phaedria has had a baby. As Euclio races inside his house to confirm this, Pythodicus returns, having hidden the pot in his master’s house. He brags to Lyconides about the theft and asks whether he can buy his freedom with the stolen gold; outraged, Lyconides orders him to give the pot back to Euclio. At this point the text breaks off. In our production the Lar will deliver an epilogue reconstructing the lost ending of the play, and everyone will, of course, live happily ever after.