DfYTPTlON IN PI A11TIIS UVAArfl i lUn 11> 1 LrUJluG HGLGN . WIGAND I LIBRARY ] UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO 120 /2.Z DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS A STUDY IN THE TECHNIQUE OF ROMAN COMEDY BY HELEN E. WIEAND BOSTON RICHARD G. BADGER THE GORHAM PRESS Copyright, 1920, by Richard G. Badger All Rights Reserved Made in the United States of America The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A. INTRODUCTION From the time of Ritschl's critical work upon the comedies of Plautus (1848) to the present, one of the chief desires of students of Plautus has been to solve the problem of the Plautine and un-Plautine elements in the comedies. The ex- istence of un-Plautine elements is quite evident from the clear traces of revision which the parallel versions in the manuscripts show. Very little comparative study of all the plays has been made, combining minute internal analysis of the plot of each play and a study of all its features, internal as well as external, with a comparison of similar features in the other plays; for as Lan- gen pointed out, 1 too often the conclusions as to Plautine technique have been drawn from the minute analysis of single plays, instead of from such comparative studies. It is because we feel that such a study can make a definite contribution to the solution of the prob- lem of the Plautinity of the plays that we have undertaken it. For this purpose even a very cursory reading of the plays suggested the ele- ment of deception as one occurring in a sufficient number of the comedies to serve as a basis for i Plautinische Studien, Preface. 3 4 INTRODUCTION the study. Moreover the prominence of that element in many of the comedies is striking. An analysis, then, of the comedies from the point of view of the plot of deception, with a con- sideration of the general situation within that plot, of the characters involved in it, both the tricksters and the persons tricked and the assist- ants engaged to carry out the stratagems, of the object and nature of the deception, will, at least, be worth while for a surer appreciation of Plau- tus himself. A study of the technique of the plot of deception, the methods employed in carrying it out, and the interrelation of the plans laid for the trickery and the execution of those plans, naturally involves a study of the Greek originals of Plautus. It is hoped that this investigation will help to determine whether it is true of this device, as of anagnorisis, that it "does not seem that a single element essential to an intrigue, a single feature of the physiognomy of a character is thoroughly, necessarily, irreducibly Roman." 2 At least it is hoped that some light may be thrown upon Plautus' relation to his sources, the use that he made of those sources, and the fate of his plays at the hands of those who presented them in later times. 2 Legrrand: Daos, p. 53. CONTENTS Chapter Page INTRODUCTION 3 I THE PROMINENCE OF DECEPTION AS AN ELEMENT IN THE COMEDIES OF PLAUTUS 9 II ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES AND COMPARISON OF THE COMEDIES . . l6 A General situation ... 26 B Characters especially the trickster and his assis- tants 32 C Object and nature of de- ception 44 III TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION ... 52 A Methods 52 B Inter-relation of plans and completed action . . 64 C Special details .... 136 IV APPLICATION OF FACTS TO HIGHER CRI-TICISM, i.e. TO CONTAMINATIO AND RETRACT ATIO 145 V SOURCES OF THE ELEMENT OF DECEP- TION 168 BIBLIOGRAPHY 193 5 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS CHAPTER I THE PROMINENCE OF DECEPTION AS AN ELEMENT IN THE COMEDIES OF PLAUTUS t>EFORE entering upon a detailed examina- *-* tion of the comedies of Plautus in order to study minutely the elements which make up the feature of deception it is necessary to state a fact which is evident from even the most cursory read- ing of the plays, namely, that deception appears in varying degrees of importance. In that respect the plays fall into three groups : (1) Those in which deception is the chief in- terest (2) Those in which deception is an important but not the chief feature (3) Those in which deception is almost or en- tirely lacking. From the broadest point of view Class i would include the Asinaria, Bacchides, Captivi, Casina, Curculio, Epidicus, Mercator, Miles, Mostellaria, Persa, Poenulus, Pseudolus, 9 io DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS Trinummus, all of which Leo 1 classes as plays of intrigue, and also the Menaechmi and Amphitruo. Class 2 would include the Rudens and Trucu- lentus. Class 3 would include the Stichus and Aulu- laria. In most instances it is sufficient to quote a line or two to substantiate this classification. The plays of Class i naturally furnish the principal material for a study of the technique of decep- tion, though the plays of Class 2 are of consider- able importance. In substantiation then of our classification, for Class i cf. Asin. 2 vv.iO2f. Fabricare quiduis, quiduis comminiscere : Perficito argentum hodie ut habeat filius and v.95 Nisi quid tu porro uxorem de- f rudaueris ? Here the whole play centres in the effort on the part of the slave to carry out his master's instruc- tions in this matter. Bacch. vv.232f. Inde ego hodie aliquam machinabor machinam Vnde aurum efficiam amanti erili filio. This is the key-note to the whole play. 1 Plautinische Forschungen, 2d ed., p. 209. 2 Text of Goetz-Schoell (editlo minor) used in citations. THE PROMINENCE OF DECEPTION n Capt. vv.39ff. Huius illic, hie illius hodie fert imaginem. Et hie hodie expediet hanc docte fallaciam Et suom erum faciet libertatis compotem : Here master and slave have exchanged roles for purposes of deception. Cas. vv.5of. Nunc sibi uterque contra legiones parat Paterque filiusque clam alter alterum. v.277 Ly. . . . subolet hoc iam uxori, quod ego machinor: v.3oi Cha. . . machinare quidlubet quouis modo. Here the two rivals for Casina's affection en- deavour to outwit each other. Cure. vv.329ff. The entire act wherein the parasite Curculio relates how he cheated the sol- dier of his ring at gambling and prepares for the subsequent deceit. Cure. vv.36o,f. Tu tabellas consignato, hie ministrabit, ego edam. Dicam quern ad modum con- scribas. . . . Epid. vv.i4if., w.isif. and Merc. w.33iff., vv.48sf. 12 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS show the pretense and counter-pretense between Demipho and his son Charinus in their desire to gain possession of the ancilla. A need for such planning and determination to gain their ends by deceit is indicated in the play. Miles vv.147, 153, 237 contain definite an- nouncement of trickery. Most. vv.427f . Tranio meets all the difficulties which confront him throughout the play, as he does the first one, by deceit. Persa vv.i48f. The leno is the butt of the plans of the slave in the Persa as .52 dum excoxero lenoni fmalam indicates. Poen. v.193; vv.2oof. Careful planning is re- sorted to in the Poenulus. Pseud. v.i9; vv.iogf. Pseudolus puts all his powers of invention at the disposal of his master. Trin. Up to Act III 3 there is no trickery in the play, but a mere family plot : a young man betrothing his sister to a friend. The desire of the girl's guardian to provide a dowry for her from a hidden treasure belonging to her father, without revealing either to the girl or to her brother the source of the money, leads to the plan which in vv.765f f. is outlined and attempted, but is thwarted by the unexpected return of the father himself. In each of these thirteen plays, therefore, some character voices his express intention of playing some trick or of forming some plan to the undo- ing of some other character. In other words, the trickery is the result of conscious purpose on the THE PROMINENCE OF DECEPTION 13 part of the trickster. This is also true of the Amphitruo; for the play, though it differs from the other plays in tone and character and in the plane upon which the action takes place, is still an exposition of the intentional deception on the part of Jupiter against Amphitruo, v.i 15 Sed ita adsimulauit se quasi Amphitruo siet. Jupiter becomes the intriguing human lover and Mercury the tricky slave. In the Menaechmi is found a somewhat simi- lar theme in the confusion between the identity of the twin brothers, when the brother from Syra- cuse arrives in Epidamnus, in search of his long- lost brother. vv.6o,f f. Nunc ille geminus qui Syracusis habet Hodie in Epidamnum uenit cum seruo suo Hunc quaeritatum geminum germanum suom. But the subsequent misunderstandings are the result of accident, i. e. the deception is not the result of conscious effort but of circumstance. In both the Amphitruo and the Menaechmi, then, there is, apart from the pathetic interest, (cf. the Captivi and the Rudens) the comic in- terest centering in the deception. From the spectators' point of view, all the plays having anagnorisis possess the same kind of interest, 14 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS since the spectators know (when they have been told!) that certain characters are deceived as to each other's identity, a sort of unconscious per- sonation. But the interest, at least in the Menaechmi, is of a different sort from that in the other plays of Class i. To some extent deception enters into the plot of the plays of Class 2, but as has been indicated, it is not in them the chief interest and has no intimate connection with the main object, the securing of the girl. In the Rudens the trickery, within the play, comes into the scene about the rudens where Labrax endeavours to fool Gripus ; also in vv. 938f f., between Gripus and Trachalio. The Cistellaria and the Vidularia are plays end- ing in an anagnorisis, but both are too fragment- ary to afford material for study. In the Truculen- tus the deception entered into by the meretnx, that the borrowed child is hers and her lover's, is of secondary importance to the plot. Of the two plays in Class 3, the Aulularia con- tains trickery to a slight degree. Strobilus de- termines to outwit Euclio, where the latter at- tempts to conceal the aula, vv.66if. Emortuom ego me mauelim leto male Quam non ego illi dem hodie insidias seni. The completeness of the plot of the Stichus has been questioned. 3 But whatever the original 3 Leo: G. Q. N; 1902, pp.375ff.; Plaut. Forsch. pp.lGSf.; Langen: Plautlnlsche Studlen, pp.2l3ff. ; Teuffel: Studien und Charakteristiken, pp.340ff. ; Legrand: Daos, p. 377; 380. THE PROMINENCE OF DECEPTION 15 plot may have been, in its present form at least it contains no elements of trickery. Of the nineteen plays, therefore, which are complete, we find that all but the Stichus contain trickery of some kind or other, employed for various reasons, either intentionally or uninten- tionally. An examination of the nature of that deception will necessarily throw some light upon Plautus' methods in using that feature so gen- erally in his plots. CHAPTER II TNASMUCH as the Bacchides contains a large * amount of trickery and is in other respects typical of the plays of Plautus, 1 we have selected it as a norm and basis of comparison in the exam- ination of the various elements which enter into deception in the plays. An analysis of it, then, and a classification of the various features found in it will supply a means of testing the other comedies. The resulting resemblances and simi- larities will serve to bring about a clearer under- standing of the technique of Plautus; or if vari- ations and dissimilarities appear more numerous than resemblances it may still be possible to de- termine whether the method of the poet was hap- hazard or purposely varied. The essential features may be grouped under the following headings : A. General Situation B. Characters, especially the trickster and his assistants C. Object and Nature of deception i cf. F. Leo: Der Monolog In Drama, Abhandl. d. KOnig, Qesell. G5tt. 1908, N. F. X No. 6, p. 55. 16 ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 17 Analysis of the Bacchides: The object of the trickery in this play is to se- cure money to free a meretrix from the claims of a soldier, v.46 Nam si haec habeat aurum quod illi renu- meret, and v.44 Vt reuehatur domum, cf. also v.i 04 Vt hie iccipias potius aurum quam hinc eas cum milite. This state of affairs is outlined in Act I i, where the Bacchides, sisters and meretrices, .39, enlist the sympathies of Pistoclerus, a youth, to free one of them from a soldier, vv. 44f. above, who has paid for her services but who will be willing to release her if money is found to repay him, v.46 above. He will appear soon, v.47 lam hie, credo, aderit, hence the need of immediate action. Incidental- ly the miles will not suspect Pistoclerus as he will take him for a lover of the sister, 2 v.6i Et ille adueniens tuam med esse amicam suspicabitur. After some apparent hesitation, Pistoclerus con- sents, 2 cf . Terence: Heauton Timorumenos, vv.332f. i8 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS v.93 Tuos sum, tibi dedo operam. That he is working in the interests of a friend and not in his own is clear from v.6o Tu prohibebis et eadem opera tuo sodali operam dabis and from v.iO3 Tibi mine operam dabo de Mnesilocho, soror, where the name of the friend is given. That Pistoclerus may himself, however, be involved is hinted in his reply to the rebukes of his paeda- gogus Lydus, v.138, in the following scene. v.i45 Ly. Tu amicam habebis? Pi. Quom videbis, turn scies. Except for the statement of the situation aris- ing from Pistoclerus' efforts in his friend's be- half the scene has no connection with the trickery. Chrysalus' monologue, which follows, 3 serves to give the connection between the three princi- pal characters of the play, Mnesilochus, Pisto- clerus and Bacchis, vv.i75ff. . . . sodalem .... Mnesilochi Pistoclerum, quern ad epis- tulam Mnesilochus misit super arnica Bac- chide, 3 Leo: Der Monolog, op. clt. p.49. ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 19 and to state the absence of Mnesilochus, attend- ed by Chrysalus, from Athens for the past two years, vv.i7of biennio Postquam hinc in Ephesum abii. In Act II 2, Chrysalus meets Pistoclerus who is just coming out of the Bacchides' house, .204. Replying to Chrysalus' query as to his success in finding the lost arnica of his friend VV.IQI Quia, si ilia inuentast ualet 195 Sed tu quid factitasti mandatis super? Pistoclerus explains the state of affairs and the need of money without delay. vv.22of. Nam istoc fortasse aurost opus. Pi. Philippeo quidem. Ch. Atque eo fortasse iam opust. Pi. Immo etiam prius: Pistoclerus thereupon enlists the slave's help to get the money. The latter promises to do so, v.227 .... ego hie curabo, and to that end assures Pistoclerus that he will concoct a plan, v.232 Inde ego hodie aliquam machinabor machinam ; 20 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS for the money is at hand and he need only invent some means of appropriating it, vv.229ff. Negotium hoc ad me adtinet aura- rium. Mille et ducentos Philippum attuli- mus aureos Epheso, quos hospes debuit nostro seni: Inde . . . etc. Meeting Nicobulus, Mnesilochus' father, on the way to the harbour to obtain news of his mer- chant ship and his son, Chrysalus seizes this op- portunity to "fleece" the old man, 4 v.239 Extexam ego ilium pulcre iam, . . . He tells the story of their journey, the attack upon them by a pirate-ship, vv.28of f., the escape back to Ephesus and the depositing of the money there at the shrine, in the care of the sacerdos, vv.3O5ff. But Nicobulus can get it at any time. The old man's reluctance to make a voyage at his time of life, vv.342f. Censebam me effugisse a uita mari- tuma Ne nauigarem tandem hoc aetatis senex, 4 cf. Terence: Heauton Timorumenos, vv.329ff.; 470f. ; B12f. ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 21 indicates his full acceptance of all Chrysalus' statements. Chrysalus' concern as to what will happen v.358 .... quom hoc senex resciuerit? in spite of his satisfaction that he has left the field open for Mnesilochus to help himself to the money, vv.352f. Ita feci, ut auri quantum uellet sume- ret, Quantum autem lubeat reddere, ut reddat patri, indicates clearly that the whole story is a lie, v.35O Exorsa haec tela non male omnino mihist. In other words the first trick, by lying, has suc- ceeded. This is also indicated by Mnesilochus, v.392 Condigne is quam techinam de auro aduorsum meum fecit patrem, who in a soliloquy, w/jSsf f., sums up all the past action, his commission to Pistoclerus, the efforts of Chrysalus in his behalf, and the final success in obtaining the money. Lydus, as he had threatened in v.383 . . . et seni faciam palam, now appears bringing Philoxenus, Pistoclerus' father, to the Bacchides' house to reveal to him his son's folly. Mnesilo- 22 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS chus overhearing their conversation believes his friend false, vv.477ff. In the soliloquy which follows, vv.5ooff., he laments the supposed in- fidelity of his friend, vows vengeance upon Bacchis, and determines to hand over all the money to his father. v.5i6 Decretumst remunerare iam omne aurum patri. The opening lines of Act III 6 bring Mnesilo- chus announcing the accomplishment of his threat, thereby rendering the first trick futile, v.53o Reddidi patri omne aurum. . . . cf. v-5i6. Meeting his friend Pistoclerus, he berates him for his broken faith in his commission to find Bacchis. But the misunderstanding is cleared up by Pistoclerus' revelation that there are two sisters named Bacchis, v.5<38 . . v Duas ergo hie intus eccas Bacchides. With Act IV i, the appearance of the para- site of the soldier interested in Bacchis, cf. vv.45f., announcing the imminent arrival of his master, v.6o3 Sufflatus ille hue ueniet renders the need of money again a serious prob- lem, ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 23 vv.6o6f. In eum nunc haec reuenit res locum, ut quid consili Dem meo sodali super arnica nesciam : v.6o9 Neque nummus ullust qui reddatur militi, especially as the money which might have been used has been handed over to the rightful owner, v.6o8 Qui iratus renumerauit omne aurum patri. While debating what to do Pistoclerus meets Mnesilochus coming out of Bacchis' house, la- menting his bad luck, especially in so quickly ren- dering up the much-needed money. His misery is increased by the news of the anticipated ar- rival of the soldier to get his due, v.63i Militis parasitus modo uenerat aurum petere hinc : But there is hope for help again from the crafty slave, v.639 . . . Tuam copiam eccam Chrysalum uideo, who, rejoicing in the successful outcome of his He, vv.64iff. Nam duplex hodie f acinus feci, du- plicibus spoliis sum adfectus. Erum maiorem meum ut ego hodie lusi lepide, ut ludificatust. Callidum senem callidis dolis Compuli et perpuli, mi omnia ut crederet, 24 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS finds out upon meeting his young master, vv.67off ., that all his labour has been in vain and that he must again get money from the old man, vv.69if. . . . Nunc hoc tibi curandumst, Chry- sale, . . . Vt ad senem etiam alteram facias uiam. 694 Vt senem hodie doctum docte fallas aurumque auferas. Thereupon Chrysalus plans a second trick. In a letter written by Mnesilochus at Chrysalus' dicta- tion, vv.734ff., the slave issues a warning to the old man to beware of him. Armed with this he starts at once upon the second trick, v.76o, . . . ei tabellas dem in manum. For his purpose he desires that the old man shall be angry, and the old man is justifiably angry because he has been deceived by Chrysalus, vv.775ff. Nicobulus sarcastically asks Chry- salus how soon he expects him to start on his journey to Ephesus to claim the money deposited there, v.776 cf. vv.3o6f., and receives the letter of warning from the slave. In spite of Nicobulus' assurance that "fore- warned is forearmed", Chrysalus is confident of getting the money, vv.8o5f. Et te dixisti id aurum ablaturum tamen Per sycophantiam ? ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 25 v.824 Numquam auferes hinc aurum. Ch. Atqui iam dabis. And he leads the old man to spy upon his son banqueting with the meretrices, vv.83iff. While they are thus engaged, chance helps Chrysalus by the arrival of the soldier, whose re- mark, vv.842f. Meamne hie Mnesilochus, Nicobuli filius Per uim ut retineat mulierem? . . . Chrysalus seizes upon to pretend that the miles is Bacchis' husband, v.851. Vir hie est illius mulieris quacum accu- bat. As Nicobulus thereupon fears that his son may be involved in a lawsuit for interfering with an- other man's wife, he agrees to Chrysalus' sug- gestion to buy off the soldier, vv.86if. . . . quin tu me exsolui iubes? Ni. Exsoluite istum, and the second trick succeeds. Exultant over his success, Chrysalus decides to start upon a third trial to get more money, which is really a second application of the second trick, since Nicobulus is acting under the misapprehen- sion caused by that. The trick is carried out 26 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS again through a letter, vv.997fL, purporting to be from the young man, Mnesilochus, to his father, asking for money, vv.io25f. Nunc si me fas est obsecrare abs te, pater, Da mihi ducentos nummos Philippos, te obsecro, which is to be used presumably to settle the claims of the soldier's wife, v.ioog. Nicobulus, believing that the girl is the soldier's wife and desiring to help his son get rid of her, is per- suaded and gives Chrysalus the money, v.io62, and the trick succeeds. Philoxenus' monologue, vv.io76ff., 5 serves as an introduction to the banqueting scene where- in the old men, determined to rescue their sons from the enticements of the meretrices, them- selves fall a prey to them. They are finally aware that they have been cheated, vv.ii25, 1184, 1206, though they are somewhat reconciled by the offer of the return of half of the money, vv.nSsa f. Quid tandem, si dimidium auri Redditur . ? A. General Situation The foregoing analysis of the Bacchides has shown a youth in love and needing assistance to 5 F. Leo: Der Monolog, op. oit. p.49. ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 27 secure the object of his love. The same general situation appears in no less than eleven other plays : Asinaria vv.52f. Equidem scio iam filius quod amet meus Istanc meretricem e proxumo Philaenium vv.57f. De. Tune es adiutor nunc amanti filio? Li. Sum uero, et alter noster est Leonida. Miles vv.99f. Erat erus Athenis mihi adu- lescens optumus Is amabat meretricem and the need of the adulescens for assistance is implied in the efforts put forth by the seruos which he narrates in the prologue, vv.mff. Pseudolus vv.35 Tuam amicam uideo, Calidore. 41 Phoenicium Calidoro amatori suo 78 Nilne adiuvare me audes ? . . . iO4f. Spero alicunde hodie me bona opera .... Tibi inuenturum esse auxilium argentarium. Persav.i Qui amans egens ingressus est prin- ceps in Amoris uias vv.Siff. Omnem rem inueni, ut sua sibi pe- cunia 28 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS Hodie illam faciat leno libertatem suam. Sed eccum parasitum quoius mihi auxiliost opus. The Persa differs from the other plays in that its characters are from a different rank in society, i. e. slaves who enter upon their intrigues dur- ing the absence of their master. 1 Epidicus. In this play the transactions involv- ing the meretrix are completed before the play begins, vv.47f. Ipse mandauit mihi ab lenone ut fidicina Quam amabat emeretur sibi: id ei im- petratum reddidi, but the youth Stratippocles has transferred his affections to another object, vv.43ff. Quia forma lepida et liberali captiuam adulescentulam De praeda mercatust . animi causa. i The same may be said of the Amphitruo, though In it the presence of gods engaging in the intrigues of mortals makes It unique. But in the Persa the slave and in the Amphitruo the god play the usual role of the adulescens in love. ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 29 a captive in war, and is needing help a second time to extricate himself from the financial dif- ficulties attendant upon the purchase, Curculio. In this play and in the Poenulus the girls have not yet entered the profession of meretrices, vv.46f . Earn uolt meretricem facere : ea me de- perit : Ego autem cum ilia facere nolo mutuom. vv.67ff. Nunc hinc parasitum in Cariam misi meum Petitum argentum a meo sodali mu- tuom: Quod si non affert, quo me uortam nescio. Mercator vv.33off. The plans of the old man against his son indicate clearly that the youth needs help to retain the girl, and the senex needs help to secure her. vv.7of.. Quia patrem prius se conuenire non uolt neque conspicari, Quam id argentum quod debetur pro ilia dinumerauerit. Poenulus vv.96ff. Earum hie adulescens al- teram eflflictim perit Suam sibi cognatam in- 30 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS prudens, neque scit quae siet, Neque earn umquam tetigit : ita cum leno macerat : vv.i63ff. . . . Vin tu illam hodie sine dispendio Tuo tuam libertam facere? Ag. Cupio, Milphio. Mi. Ego faciam ut facias. Rudens. The Rudens has in general the same situation as the Bacchides, etc. Although Plesidip- pus does not need money or trickery, he is in danger of losing the girl, vv.42ff. Adulescens quidam ciuis huius Atticus Earn uidit ire e ludo fidicinio domum. Amare occepit: ad lenonem deuenit, Minis triginta sibi puellam destinat Datque arrabonem et iure iurando alli- gat. Is leno, ut se aequomst, flocci non fecit fidem Neque quod iratus adulescenti dixerat. 63ff. Conscendit nauem, auehit meretriculas. Adulescenti alii narrant ut res gesta sit: Lenonem abisse. . . . Mostellaria. In the Mostellaria the only re- semblance is that a similar situation has been solved before the play opens, cf. Epidicus. ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 31 vv.537ff. Danista adest, qui dedit .... Qui amicast empta quoque Manufesta res est, nisi quid occurro prius, Ne hoc senex resciscat. The home-coming of the father brings on the complications; but the object of the trickery is not to secure the girl, as she has already been purchased and manumitted. Casina and Amphitruo. In both these plays we find the same general situation, a lover need- ing to employ trickery to secure the object of his love. In the Casina the rivalry between a father and son for Casina's affections, cf. Mercator, vv.48f earn puellam hie senex Amat efflictim et item contra filius necessitates the counter-plots of each against the other, v.5O, which are the basis of the action. Inasmuch as Casina is already a member of their household, vv.4off., a foundling brought up in the family, her position is different from that of the girls concerned in the other plays. Hence also the question of money does not enter into the de- ception. But the whole action centers in the ef- forts of the two rivals to outwit each other. In the Amphitruo, as has already been stated, the characters are on a different level from those in the other plays, but the object of the divine lover is the same. And the personation resorted 32 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS to by Jupiter, vv.ii5, 121, is the method by which he secures the object of his desire. 