University of Wisconsin Press, 2006 eISBN: 978-0-299-21993-2 | Cloth: 978-0-299-21990-1 | Paper: 978-0-299-21994-9 Library of Congress Classification PA6568.A7 2006 Dewey Decimal Classification 872.01
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Asses, asses, and more asses! This new edition of Plautus' rumbustious comedy provides the complete original Latin text, witty scholarly commentary, and an English translation that both complements and explicates Plautus' original style. John Henderson reveals this play as a key to Roman social relations centered on many kinds of slavery: to sex, money, and family structure; to masculinity and social standing; to senility and partying; and to jokes, lies, and idiocy. The translation remains faithful to Plautus' syllabic style for reading aloud, as well as to his humorous colloquialisms and wordplay, providing readers with a comfortable affinity to Plautus himself. An indispensable teaching and learning tool for the study of Roman New Comedy, this edition includes comprehensive commentary, useful indexes, and a pronunciation guide that will help readers of all levels understand and appreciate Plautus and his era.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
John Henderson is Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge, King's College. He is the author of many books on Latin literature and Roman culture, including Fighting for Rome and Writing Down Rome.
REVIEWS
“An ideal play for Latin literature courses-lively, funny, short, readable, and full of important insights into Roman family and social life.”—Sharon James, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
"Henderson on Asinaria is a work of exceptional vitality and major significance for the field of Plautine and Latin literary studies."—Alison Sharrock, University of Manchester
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Preface 000
Prologue
1¿15 The Prologue tells all there's nothing to tell, so listen 000
Text and translation 000
Text: differences that make a difference:
1. Differences from the Oxford Classical Text 000
2. Differences from the Sarsina/Urbino Text 000
Outline of the metres of Asinaria 000
Plautin language and Latin vocabulary
Scene by scene 000
Commentary and analysis
Chapter
1 Killing the plot 000
16¿126 Somewhere in theatre Greece . . .
Father enlists Slave One to swindle Mother and fund Loverboy Son
2 Drive a hard bargain 000
127¿248
1. 127¿52 Loverboy's lament
2. 153¿248 Loverboy spars with Madame: a deal is cut
3 Funny Money 000
249¿503
1. 249¿66 Slave One's wake up call
2. 267¿380 Slave Two's . . . brainwave
3. 381¿406 The Courier arrives
4. 407¿503 The con's too convincing: Saurea's world
4 American beauty 000
504¿44 The Sex Slave holds out on Momma
5 Beating the system 000
545¿745
1. 545¿90 We're in the money . . . and We're so pretty, o so pretty . . .
2. 591¿745 Lovers' last gasp lament and Slaves riding high:
Loverboy pays his dues
6 Stick to the script 000
746¿827
1. 746¿809 Pal writes a contract for rival Loverboy
2. 810¿27 Loverboy's Pal will snitch to Mother on his new rival:
Father
7 Rotten rhetorics 000
828¿941
1. 828¿50 Dad's party swings
2. 851¿941 Mum fetches him home
8 'It's a gas' 000
Space, movement, verse
9 Beastly lives 000
591¿745 (reprise of 5.2) Have the whip hand, get your own back
10 A right earful 000
Audience as Asinaria
Epilogue 000
942¿7 Some curtain call: your plaudits appreciated
Notes 000
Bibliography 000
Indexes 000
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