2 Twelve of the twenty-one plays, therefore, have the same general situation, and in a thirteenth, the Mostellaria, the same problem has already been solved before the play opens. In the Captivi and the Truculentus, deception is also important, though not for the same purpose. This investigation deals primarily with seventeen plays, excluding the Aulularia, Cistellaria, Ru- dens, and Vidularia. B. Characters The general situation of the Bacchides showed that the trickery in the play is undertaken in the interests of an adulescens and a meretrix, who are accordingly the central figures. Such is the case in nine of the other plays : Asinaria, Cur- culio, Epidicus, Mercator, Miles, Persa, Poenu- lus, Pseudolus, Mostellaria. 1 In the other plays included in Class I dif- ferent characters hold the center of attention : 2 In Terence's Phormio, Adelphoe, Andria and Eunu- chus, youths are in a similar situation; in the first two, the plots are made more complex by the presence of two pairs of lovers. i In the Mostellaria it should be noted again that the complications which give rise to the need of deception are the result of Phllolaches' relations with the meretrix and precede the action of the play. In, the Persa, as already noted, the adulescens Is a servus, playing the role of lover, cf. Terence's Adelphoe, Heauton Timorumenos, and Phormio. ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 33 in the Menaechmi, the twin brothers and the meretrix Erotium; in the Casina and the Mer- cator, rival adulescentes and senes, the girl Casina and the meretrix Pasicompsa; in the Trinummus, a family-plot, the senes working in the interests of the girl in their care ; in the Cap- tivi, the adulescentes and the senex Hegio; in the Amphitruo, Jupiter and Alcumena. But for the purposes of this study, and in fact in the development of the plays themselves, much more important characters are the trickster and the person tricked. In nine of the plays a slave is the agent of the deception 2 : (i) Servus vs. senex: Bacchides v.239 Extexam ego ilium pulcre iam, si di uolunt where Chrysalus, the slave, having taken upon himself his master's business and meeting the young man's father, Nicobulus, decides to cheat him of the needed money. Captivi vv.35f. Hisce autem inter sese hunc confinxerunt dolum, Quo pacto hie seruos suom erum hinc amittat domum : 2 cf. also the Amphitruo and Mercator where the servus has a large part in the deception, cf. G. Boissier: Quo- modo Graecos poetas Plautus transtulerit, Paris, 1857, pp.24ff. 34 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS Here the trick is played by Tyndarus upon the slave-owner, Hegio, the senex. (The general situation is, of course, not the same.) Epidicus vv.87f Ego miser perpuli Meis dolis senem are the words of the slave Epidicus who, having finished one trick and found his efforts wasted, declares his determination to attack his master a second time, v.i63- Mostellaria V.3&7 The slave Tranio promises to keep his young master out of his father's clutches. (2) Servus vs. leno : Pseudolus. In reply to his arnica's letter stat- ing her precarious situation, vv.5iff., Calidorus appeals to his slave Pseudolus to help him find the needed money, v.8o, and the slave agrees to do so, vv.iO4f., directing his efforts against the leno, though incidentally the father of Calidorus may be involved, v.i2o. As the plot develops, Pseudolus proves able to cope with two enemies. 3 It should be noted here that this apparent doub- ling of plot, with the resultant complications and inconsistencies, has been used to prove contamin- atio in this play. 4 In this respect of double 3 Lorenz: Pseudolus, ed. Introd. pp.!9ff. 4 Lorenz: op. cit.; Legrand: Daos, p.384, note 2; (A. Schmitt: De Pseudoli Plautlnae exemplo Attico, dlss. 1909, p.Sff., against contaminatio). ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 35 deuteragonist, if we may so call it, this play re- sembles the Miles (cf. below) Persav.52 Vsque ero domi, dum excoxero lenoni malam. In connection with this play it should be noted that the plot is simplified by the fact that the servus is working in his own interests, i. e., he is both trickster and the person in whose interests the deception is practised. (Such is practically also the case in the Amphitruo where Jupiter plays the trickster in his own interests.) Poenulus vv.i68f. show that the slave Milphio is the inventor of the plan of deception against the leno. (The Poenulus is also considered a "contaminated" play.) (3) Servus vs. other characters: vs. mercator in the Asinaria, w.94f., though the person who suffers the loss is the matrona. vs. servus and his master in the Miles, vv.i45ff. Here Palaestrio plans the confusion to which he will drive his fellow slave Sceledrus, and in the second part of the play the miles himself, \v.j6ji. This play, because of its double plot, is suspected, like the Pseudolus, of being contaminated. 5 5 Lorenz: Miles Gloriosus, ed. Introd. p.Slf.; Leo: Plaut. Forsch, pp.!78f. 36 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS Two of the plays, the Curculio and Trinum- mus, depart from this norm of the slave as the trickster 6 : Parasitus vs. leno 7 Curculio vv.65ff., where the lover, Phaedro- mus, asserts his need and the means which he has taken to meet that need. He finds that his as- surance is not ill founded, when Curculio des- cribes his efforts in his behalf, vv.329ff., and out- lines his further plans, V.37O. Senex vs. adulescens: Trinummus vv.763ff., where the two old men conspire to provide the ward of one of them with a dowry. But Megaronides employs an agent to carry out his plan, v.765- It is evident from the comparison of the de- tails just given that the favourite agent of the deception in the comedies is a slave. Although the deception is carried out primarily by this one chief agent, yet in nearly every case the as- sistance of some other person, or persons, is en- listed, even though that help is not always used after it has been gained. The mention of these assistants may serve to introduce that class which we call ( i ) Friends of the interested persons : 6 So too does the Truculentus. 7 cf. Terence: Phormio, In which the leading trickster is a parasite. ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 37 Asinaria vv.57f . Demaenetus, the father in the Asinaria, starts the slave on his course of de- ception, vv.57f., but in spite of his desire to help even to the point of willingness to be himself cheated by his slave, V.QI, he realizes that he can be of little assistance since his wife controls the purse-strings. It turns out, however, that he is of decided assistance, cf. below. Epidicus v.29i Quern hominem inueniemus ad earn rem utilem? Ep. Hie erit Optumus : the slave accepts the old man Apoecides as a suit- able coadjutor, but intends to deceive him; so Apoecides is not a real assistant, as is evident from his narrative of the course of events, vv.4iiff. He is a mere passive witness and is himself deceived, and with the words, v.422 Ei uolo ire aduocatus and his departure to the forum he disappears from the play. Pseudolus vv.547f. In similar fashion the help of Callipho is engaged, in the Pseudolus, in case it should be needed. But he disappears from the play at the end of this act and has no share in the plot of deception. Bacchides. Pistoclerus, in the Bacchides, is in 38 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS fact more active than the usual friend, since in person he carries out his friend's commission of finding his arnica, vv^Sgff. Most of his efforts, however, have been exerted before the action of the play begins, though even within the play he is still busy in his friend's behalf, vv.526ff. Miles. Periplecomenus, in the Miles, the old friend of Pleusicles, receives the young man into his house, which has the advantage of adjoining that of the miles, and thus affords him an op- portunity of meeting his arnica who is detained there, vv.i34ff. Later he also connives at a second means of deceiving the miles through a trick which requires his more immediate partici- pation, vv.766ff. Pal. Nunc hoc animum aduortite ambo. mihi opus est opera tua Periplecomene : nam ego inueni lepi- dam sycophantiam, Qui admutiletur miles .... V./82 Ecquam tu potis reperire forma lepida mulierem, vv-792f adsimuletque se Tuam esse uxorem: Mercator. Lysimachus, vv.499ff., shows him- self a friend in need by assisting his friend Demipho to gain possession of Pasicompsa, even to the extent of harbouring her in his own house, vv.563ff. And the son Charinus is aided and abetted by his friend Eutychus, vv.485ff. ; vv.588ff. ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 39 Trinummus. Megaronides assists his old friend Callicles in planning his simple device, Act III 3, and also hires the nugator for him. (2) Slaves as assistants are found in the Am- phitruo, Asinaria, Casina, Mercator, Persa, and Poenulus. Amphitruo. Mercury as a pseudo-servus im- personating Sosia, w.i 15, 124, puts the real Sosia to rout, Act I i, vv.295,455, and throughout the play assists Jupiter in carrying out his de- ception. Asinaria. At his master's suggestion, Libanus associates his fellow slave with himself in the trickery which he is to carry out in his young master's interests, vv.ioif., and Leonida takes a very active part as the pseudo-Saurea, vv.368f. Te ex Leonida futurum esse atriensem Sauream, Dum argentum afferat mercator pro asinis. Mercator. In the Mercator the young man's interests are furthered by his slave. Casina. In the Casina the father enlists the assistance of his vilicus, v.52, the son that of his armigerus, v.55, each to pretend that he himself wishes to marry the girl Casina. 40 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS Persa. A fellow slave Sagaristio by appro- priating his master's money, helps Toxilus first to find the money which he needs, vv.262f., and later takes part in the actual confounding of the leno, in the impersonation, vv.459ff. Poenulus. Milphio's plans, in the Poenulus, include the assistance of the vilicus Collabiscus, vv.i94f., but his instructions are evidently given off the stage, as he appears in Act III 2 primed for his part, cf . v.578 lam tenes praecepta in corde? Co. Pulcre. (3) Hired assistants A still larger place is filled by those who are hired to carry out some part of the deception. Various characters perform this function. Fidicina in the Epidicus, vv.3i4ff. ; a meretrix in the Miles, vv.87off. ; advocati or testes in the Poenulus, vv.424, 506; a syphocanta in the Pseudolus, Act IV I, and in the Trinummus, v.8i5. In the Persa the parasite is persuaded for a consideration to lend his services and those of his daughter, vv.83, I27f., in carrying out the trick against the leno; but they can hardly be called hired assistants. (4) Assistants sent by chance (Tux 1 *])- In a consideration of this agency it is neces- sary to distinguish between such appearances in ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 41 the plays as that of the miles in the Bacchides, too fortuitous 8 and yet constantly anticipated throughout the first part of the play, cf. v.58 .... miles quom ueniat, uolo : v.76 .... miles quom hue adueniat, te uolo Me amplexari. vv.589ff. . . Me misit miles ad earn Cleomachus, Vel ut ducentos Philippos reddat aureos Vel ut hinc in Elatiam hodie eat secum semul where the appearance of the miles' parasite, his demand for the money due his master, the refusal of it by Pistoclerus, or rather the confident denial on the part of Pistoclerus that Bacchis will con- sent to go with the miles, prepare the way for the miles' appearance in person to enforce his de- mands, and the entirely unforeseen intervention of Harpax in the Pseudolus or of Hanno in the Poenulus. This latter sort of chance is the substitution in comedy for the deus ex machina of tragedy ; 9 for as Lorenz also points out, 10 this chance, i. e. turn of fortune, goes back to the conception of Euri- pides: into the place of the Moirai steps Tux*). 11 8 Legrand: Daos, p. 396. 9Legrand: Daos, p.395. 10 Lorenz: Pseudolus, ed. Introd. pp.20f. 11 Callidanrates in the Mostellaria is a sort of homo ex machina in the way in which he settles the difficulties by mollifying the senex. 42 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS Moreover, this conception is far more compre- hensible, because so like everyday practical ex- perience, and hence very suitable to comedy. It is a personal rather than a divine conception of Tux 1 *) and it fits into comedy, especially into come- dies like the Pseudolus which are so largely a portrayal of the character of the clever trickster ; for in seizing the chance-offered solution of the difficulties and using it to his own ends the trick- ster displays to great advantage his own extra- ordinary cleverness. As has been mentioned, such chance-sent as- sistants are found in the Poenulus and Pseudolus. Poenulus. In the Poenulus the chance arrival of Hanno acts as an incentive to Milphio for a new trick, v.i 086 Festiuom f acinus uenit mihi in mentem modo that Hanno should assume the role of father of the girls, vv.iO99ff., which results in the final anagnorisis. Pseudolus. Pseudolus asserts confidently that he has ready duplicis triplicis dolos perfidias for the confounding of the enemy, but the chance arrival of Harpax, Act II 2, causes him to set them all aside, v.6oi Nouo consilio nunc mihi opus est : noua res haec subito mi objectast ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHJDES 43 and he makes the personation of Harpax by Simia solve the difficulties in the plot. Chance may perhaps be said to have brought about the meeting of Curculio with his master's rival, the miles in Caria, v.337 forte aspicio militem thus giving him the opportunity of obtaining in- formation whereby to serve his master's interests. But in this case the coincidence seems natural and not brought about by the interposition of chance, under desperate circumstances, 12 after all other resources have failed. In a way, chance may be said to control the action in the Mostellaria; for all the deception is improvised to meet the need of the moment. 13 Tranio, to be sure, like Tyndarus in the Captivi, employs no definite assistant. But he seizes upon any help presented, as that afforded by the chance arrival of the danista, Act III i, to make up a lie to serve his ends. It is evident, therefore, that the trickster in nearly every play marshals forces to assist him in his attack and does not depend entirely upon his own resources. His cleverness is revealed and the complexity of the web of deception in- 12 Legrand; Daos, p.393f. is Ritschl: Opuscula II p. 740. 44 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS creased by the resultant involved interworking of plan and action on the part of the trickster himself and his assistants, on the one hand, and his opponents, on the other. The fact that Tyndarus depends upon his own efforts to carry out the plan of the Captivi and employs no assistants, shows again that that play is unique, though chance plays a large part of the comedy, according to Brix the chief role. 14 It should be added that the intervention of chance differs also from the divine aid afforded by various agents in several of the plays, cf. the Lar f amiliaris, in the Aulularia ; Auxilium in the Cistellaria; Arcturus in the Rudens. The gods in these plays have no active part in the develop- ment of the plot within the play, 15 as chance has in the others, but the expository prologue is spoken by them, since no character of the plays knows all the facts of which the audience must be informed. C. Object and Nature of Deception In section II A it has been shown that the situ- ation of a lover needing assistance is the most common one in the plays and that in eight cases, the Asinaria, Bacchides, Curculio, Epidicus, Miles, Persa, Poenulus, and Pseudolus, that as- sistance is used for the securing of a meretrix. This is the ultimate object. But as a means 14 Brix: Captivi, ed. Introd. p.3 (1910). is Arcturus, for example, causes the storm which pre- vents the leno from deceiving Plesidippus. ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 45 to the attainment of that ultimate end in no less than six plays an immediate object exists, money, upon which the trickery and therefore a large part of the comic interest is concentrated. 1 Bacchides. The immediate object of the Bacchides has been noted, i. e. to get money ; v.46 Nam si haec habeat aurum quod illi renumeret, faciat lubens. vv.iO3f. Meus ille quidemst. tibi nunc operam dabo de Mnesilocho, soror. Vt hie accipias potius aurum quam hinc eas cum milite with the secondary purpose of paying off the claims of the soldier, as indicated in these same citations. In three of the plays, Curculio, Epidicus, Pseudolus, the object is to get money to purchase the meretrix outright. Curculio. The meretrix is to be bought in or- der to free her for her lover's sake, vv.2o8f. Ita me Venus amet, ut ego te hoc tri- duom numquam sinam In domo esse istac, quin ego te liberalem liberem. i cf. Terence: Phormio and Heauton Timorumenos. 46 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS Epidicus. Twice money must be secured for the purchase of the objects of Stratippocles' fancy, since that fancy is transferred from one love to another, v.i 35 Illam amabam olim: nunc iam alia cura impendet pectori. The first transaction has, however, preceded the action of the play, vv.tfff. The second is the immediate object of the deception within the play, 431., ii4f. Pseudolus. The immediate object is stated in v.5o Quam subito argento mi usus inuento siet and in the arnica's letter from which Calidorus learns of the desperate straits in which she is and the imminent purchase of her by a miles unless he can come to the rescue. 2 Persa. In the Persa together with the need to get money to free his arnica, vv.33f. Haec de summa hodiest, mea arnica sitne libera An sempiternam seruitutem seruiat is the object of robbing the leno of the money after he gets it, 2 Phaedria's plight in Terence's Phormio is similar. ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 47 vv.325f. Nam iam omneis sycophantias instruxi et comparaui, Quo pacto ab lenone auferam hoc argentum Asinaria. The money in this play is to be used to purchase the services of the meretrix for one year, vv.iO3f. Perficito argentum hodie ut habeat films, Amicae quod det. vv.229f. . . . die, quid me aequom censes pro ilia tibi dare Annum hunc ne cum quiquam alio sit? To free a meretrix by other means than money is the object of the Miles and the Poenulus. Miles. The assertion of the arnica that she desires to get away from the power of the miles v.i 26. Ait sese Athenas fugere cupere ex hac domu: starts Palaestrio upon his work of rescue. Poenulus. For the purpose of outwitting the leno and cheating him out of money and his property, in the person of the girl, Agorastocles and his slave Milphio lay their plans in this play, 48 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS vv.i53ff. Amo immodeste At ego hanc uicinam dico Adel- phasium meam Lenonis huius meretricem maiusculam. vv.i68f. Totum lenonem tibi cum tota familia Dabo hodie dono. Hence the plan to free the girl. Agorastocles has apparently plenty of money and therefore does not need, so far as it is concerned, to cheat the leno. But the comic effect of the play is in- creased by this ruse, hence its inclusion. In the other plays the ultimate and the im- mediate object are in general identical. In the Mostellaria, however, the object of the deception changes as the action proceeds. In fact the trickery has no substantial object. It is all directed as a temporary expedient toward tem- porary results. The need for money exists be- fore the play opens, i. e. to pay off the loan given by the danista, vv.626f. Quod illuc argentumst? Est huic debet Philolaches Paulum. But this need is only coincident with the primary necessity which is the motive of the deception, i. e. preventing the old man's discovery of his son's follies during his own absence from home by keeping him out of his own house, vv.^Sgff. ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 49 Let us consider briefly the object of the trickery in the other plays. In the Amphitruo, the immediate and ultimate objects are identical, the securing of the beloved object, transferred as already noted in section II A to a different plane, with Alcumena taking the place of the meretrix of the other plays, unwittingly, however, cf. vv.iisff., 121, 124, 464ff. To that end Jupi- ter becomes an intriguing adulescens and Mer- cury a servus. In the Casina and the Mercator the ultimate ob- ject is similar. Moreover it should be noted that in all three of these plays the deception concerns that ultimate object, with the result of a more simple and more direct plot. A similar purpose is the basis of the action of the Rudens, which starts with the shipwreck of theleno, while on his way to Sicily, whither he is taking in his charge the girl beloved by Plesidippus, who is eager to rescue her from the other's power. Arcturus lends the most effective assist- ance. Deception hardly enters into the solution of the plot, which is facilitated by an anagnorisis. There remain then for consideration the Cap- tivi, Menaechmi, Trinummus, and Truculentus. Since the deception in the Menaechmi, as has been pointed out above, results merely from the confusion in identity of the twin brothers, that also lacks purpose and because of this fact need merely be mentioned here. In the Captivi the purpose of the exchange of roles between master and slave is to secure the freedom of the former, vv.39ff. 50 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS In the Trinummus, as has already been stated, the purpose is to provide the young ward with a dowry. In the Truculentus, the meretrix Phronesium, vv.iSff., practises her deception, in fooling Diniarchus, to enrich herself at the expense of the miles. The latter is also deceived by her. Summing up then, we find that the chief ob- ject of the trickery, and the ultimate one, is the securing of 1'objet aime, usually a meretrix, oc- curring in thirteen of the plays, Asinaria, Bacchides, Miles, Mostellaria, Pseudolus, Persa, Amphitruo, Epidicus, Curculio, Poenulus, Casina, Mercator, Rudens. The immediate object of the deception is in six cases money, Asinaria, Bacchides, Curculio, Epidicus, Pseudolus, Persa ; while in the Miles and the Poenulus other means than money are used for the freeing of the mere- trix, as also in in Casina, Mercator, and Rudens. In the other plays the interests involved in the stratagems of the trickster vary. From all three points of view from which we have thus far considered the comedies of Plau- tus, the similarity of plot is apparent. The gen- eral situation is the same in at least ten 3 of the plays, cf. II A, youths needing assistance in af- faires de coeur. Moreover, if the category of lovers is extended to include senes as well as adulescentes, deus as well as homo, three more plays may be added to that list, Amphitruo, Casina, Mercator. The same character, a slave, 3 Not counting the plays which are without Important trickery. ANALYSIS OF THE BACCHIDES 51 carries out the deception in nearly all the plays, though the character against whom the strata- gem is directed varies, a senex, a leno, a fellow- slave, etc. The assistants engaged to carry out the deception also vary, as does the extent of the help which is contributed by them. As assist- ants slaves are the favourites, fellow-slaves of the doli architectus. The influence upon the course of the action exerted by chance, T6)(r), should also be recalled. The plays accordingly are very much alike. In fact it would almost seem as if Plautus used the same stock scenes and motives for his plays, varying them only in the method of combination and in the addition of extraneous details. Plau- tus recognized the delight which his audience felt in seeing somebody fooled or acting under a mis- apprehension of some kind, as in the Menaechmi, and he catered to this taste. There are many pos- sibilities of permutation and combination in the details connected with such a plot of deception, and Plautus seems to have realized them all. How he utilized them will be more apparent from the following study of the interrelation of plan and action in the plays. CHAPTER III TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION A. Methods GIVEN the general situation, with the interests of various characters at stake, and those characters by the help of various assistants attain- ing their ends through deception, varied in nature and object, it still remains for us to consider, by a detailed study of the comedies, the methods used to carry out that deception. Such an in- vestigation will include the clearness and definite- ness of the planning and execution of those methods; and should such investigation reveal great uniformity in methods and plans, the study of any unique details which the several plays may present. All three of these considerations rest primarily upon an analysis of the technique of the plays. i. Lies Deception generally involves lying, and so it is not surprising to find lies constantly employed in all the plays except the Menaechmi, in which, as we have already noted, the confusion arises from unconscious deception. Some differentiation must be made, however, between those plays in 52 TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 53 which lies are the chief basis of the trickery, as in the Bacchides, and those in which they are incidental, and are, as in the Miles, additional means in the execution of the trickery. To the first class belong the Bacchides, Epidicus, Mos- tellaria, Persa, Truculentus. All the rest of the plays, of course, come under the second category. Bacchides. In the Bacchides we have seen that the deception depends first upon the tale of the pirate ship, vv.277ff., by which Chrysalus en- ables his young master to help himself, at will, to his father's money; secondly, the same slave, having led Nicobulus to spy upon his son ban- queting with the meretrices, seizes upon the miles, who has opportunely arrived, to worry the father still more by the statement that he is the husband of his son's arnica. v.851. Vir hie est illius mulieris quacum accu- bat. Epidicus. In the Epidicus it is impossible to cite only a few lines illustrative of the point un- der discussion, as lying is practically the basis of all the trickery in the play. A reference to the analysis of the play in the following section will bear out this statement. Mostellaria. As in the Epidicus, just men- tioned, lying is the basis of all the deception in this play, though because of the greater simplicity of the plot it is easier to indicate the three lies which contribute to the carrying out of the plot: 54 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS (1) The tale of the ghost haunting the house, vv.47Sff ., acknowledged by Tranio to be a lie, v.5io Illisce hodie hanc conturbabunt fabulam. (2) The pretended purchase of the neighbour- ing house, vv.637f Aedis nlius Tuos emit. cf . v.665 Calidum hercle esse audiui optumum mendacium (3) The pretended purpose of Theopropides to build a gynaeceum, whereby Tranio deceives Simo, vv.754f sed senex Gynaeceum aedificare uolt hie .... Persa. In the Persa the lies are coincident with the personation which will be considered be- low, so they need no special mention here. Truculentus . . . eo nunc commentast dolum : Peperisse simulat sese, ut me extrudat f oras : Eum esse simulat militem puero patrem : Here pretense and lies combine. Inasmuch as this is the only feature of deception in the TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 55 play, and, as has been noted above, deception is not the chief interest, we may pass over the play with this mere statement. Lies occur in other plays ; in the Trinummus, Stasimus lies about the farm; in the Captivi, Tyndarus, upon the arrival of Aristophontes, is driven to some new astutia, v.539, in order to ex- tricate himself, and so to bring discredit upon his statements asserts that his accuser is mad, vv.547f. Lies are all the more convenient to aid in the deception when the gullibility of the senes in the plays is taken into consideration, that gullibility which is one of the characteristic traits of the old man as portrayed by Plautus. 2. Personation This is the assumption by a character of a role not his own, and it is only an elaborate acting of a lie ; it is the favourite method of deception used by Plautus. Ten 1 of the plays present this fea- ture: Amphitruo, Asinaria, Captivi, Curculio, Epidicus, Miles, Persa, Poenulus, Pseudolus, Trinummus. 2 Asinaria vv.367ff. Nunc tu abi ad forum ad erum et narra haec ut nos acturi sumus: 1 In addition deception resulting from unconscious per- sonation of a similar kind is found in the Bacchides, Casina, Mercator, Truculentus. cf. Terence: Eunuchus. Act II 3; Phormio, Act I 2. 2 cf. Rudens, w.!035ff. 56 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS Te ex Leonida futurum esse atriensem Sauream, Dum argentum afferat mercator pro asinis. Here the slave Leonida impersonates the atriensis Saurea. Captivi vv.35ff. Hisce autem inter sese confinxerunt dolum, Quo pacto hie seruos suom erum hinc amittat domum: Itaque inter se commutant uestem et nomina : Illic uocatur Philocrates, hie Tyndarus, Huius illic, hie illius hodie fert imaginem, This explains the exchange of roles between the master and the slave. Curculio from the speech of the miles vv.345ff. "Dedisti tu argentum?" inquam. "Immo apud trapezitam situmst Ilium quern dixi Lyconidem, atque ei mandaui, qui anulo TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 57 Meo tabellas obsignatas attulisset, ut daret Operam, ut mulierem a lenone cum auro et ueste abduceret." results the personation by Curculio of the mes- senger from the miles in Act III, v.4o8 Ab Therapontigone Platagidoro milite. v.4i2 Libertus illius, quem omnes Summanum uocant. Epidicus vv.87f Ego miser perpuli Meis dolis senem, ut censeret suam sese emere filiam, Here the fidicina has been received by Periphanes as his daughter, before the play begins, and he believes in her until v.58o. vv.37iff lam ego parabo Aliquam dolosam fidicinam, nummo conducta quae sit, Quae se emptam simulet, quae senes duo docte ludificetur. Through the personation by a second fidicina of the arnica of Stratippocles' fancy, bought at Peri- phanes' orders, Epidicus plots the deception of his master a second time. Miles. The Miles contains three instances of personation : 58 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS (1) the twin-sister trick, vv.isoff. Et mox ne erretis, haec duarum hodie uicem Et hinc et illinc mulier feret imaginem Atque eadem erit, uerum alia esse adsimulabitur Ita sublinetur os custodi mulieris. (2) the meretrix Acroteleutium personates the wife of the old man Periplecomenus, vv.766ff mihi opus est opera tua, Periplecomene : nam ego inueni lepi- dam sycophantiam, .782 Ecquam tu potis reperire forma lepida mulierem, vv.792f adsimuletque se Tuam esse uxorem: (3) Pleusicles personates the nauclerus to facilitate his abduction of Philocomasium : v.i 1 77 Facito uti uenias ornatu hue ad nos nauclerico ; vv.i285f uerear magis Me amoris causa hoc ornatu incedere. Persa vv.i48ff. Praemonstra docte, praecipe astu filiae, TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 59 Quid fabuletur: ubi se natam prae- dicet, Qui sibi parentes fuerint, unde sur- rupta sit. Here the parasite's daughter is to be instructed as to her personation, for the pretended sale and subsequent claim and ransom by her father. Poenulus. The personation is carried out by Hanno, the Carthaginian, as the father of the girls, who claims them his daughters. The re- sulting anagnorisis proves this to be the case. 3 vv.iO99ff. Nunc hoc consilium capio et hanc fabricam apparo, Vt te allegemus : filias dicas tuas Surruptasque esse paruolas Cartha- gine, Manu liberali causa ambas adseras, Quasi filiae tuae sint ambae. Pseudolus vv.75iff ubi hominem exornauero, Subditiuom fieri ego ilium militis seruom uolo : Symbolum hunc ferat lenoni cum quinque argenti minis, Mulierem ab lenone abducat: s cf. Terence: Andria. V 3, v.892, where Simo accuses Pamphllus of a similar plot against himself, to prove that Mysis is a free-born citizen. 60 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS Trinummus A man is hired for a three-penny bit, which gives the name to the play, to bring money and letters, presumably from the girl's father, vv.765ff. Because of the prominence of this sort of de- ception in the comedies, it is desirable to sum up here and to compare the occurrences. The in- stances of personation fall into several classes : (1) Those in which a real person is imitated, without his knowledge, and either his appearance or, in the cases where an agent of a certain char- acter is impersonated, the appearance of the mas- ter or employer brings about the revelation of the deception. In this class are the Amphitruo, Asinaria, Curculio, Epidicus, Pseudolus, Trinum- mus. In the Asinaria, to be sure, no such con- clusion occurs, and the personation attains the desired end, though retributive justice is not meted out to the trickster, but to the old man who helped the trickster's plans. No obscurity re- sults, however, from the unanticipated change in the course of the action. (2) Those in which impersonation is entered upon by mutual consent, as in the Captivi, and the intervention of a third person, Aristophontes, reveals the deception, which however turns out fortunately, in the final anagnorisis. (3) Those in which the imposture concerns an imaginary person, as in the Miles, Persa and Poenulus. Here there is accordingly no possi- bility of discovery as in the other two classes, but the outcome is either the attainment of the de- TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 61 sired end, as in the Miles and Persa, or the change of pretense to fact as in the Poenulus. In this respect the Epidicus alone of all the plays shows apparent inconsistencies and ob- scurities; in Periphanes' ready acceptance of the fidicina represented to him by his slave Epidi- cus to be his daughter, and in the abandonment by the second fidicina of the role planned for her by Epidicus, when the necessity arises for her to play it. Further comment upon this point is re- served for section B. A connection exists, to be sure, between per- sonation in the sense in which we have been dis- cussing it, i. e. imposture, and the unconscious deception on the part of the personate r, as in the Menaechmi and in those plays having anagnorisis. All three kinds of personation possess an impor- tant common element for the audience. The audience is in the secret, except in the case of "surprise" anagnorisis possible in the Curculio and Epidicus ( ?), and the enjoyment comes from the fact that the audience beholds characters act- ing under misapprehension as to each other's identity, or misapprehending the identity of one character. The Menaechmi affords the purest illustration of this, since the twins, all uncon- scious themselves, are constantly mistaken for each other, cf. Simo in the Mostellaria, as Theopropides views him. Where anagnorisis is approaching, the audience derives added enjoyment from the knowledge that the persons concerned are not aware of each other's identity, e. g., the recognition between 62 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS Hegio and Tyndarus in the Captivi. So in pur- posed personation this element persists. For ex- ample in the Bacchides, the audience knows that Bacchis is not the wife of the soldier, or to take a better case, they know that Simia is not the real Harpax in the Pseudolus. In cases of this last type the chief enjoyment comes from noting the perils and cleverness of the impostor while he plays his part. In such cases the old tragic irony has often been diverted to comic purposes, though in the Captivi much of the original pathos remains. Judging from the majority of the plays, there- fore, we may conclude that a careful working out of this sort of deception is characteristic of Plautus. How far this conclusion affects our judgment of the Plautinity of the Epidicus, in its present condition, is another question and one which we will not endeavour to settle here. 3. Letters Letters, for the most part forged, play an im- portant part in the trickery of the Bacchides, Curculio, and Trinummus. Since in each case the contents of the letters are quoted, or implied, within the play and form an integral part of the dialogue, it is unnecessary to cite them here in detail. 4. Theft. Theft as a means of carrying out deception is found in the Asinaria and the Persa. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 63 Asinaria. In this play the act of theft is ren- dered possible by the personation, which has al- ready been mentioned as a feature of the trickery, in giving the pseudo-Saurea an opportunity to ap- propriate the money which was paid for the asses, vv335ff. Em, ergo is argentum hue remisit, quod daretur Saureae Pro asinis : 358fF. Quid nunc consili captandum censes? die. Li. Em istuc ago, Quo modo argento interuortam et aduentorem et Sauream. Persa. In the Persa the purchase-money for the oxen is appropriated by the slave Sagaristio, vv.259ff. Nam erus meus me Eretriam misit, domitos boues ut sibi mercarer : Dedit argentum: nam ibi mercatum dixit esse die septumei : Stultus, qui hoc mihi daret argentum quoius ingenium nouerat. Nam hoc argentum alibi abutar. 5. Miscellaneous A few cases of deception effected by unique methods occur in the plays. Gambling. In the Curculio, Curculio wins from the miles the ring which helps him in the later trick of personation : 64 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS vv -355f- Prouocat me in aleam, ut ego lu- dam. . . . Ille suom anulum opposiuit, Secret passage. In the Miles : vv.i42f. In eo conclaui ego perfodi parietem, Qua commeatus clam esset hinc hue mulieri. The methods, then, employed in the further- ance of deception are many. But the pre-emin- ence of personation and lying is noteworthy. Moreover, it should be mentioned that all the plays, except the Mostellaria, combine two or more methods even when there is only one end in view. This is to be differentiated from the fact that some of the plays, the Bacchides, Epidicus, Miles, Persa, Poenulus and Pseudolus, contain two or three tricks. The following analysis of the inter-relation of plan and action in the plays will illustrate this point more fully. B. Inter-relation of plans and completed action Our study up to this point has been concerned with the various elements entering into deception and it has shown how often the same elements recur. We must now consider their arrange- ment in the several plays, that is, we must study the inter-relation of plans for deception and the carrying out of those plans, in order to discover, TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 65 if possible, Plautus' method of using these ele- ments to work out his plots. It should be noted that the following analyses differ from the usual synopses of the plots given in editions of the plays in that they have trickery as the centre of interest. Also, inasmuch as a consideration of dropped threads of deception leads very natural- ly to the question of contaminatio, we may an- ticipate the discussion of that problem in section IV. and deal with it in part at the end of the analysis of each individual play. Bacchides The course of the trickery of the Bacchides was traced in the analysis of that play given in section I, and it is unnecessary to repeat it here. There are no dropped threads connected with the trickery nor is there reason for believing that contaminatio exists in the play. 1 In this play as in all the plays the inconsistencies noted by Lan- gen 2 and others must, however, be considered to determine whether such discrepancies are found in points essential to the carrying-out of the trickery or only in non-essentials. The first inconsistency which Langen notes 3 concerns Lydus' attitude towards his discipulus, Pistoclerus, and this is not connected with the trickery. The unexplained stay of two years on the part of Mnesilochus, vv.i7of., in Ephesus, 1 Leo; R8m. Lit. pp.H9ff. 2 Plaut. Stud. pp.HOff. 3 Ibid. p.HOf. 66 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS which obliged him to entrust his affaires de coeur to his friend, is just the sort of time-element* which Plautus is inclined to disregard. 5 For verification of this statement it is necessary to refer to several of the plays. In the Captivi the length of time required for the prisoners to make their plans, prologue, v.37, and to change their clothes for the assumption of each other's rqle is not considered by the play- wright. Likewise the length of time required for a journey to and from Elis is improbably set as one day, though this may be used, as has been suggested, to show that the action covers more than one day. In the Curculio the same thing is true of the length of time required for a journey to and from Caria, though in this case the lack of knowledge as to the site of the Caria in question renders the chronological difficulty uncertain. In the Miles the three years of absence, V-35O, seem too long for the few incidents allotted to that time, vv.121-142. A similar disregard for time is seen in the Mostellaria, as will be apparent in the later analysis of the play. The element of time, which is immaterial to the progress of the plot of deception, is therefore frequently disre- garded by Plautus. As such disregard does not 4 cf. A. Polczyk: De unltatibus et loci et temporis in Nova Comoedia observatis, Diss. 1909, Viadrina Uratis- laviensi, pp.38f. M. Brasse: Quatenus in fabulis Plautinls et loci et temporis unitatibus species veritatis neglegetur, Diss. Breslau, 1914, pp.87f. s cf. Terence: Eunuchus, w.580ff., all the incidents crowded Into the short time between the departure of Thais and Thraso and Chaerea's entrance. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 67 affect the course of the trickery it need not, for our purpose, be explained away, though that might be done in some cases, as in the Asinaria, cf. the following analysis. Nicobulus' acceptance of the state of affairs resulting from his son's failure to bring home the money from Ephesus, in spite of his re- luctance at his age to undertake a sea-voyage 8 and his failure to think of entrusting the matter a second time to his son, are unimportant. Chry- salus' ready revelation to Nicobulus of his son's whereabouts, vv.347f., when the success of the plan of deception depends upon Chrysalus' keep- ing father and son apart until he has himself re- vealed that plan to the latter, contradicts, to be sure, that slave's cleverness as displayed in other matters. But inasmuch as the playwright ap- parently so arranged the action that the slave and his young master meet before the son and father, we can regard the inconsistency as the sort of carelessness which Plautus shows in non-essen- tials. The requirement which Langen makes, 7 that the poet should have informed the audience if some other place of meeting than the place men- tioned by Chrysalus to Nicobulus had been agreed upon by the slave and his young master, may be accepted by a critical reader of the play. But such possible difficulties Plautus constantly disregard- ed. In other words, Plautus centres his attention upon the action as he develops it, not as it might develop without his guiding supervision of it. e Langen: Plaut. Stud, p.112. 7 Ibid, p.113. 68 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS Plautus' disregard of time is again illustrated in Act II 2 and 3. In v.374 Lydus states that he stayed only a short time in Bacchis' house, yet the actual time allows the action of Act II, scenes 2 and 3, which according to stage economy is comparatively long. As Langen himself acknowledges, 8 the difficulty is not serious enough to throw doubt on v.374 as un-Plautine. J. Baar 9 attributed it to contaminatio, but hardly with sufficient reason. 10 In .406 Philoxenus asks Lydus, "Quo sequar? quo ducis nunc me?" though it is quite evident that he knew where Lydus was taking him, from their leaving the house together intent upon a definite purpose. The question, therefore, is given merely for the sake of the answer, which repeats for the benefit of the audience what the two had evidently been discussing before they came out of the house. So too, in v.4io, Philoxenus reproaches himself for the evil ways of his youth, as also in vv.io79f. Yet Lydus had previously extolled his blamelessness of life, vv.42off. The contradiction may be easily ex- plained by a desire on the part of Philoxenus to excuse his son's actions by the implication of "like father, like son." The psychological improbability of Nicobulus' answer to Chysalus' spiteful question, vv.837f., so briefly acknowledging the attractiveness of 8 Ibid, p.113. 9 De Bacchidibus Plautina quaestiones, Diss MUnster, 1891. Chap. IV. 10 O. Seylfert in Bursian's Jahresbericht, 1895, Part II. p. 14. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 69 Bacchis in spite of his anger at her seduction of his son, does not concern the question of the de- ception. Nor does the improbability of the con- clusion of the play when the old men themselves fall a prey to the charmers from whom they had come to rescue their sons. The fact that Chrysalus must apparently urge Nicobulus on to pay off the soldier, v.883, when the latter has been so eager to do so, vv.866ff., though inconsistent, as Langen points out, is probably introduced by Plautus to emphasize once more Chrysalus' individual manipulation of all the plans of deception and their execution. Though apparently contradictory, it is the sort of thing which would justify the claim that the focus of the Plautine plays is upon the trickster and his deceptions. This is particularly true of the Bacchides, since the play is so largely a char- acter-study of the slave Chrysalus. 11 From this discussion of the Bacchides it is evident that in spite of the involved play and in- ter-play of plan and action in the comedy, all the carrying out of the deception is anticipated by some plan in the earlier part of the play, and vice versa the plans outlined in the earlier part of the play are carried out in the subsequent action. This is particularly noteworthy inasmuch as the play contains really two main tricks. Asinaria The object of the trickery in the Asinaria is to get money (20 minae) 11 Lecastor ullo die risi adaeque Neque hoc quod relicuomst plus risuram opinor. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 83 cf. vv.87iff. The trick is carried out to a suc- cessful close and the old man is worsted. Casina's fate is cleared up in the epilogue, vv.ioi3f., so all the threads of the trickery are caught up except the motiveless raving-scene. The reason for this sudden conclusion in vv.ioosf., should be noted, hanc ex longa longiorem ne faciamus fabulam. This together with the fact that the prologue contains no in- dication of either the lot-drawing or the imper- sonation, but does hint at the final agnorisis men- tioned in the epilogue, leads Leo 23 to the conclu- sion that Plautus used the prologue of the original Greek play in spite of the addition of other elements which made a farce out of the comedy. 24 Teuffel 25 attributed the difficulty to retractatio, but without sufficient reason. 28 As to the description of Casina's madness which Ritschl 27 already had noted as without motive and brought in merely to amuse the au- dience, Langen points out correctly that such in- consistencies are characteristic of Plautine comedy, as we have seen, and not remarkable or unique as Ritschl had believed. Moreover, Pardalisca, vv.685ff., tells the audience that all is false. Such is true also of the other dis- crepancies, pointed out by Langen, 28 in the disre- 23 Plaut. Forsch. pp.207ff. 24 Ibid, p.168. 25 Stud. u. Char. pp.321f. 26 Langen: Plaut. Stud. pp.278ff. 27 Opusc. II p.746. 28 Plaut. Stud. pp.!27ff. 84 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS gard for the lapse of time between Act III i and 3 ; in the changes in the characterization of Myrrhina; in the motiveless speeches. One other difficulty noted by Langen 29 should be con- sidered: that although at vv.6i3f. Myrrhina is not with Cleostrata, yet, v.687, she has been with her long enough to plan the trick of Casina's madness before the appearance of Pardalisca at v.621. The time is scant, for there is no pause before v.62i which follows immediately upon V.62O Quid illuc clamoris, opsecro, in nostrast domo? Yet there are parallels, cf . the short time allowed for the girl to move from house to house in the Miles, vv.395-411, 456-468. We can hardly agree with Legrand 30 in con- sidering the plot merely a juxtaposition of epi- sodes, too much lacking in coherence to make possible a separation of the several plays which served as its model. Compared with the ob- scurity of the Epidicus, for example, the Casina is clear and unified. The Casina, therefore, the one play concerning whose revival we have ex- plicit information, cf. Prolog, vv.nff., was not so altered at the time of its later presentation as to become obscure. We may infer that retrac- tatio did not always produce obscurities, cf. also Langen's remark 31 that the Casina contains no 29 Ibid. so Daos, p.387f. 31 Plaut. Stud, p.31. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 85 cases of redundancy or repetition so striking that they may be tmPlautine. Even though the Greek model contained nothing like the farce which ends the play, neither its treatment nor the combination of the farcical elements with the play of Diphilus is unPlautine. Curculio In the Curculio, Phaedromus, a youth, is in love with a girl, v.42ff., in the service of a leno, who wishes to force her into the life of a meretnx, v.^6, from which Phaedromus wishes to free her. For that purpose he needs 30 minae, v.63, and he has sent his parasite to Caria to borrow the money from a friend. The parasite who gives the name to the play carries out the intrigue. Relying upon his assistance, Phaedromus is very apprehensive lest he return from Caria without the needed money, vv.i43f. . . . nam confido parasitum hodie aduenturum Cum argento ad me. cf. vv.225f. The need and the effort to meet that need occurred before the action of the play opens, vv.67f. But the return of the parasite with the means at hand, vv.274ff., 335 f., dispels Phaedromus' apprehension and he falls in with Curculio's plan to trick the trapezita, Tu tabellas consignato, hie ministrabit, ego edam. Dicam quern ad modum conscribas. 86 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS by a forged letter backed by the guarantee of a ring which he had won from the miles, All the details necessary for the execution of the trick had been revealed to Curculio by the miles, a letter and seal to be honoured by the release of the girl, w.345ff. Each of these is used in the subsequent action, vv.4iif., v.42i, vv.432ff., as well as in the contents of the forged letter which Curculio composed to help out the deception. The trick is successful, Act III i, and the money is at hand, v.455, for the virgo, who is ransomed from the leno on the condition that the ransom-money be refunded if she be found to be free-born. vv.49off. Memento promisisse te, si quisquam hanc liberali Causa manu adsereret, mihi omne argentum redditum eiri, Minas triginta. Ca. Meminero: The trick is discovered, Act IV 3, upon the ar- rival of the miles, with a careful repetition of the details involved in the transaction. But as the girl turns out to be the miles' sister, the leno is held to his promise, v.7i7, and the girl is be- trothed to her lover. The exposition of the play is perfectly clear in spite of the shortening which has befallen it, to which Langen 32 attributed the discrepancies be- tween the various passages wherein the sum of money needed to ransom the girl is mentioned, vv.343ff., 5255., 666, 682ff. The disregard of 32 Plaut. Stud, p.136. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 87 the time required for Curculio's journey to Caria and back, v.2o6, cannot be regarded as serious unless the identity of this particular Caria be established. Characteristic of Plautine technique are the motiveless appearance of the miles immediately after Curculio's return and the lack of motivation, according to Legrand, 33 and the psychological improbability of the miles' dis- closure to Curculio, though it is absolutely neces- sary for the development of the action. In de- fense we might say that it is not improbable that at such a drinking bout the soldier should become communicative nor that he should go after the girl. His arrival occurs, of course, when it is needed. The disappearance of Palinurus from the play, which Leo notes, 34 is due to the appearance of Curculio and the transfer of the action to his guidance. 35 He is more active, Leo holds, than the usual Tcpoawrcov irpOTCtttx-ov, hence his dis- appearance needs explanation, though it in no way affects the course of the deception. We have noted above that Langen attributed the variations in the money transaction to retrac- tatio, especially the unexplained additional ten minae, vv.343, 525, 528. An examination of the other comedies in which such transactions play an important part, the Asinaria, Bacchides, Epi- dicus, Persa, and Pseudolus, may prove illumin- ating. 33 Daos, p.404. 34 Plaut. Forsch. p.197, n.l. 35 Ibid, p.243. 88 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS In the Asinaria, one sum, 20 minae, occurs throughout the play, except in v.i93 where the lena, with the greed characteristic of her profes- sion, at first demands the exorbitant sum of two talents, sure to raise a laugh because of its exor- bitance. When she finally becomes serious in v.229, she gives the actual sum, again 20 minae. The constant reiteration of the sum in vv.633ff. adds to the comic effect just as much as the ex- aggeration of the sum in the Persa, v.743, 36 which is the only deviation in that play from the 600 nummi mentioned elsewhere, v.36, 117, 437, 852. In the Pseudolus, though it is perhaps a con- taminated play (cf. below) the sum of money needed for the girl remains the same throughout, 20 minae, vv.52, ii3f., 117, 280, 344, 404, 412, 484, 1068, 1070, 1077, 1223, 1228, 1241, of which the miles has already paid fifteen minae and still owes five, vv.54, 346, 619, 718, 732, 753, 1149. Similarly in the Bacchides, 200 golden Philippi is the price set for Bacchis' ransom, vv.59O, 706, 709, 868, 873, 879, 882, 919, 969, 997, 1010, 1026, 1033, 1050. In the Epidicus various sums occur, 37 40 minae in vv.52, 114, 122, 141, 296, 646; 50 minae in vv-347, 366, 467, though in the first instance the explanation is given that the sum is ten minae more than the danista demands ; and in v.468, 60 minae, the old man is evidently trying to strike as good a bargain as possible with the miles. 36 Langen,: Plaut. Stud, p.178. 37 Ibid, p.139. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 89 Plautus, to be sure, interchanges terms for money at will ; 38 and his nummus, though regular- ly referring to the didrachma, sometimes has a value of one or four drachmae, while nummus or Philip pus aureus regularly equals one-fifth of a mina. Since in general, therefore, the play- wright is consistent in the number, at least, we may conclude that those variations which occur, as here for example, are probably due to some re- worker of the play. Epidicus In the Epidicus, Stratippocles, a youth, off to the wars, had given a commission to his slave Epidicus to secure for him a fidi- cina, vv.46ff., with whom he had become en- amoured. This Epidicus had accomplished; but the youth, during his campaign having trans- ferred his affection to a captive Theban girl and borrowed money from a danista, v.ii5, to ransom her, appeals to Epidicus upon his return to help him get the money to repay the loan and inci- dentally to get rid of the former object of his fancy, fidicina, No. I. vv.i5if. St. Quid ilia fiet fidicina igitur? Ep. Aliqua res reperibitur ; Aliqua ope exsoluam, extricabor ali- qua. Both of these things Epidicus agrees to do, first by working on Periphanes' (the father of 38 Brix: Trlnununus, ed. note on v.844; Gray: Epidicus, ed. note on v.64. 90 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS Stratippocles) suspicions of his son's entangle- ment with a fidicinc, v.ipi Nam ego ilium audiui in amorem haerere apud nescioquam fidicinam; to the extent of persuading him to furnish the money to buy her and send her out of the coun- try, " .193 Ipsi hi quidem mihi dant uiam, quo pacto ab se argentum auferam and by disposing of fidicina No. i, whom we had, before the play opens, persuaded the old man to ransom from her owner as his long-lost daughter, to a miles who is interested in her, vv.i53ff. . . . Est Euboicus miles, locuples, multo auro potens, Qui ubi tibi istam emptam esse scibit atque hanc adductam alteram, Continue te orabit ultro, ut illam tramittas sibi. The money which is to be obtained presumably to buy the fidicina No. 2, is intended really for the danista's claims against Stratippocles for the money which he had loaned him to pay for the captive girl. Inasmuch as Periphanes cannot in person ar- range the transaction with the leno for the fidi- cina, Epidicus enlists the help of Periphanes' friend Apoecides, TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 91 v.287 Opus est homine, qui illo argen- tum deferat pro fidicina; cf . vv.357ff Nunc auctorem Dedit mihi ad hanc rem Apoeci- dem is apud forum manet me. And as the fidicina No. 2 is really only a figment of Epidicus' crafty, scheming brain, he must get some fidicina to help him carry out his pretense. To that end he plans to engage the assistance of a cithern-player whom Periphanes had directed him to hire for a ceremony on that day, cf. vv.3i4f. To facilitate his plans he decides even to give a message with double meaning to the leno, vv.364ff. Deueniam ad lenonem domum egomet solus, eum docebo, Siqui ad eum adueniant, ut sibi esse datum argentum dicat, Pro fidicina argenti minas se habere quinquaginta who may testify apparently to the genuineness of the purchase, but who will do so to his own un- doing, v.3O9 Ibi leno sceleratum caput suom inprudens alligabit. So much for the plans and ruses laid by the trickster. The accomplishment of them is a dif- ferent matter. Epidicus gets the needed money from the old man, v.319, and hands it over to his young master, 92 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS v-347 Decem minis plus attuli, quam tu danistae debes. With Apoecides as a witness he also purchases the fidicina No. 2, at least to all appearances, though he has only hired her, Act III 3, vv.4iiff ut ille fidi- cinam Fecit nescire esse emptam tibi : Ita ridibundam atque hilarum hue ad- duxit simul. In Act III 4 the opportune appearance of the miles seems to Periphanes to be solving his prob- lem of getting rid of fidicina No. 2; but in the confusion which results from the miles' failure to recognize her as the fidicina of his fancy, she reveals the true state of affairs, either under pressure of circumstances in the absence of her employer Epidicus, who might have kept her keyed up to the role which he had planned to dic- tate to her, or through an intentional volte- face in her role on the part of the playwright, for comic effect, or through her belief that she had really been only hired. 39 Upon this revelation she is dismissed with little ceremony by Peri- phanes, v-515, and disappears from the play like the parasite and his daughter in the Persa. The appearance of fidicina No. i, Act IV 2, reveals the old man's predicament still further, 89 A. L.. Wheeler: The Plot of the Epidicus, A. J. P. Vol. XXXVm 3 (1917) PP. 236-264. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 93 when he realizes, through the evidence of Philip- pa, that Epidicus has led him to believe her his daughter, when such is not the case, vv.597f. Quibus de signis agnoscebas? Pe. Nullis. Phi. Qua re filiam Credidisti nostram? Pe. Seruos Epidi- cus dixit mihi. When the real daughter actually appears in the person of Telestis, the Theban captive, the recog- nition between her and Epidicus leads to a final clearing-up and explanation, vv.696ff. The fate of the fidicina No. i is left undetermined, unless it is hinted at in v.653 Tibi quidem quod ames domi praestost fidicina opera mea: And Epidicus' plan to dupe the leno, mentioned above, is not carried out. Apart from this last point, the other contradic- tions noted by Langen 40 do not affect the course of the trickery. Such details as contradictions in the price demanded for the Theban captive (Plautus is often inconsistent in arithmetic, cf. discussion above in the Curculio 41 ) or in Rhodian versus Euboean for the nationality of the miles, or in port am versus portum in the manuscript reading of v.i4, 42 are easily overlooked in a plot 40 Plaut. Stud. pp.!37ft. 41 A. L. Wheeler: Epidicus, A. J. P. op. clt. 42 Langen: op. cit. p.138. 94 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS so complicated as this.* 3 Such neglect may in part be attributed to the playwright himself. Whether the loose and dropped threads noted above can also be attributed to him is another matter. Ladewig assumed contaminatio** to ex- plain the complicated plot. Reinhardt 45 blamed retractatores for it. Ussing 46 contests both, ex- plaining the shortness of the play in comparison with the Bacchides, for example, by lacunae. To be sure, the Epidicus lacks to a great extent those long drawn out dialogues, unessential to the plot and introduced generally for comic effect, or as time fillers, which the others contain. Take for example the Persa and the Pseudolus. If we should strip them of passages generally agreed to be unnecessary, the difference in length between the plays would not be so great. The Persa minus Act II 2 and II 4 and all of Act V, 857vv.-i76vv., leaves 68 1 verses. The Pseu- dolus minus Act I 2, III 2, II 2 and most of V 2, I335vv.-256vv., leaves 1078 verses in con- trast to the 780 verses of the Epidicus; and the result is striking. To be sure, in the case of the Persa and the Pseudolus there is not the same de- gree of obscurity which is present in the Epidi- cus. Leo suggested 47 that all the difficulties were probably cleared up in a prologue which is now 43 Ussing; Commentarius, p.246. 44 Gray: Ed. Introd. p.XXX. 45 Studemund's Studien I 103. 46 Op clt. 47 Piaut. Forsch. p.199. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 95 missing. The change also in the conclusion of the play from that of the Greek original, to suit the Roman taste and point of view, 48 caused some ambiguity, 49 inasmuch as Plautus apparent- ly did not attempt to adjust the preceding action to the changed conclusion. Dziatzko considered that this play was a good illustration of the in- dependence which Plautus might exercise if he chose, and hence his fondness for the play, cf. Bacchides vv.2i4f., may have rested upon his consciousness of that independence. Ritschl 50 considered the carrying out of the in- trigue in the Epidicus spirited and clever; but, as he himself admitted, in contrast with the Pseu- dolus and the Mostellaria we miss that keen en- joyment of the trickery in and for itself, a lack which is partly due to the obscurity already men- tioned. But not all the obscurity can be attri- buted to the poet's treatment of an unusual Greek original nor to the loss of a prologue or exposi- tory passage early in the play. Some of it must be due surely to later cutting, and the play can- not be declared Plautine in its present form. 51 Menaechmi Inasmuch as the confusion aris- ing from the mistaken identity of the brothers Menaechmi is the result of unconscious rather 48 Dziatzko: Der Inhalt des Georges von Menander, Rh. M. 55, (1900) pp.!04ff. 49 Leo: R6m. Lit. p.133. so Opusc. II pp.746f. si A. L. Wheeler: Epidicus, op. cit. 96 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS than intentional deception, an analysis of the plot need not be introduced here. The fact of de- ception as the chief interest in the play brings it necessarily within the first class of plays as we have divided them. But the deception is a static rather than an active one. Since the unity of the play cannot be main- tained by a close inter-relation of plan and action, as is the case in the other plays, the playwright's methods of attaining such unity should be noted, inasmuch as in the processes of unconscious de- ception those methods are equivalent to the de- finitely worked out plans in the other plays. With the first appearance of Menaechmus I are intro- duced the details about which centre the subse- quent confusion, the meddlesome wife, vv.i22ff., 161 ; the meretnx, vv.i24, 130, 173; the wife's palla stolen as a gift for the arnica, vv.i$o, 1 66; the ubiquitous parasite. With Menaechmus' presentation of his wife's palla to the meretnx, v.2O2, in the parasite's presence, all these details are again united. The entrance of Menaechmus II with his an- nouncement of his search for his twin-brother, v.233, and his slave's warning to beware of the temptations of the city, vv.268ff., followed by his immediate meeting with the meretrix's cook who mistakes him for Menaechmus I, sets the stage for the play. Again parasite, v.28i, and mere- trix, V-3OO, combine ; and with the appearance of Erotium, the meretrix herself, and her salutation of Menaechmus II as Menaechmus I, all these details are reunited, especially in TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 97 vv.42off. . . . hunc metuebam, ni meae Vxori renuntiaret de palla et de prandio. Nunc quando uis, eamus intro. Er. Etiam parasitum manes? when Menaechmus finally yields to circum- stances. When the parasite meets Menaechmus II car- rying the palla, v.46g, and mistakes him for Menaechmus I, the soliloquy of Menaechmus II, vv.474ff., gives the clue to the audience for an- other scene of misunderstanding, in which the same details are reiterated and the palla serves as incriminating evidence, vv.5O5ff. This evi- dence the parasite uses when he reports to Menaechmus I's wife her husband's misde- meanours, Act IV i. As to what Menaechmus I may have been do- ing during the time required for the interven- ing action, the playwright is careful to explain in Menaechmus' own words, vv.588ff., with clear emphasis upon the essential connecting-links, arnica, v.598ffi palla, v.6oo,; uxor, v.6oi. So also through the scene between the matrona and her father and Menaechmus II, Act IV I, especially w.4o6f. . . . etiam nunc habet pallam, pater, . . . quod ad hanc detulerat : and again in Act V 8, between Menaechmus I and the senex, the same thread runs, 98 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS vv.iO48f. Nunc ibo intro ad hanc meretricem, quamquam suscenset mihi, Sei possum exorare, ut pallam red- dat, quam referam domum. In the final recognition-scene, Act V 9, the same details recur, pallam, vv.io6i, 1138; meretrix, vv.1135; though the parasite is supplanted by the servus Messenio. Chance in a freakish whim 52 controls the af- fairs of the characters of the drama. The chief inconsistency is the lack of sagacity on the part of the two brothers all through the play but es- pecially when they finally meet. 53 The chief de- fect is the long, tiresome anagnorisis 54 which fails even of being very amusing. The play is full of improbabilities, but there are no obscuri- ties of sufficient importance to spoil the fun. Mercator The Mercator presents the same theme as the Casina, rivalry in love between a father and son, resulting in the triumph of the youth and the discomfiture of the old man. The youth Charinus speaks the prologue and gives the facts necessary for a comprehension of the play : he had been sent by his father, Demipho, to Rhodes on business, v.n, where he had fallen in love; he had bought the object of his fancy, v.i 06, and brought her back with him to Athens, but not wishing his father to see her had left her 52 Legrand: Daos, p.395. 53 Ibid, p.405. 54 Langen: Plaut. Stud, p.157. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 99 on board the ship with a slave. His efforts are in vain, however, v.iSi, and the resulting com- plications, that is the trickery, consist merely in the efforts of the old man to gain possession of the girl by pretending to buy her for a friend and the counter-pretense on the part of Charinus, first that he has bought her as an ancilla for his mother and later his desire to buy her for a friend. Throughout the play there is little planning and the whole thread of the plot is traced by the playwright in allegorical language in Demipho's dream, Act II i, vv.252ff. Hoc quam ad rem credam pertinere somnium Nequeo inuenire: nisi capram illam suspicor lam me inuenisse quae sit aut quid uoluerit. In the absence of the usual careful planning of the deception, such as has been found in the other plays, this dream serves as preparation for the subsequent action. 55 The first encounter of the rivals occurs in Act II 3, where each does his best to outwit the other. Demipho apparently gets the upper hand and hurries off to the ship where Charinus is keeping the girl, though he takes the precaution of trying to avoid detection, 55 Leo: Plaut. Forsch. pp.!62ff. cf. also the dream in the Rudens. ioo DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS vv.466ff. Ibo ad portum, ne hie resciscat, cauto opust, non ipse emam, Sed Lysimacho amico mandabo: is se ad portum deixerat Ire dudum. The old man's eagerness is offset by Charinus' counter-trick, vv.485ff., to have his friend Euty- chus buy the girl for him, though whence the money shall be obtained is not known, vv.492f . Sed quid ais ? unde erit argentum quod des, quom poscet pater? Cha. Inuenietur, exquiretur, aliquid net. Demipho's agent, Lysimachus, anticipates Euty- chus, however, and carries off Pasicompsa whom he plans to lodge safely in his own house, with- out the knowledge of his friend's wife or his son. Charinus is apparently defeated, vv.593ff., v.6i6, and decides to run away, when he hears of his failure. His friend, Eutychus, however, finds the girl in his own father's house, where her presence has caused a serious misunderstand- ing between his parents, since loyalty to his friend Demipho prevents Lysimachus' explana- tion of Pasicompsa's presence in his house. A final clearing-up of the situation follows. As is evident from a comparison of this plot with that of the other plays, the trickery is not nearly so complicated nor so definitely planned and carried out. But the plot is simple and uni- TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 101 fied. The psychological improbabilities in the play 56 arise as in the other plays from the sacri- fice of probability for the sake of comic effect. In Act II 3 where neither father nor son seems to suspect the ultimate purpose of the other, the ridiculousness of the situation adds greatly to the amusement. Also the details as to the purchase of Pasicompsa are not clear, but enough is given for the audience to understand that she has come into Demipho's power. (This is a case in which the details of what occurs off the stage are not clear.) There are no contradictions. There is much discussion about vv.529ff., where Lysi- machus tells the girl, Tuo ero redempta's rursum. but Lysimachus is poking fun all through this scene, so such discussion need not be taken seriously. Miles Gloriosus The Miles is a good illustra- tion of the way in which Plautus carefully p e- pares for trickery in his plays and keeps before his audience the fact that deception is being prac- tised upon the various victims involved. The preparation for all the subsequent trickery 57 is the agreement made by a glance, v.i23, between Philocomasium and Palaestrio, the trickster, to keep their former acquaintance a secret. The entire development of the action rests practical- ly upon this agreement, which is kept up through- 56 Langen: Plaut. Stud. pp.!58ff. 57Brix: Miles Gloriosus, ed. Introd. p.41, note. 102 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS out the play, since even at the end when Palaestrio is sent by the miles to follow Philocomasium, vv.i372ff., the miles apparently does not know of their acquaintance. The action of the Miles includes three ruses, the first of which is being used when the play opens, i. e. the secret passage between the houses of the miles and Periplecomenus, to admit of in- tercourse between the youth Pleusicles and Philo- comasium who is detained under the guard of the soldier's servus Sceledrus, vv.1421. In eo conclaui ego perfodi parietem, Qua commeatus clam esset hinc hue mulieri. By this means and by the pretense that a twin- sister of Philocomasium's is staying in Peripleco- menus' house, i. e. the second trick, vv.i5off., cf. vv.237if. Nunc sic rationem incipisso, hanc in- stituam astutiam : Ut Philocomasio hue sororem gemi- nam germanam alteram Dicam Athenis aduenisse cum ama- tore aliquo suo Tam similem quam lacte lactist: helped along by the pretended dream, narrated by the mulier, vv.^S^ff., Sceledrus is completely fooled, as he is forced to admit, vv.538f., cf. v.556. Philocomasium's personation as she plays TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 103 the role of the twin-sister in Act II 5 is especial- ly convincing. The audience is carefully informed of the chief means whereby the plot is to be carried out, i. e. by the secret passage. An extremely naive "stage direction" for the audience is given in vv.522ff Heus, Philocomasium, cito Transcurre curriculo ad nos : ita nego- tiumst. Post, quando exierit Sceledrus a no- bis, cito Transcurrito ad uos rursum curriculo domum. But Sceledrus is unaware of it, vv.i45ff., vv.329, 376. Indications of its use, besides the quick passing of Philocomasium from one house to the other, vv.i82, 41 iff., occur throughout the play. The preparation for the twin-sister trick, vv.i5ofF., indicates its use, v.i5i hinc et illinc, as do Palaestrio's orders quoted above, cf. vv.i82, 473f. Sceledrus' reiteration that as far as his knowledge goes no connection exists between the two houses, vv-329, 376, 418, merely adds to the comic effect and increases the appearance of his delusion. It is evident, too, that clearness was gained by gesture, especially where both houses were indicated, or where a contrast between the two was intimated, v.i43 hinc hue; v.154 hinc a vicino sene; v.i5i hinc et illinc; vv.323f. domi . . domi . . domi, which was surely emphasized by pointing; v.36i ad laevam; v-376 domo con- 104 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS trasted with v.3/7 hinc hue and v.379 hie intus; v.42i quid tibi istic in istisce aedibus; cf. also vv.iSif. hicine . . hie; hue; v.264 hie in proxu- mo ; v.273 hie proxumae uiciniae ; v.3oi intus hie in proxumo; v.329 hinc hue transire; v.338 hie intus; v.34i exire hinc. v.455 isto me intro must surely have been indicated by a gesture and the action in the following line, v.456, must have been opposite to the gesture, to account for Sceledrus' amazement at Philocomasium's per- fidy, since she flees into Periplecomenus' house. As has been also noted, the first real trick of the play, the twin-sister trick, is also carefully prepared, vv.237ff., i. e. Palaestrio instructs Periplecomenus how to coach Philocomasium. The coaching is done off the stage, but w.354ff. condense it all over again as the girl appears to play her part. Provision is even made, vv.25off., for possible incredulity on the part of the object of the deception and the possible need of evading proof as to the existence of the soror gemina germana. Not content with the success of his plot when directed against the slave in these two tricks, Palaestrio directs his forces against the master, the miles himself, vv.767f. . . . nam ego inueni lepidam syco- phantiam, Qui admutiletur miles usque caesaria- tus, .... The plans have been carefully laid by the trick- ster, vv.6i2f., but are repeated, TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 105 vv.9o6ff. Ac. Nempe ludificari militem tuom erum uis ? Pa. Exlocuta's. Ac. Lepide et sapienter, commode et facete res paratast. Pa. Atque huius uxorem f tu uolo adsimulari. Ac. Fiet. Pa. Quasi militi animum adieceris simulate. Ac. Sic futurumst. for the benefit of the audience, a plan to en- snare the affections of the miles by the charms of a new mistress, Acroteleutium, and thus to induce him to release Philocomasium, Act IV 3. The plan also involves the bait of Peripleco- menus' house as a pretended dowry to the pre- tended wife, vv.n65ff., and the personation by Pleu sides of the nauclerus, vv.ii76ff. Quom extemplo hoc erit factum, ubi intro haec abierit, ibi tu ilico Facito uti uenias ornatu hue ad nos nauclerico, come to escort Philocomasium to the ship. In all the tricks all the details are carefully outlined. 58 This is especially true of this main trick of the second part of the play, inasmuch as the trickster, Palaestrio, first carefully explains his plan, vv.77off. ; then the meretr'ix engaged by 58 Legrand: Daos, p.547 commenting on the pains often undramatic, taken to make things clear, says: "11 a voulu surtout 6tre compris, compris de la masse, des CtauVSTOl dxoaTat commes des auditeurs intelligents." 106 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS Periplecomenus for the purpose is instructed by the latter in her part, vv.874ff., which involves a repetition of Palaestrio's plan, even to the part of the ancilla and the anulus in the deception. v.796 Vt simulet se tuam esse uxorem et deperire hunc militem : cf. v.goSf. Atque huius uxorem f to uolo ad- simulari. Fiet Quasi militi animum adieceris simulare. vv.797f. Quasique hunc anulum faueae suae dederit eo parro mihi, Militi ut darem: quasique ego rei sim interpres cf. V.QIO Quasique ea res per me interpre- tem et tuam ancillam eieceretur. v.9i2 Quasique anulum hunc ancillula tua abs te detulerit ad me. Also it might be noted that the fact of the whole plan being a trick is again kept constantly before the audience, vv.938, 943, hodie hunc dolum dolamus cf . Haud uereor ne nos subdola perfidia peruin- camur. Note too how Milphidippa announces her part in an aside to the audience, TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 107 vv.99if. lamst ante aedis circus ubi sunt ludi faciundi mihi. Dissimulabo hos quasi non uideam neque esse hie etiamdum sciam. The additional plan of Pleusicles' personation of the nauclerus is likewise clearly outlined, vv.ii75ff. The execution of the tricks is no less definite than are the preparations and anticipation of them, in spite of the fact that Act II 6 marks quite definitely the conclusion of one trick, with the consequent dropping of the play which served as the model for that trick, and the assumption of a new plan from another original. The de- tails of the twin-sister trick are carried out, as we have said, just as planned, vv.439ff., and the assumption upon which that trick is based, of the existence of a soror gemma germana is further confirmed by the testimony of Periplecomenus, vv.488ff. So with the execution of the trickery of the second part of the play in Acts III and IV. All the plans for the trick are carried out, connecting them with the first part of the play by v.975 Eius hue gemina uenit Ephesum et mater accersuntque earn mentioning the twin-sister, and v.io89 Philocomasio die, sist istic, domum ut transeat : io8 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS implying the use of the secret passage. The miles is caught by the trick, v.ic7o, and Palaes- trio is joyful over his success, v.ioo,i; and with v.i 1 35 Acroteleutium's share in the deception be- gins actively and is carried out as planned. vv.iO99ff. Aurum atque uestem muliebrem om- nem habeat sibi, Quae illi instruxisti : sumat, habeat, auferat : Dicasque tempus maxume esse ut eat domum : Sororem geminam adesse et matrem dicito, Quibus concomita recte deueniat domum. The miles falls in with the plot to get rid of the girl, cf. vv.H45ff. Nam ipse miles concubinam intro abiit oratum suam, Ab se ut abeat cum sorore et matre Athenas. PI. Eu, probe. Pa. Quin etiam aurum atque orna- menta quae ipse intruxit mulieri Omnia dat dono, a se ut abeat : ita ego consilium dedi and his own ruin is imminent, vv.nsoff., which the end of the play brings as a reality, in the pre- tended anger of the pretended husband, to the undoing of the miles, vv.1420, 1433!?. In Act TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 109 IV 7 Pleusicles plays the role of the pseudo-nau- clerus as directed and carries off Philocomasium. In other words, clearness and definiteness in the tricks themselves are not sacrificed nor af- fected by the combination of several tricks. It is merely the lack of motive for the twin-sister trick, since its carefully executed plans go for nothing, that justifies here an assumption of con- taminatio in the composition of the play. 59 The connecting-links between the two parts, as for example the way in which the twin-sister trick and the secret passage are dragged into the second part of the play, are not skilfully enough welded together to conceal the joining and to ef- fect unity in the play. No ambiguity, however, results from this passing from one deception to the other; and the motive for it seems to have been the playwright's desire 60 to include in the play as much of the comic element as possible, i. e. as much trickery as possible, since the plan- ning and execution of trickery afford the chief comic element in the plays of Plautus. That fact also, as we have assumed before, probably causes the disregard of time, noted here in the three-years' stay, v.35o, compared with the short time required for the incidents mentioned in w.121-124, 61 or the disregard of versimilitude in Periplecomenus' orders shouted to his slaves 59 Leo: Plaut. Forsch, p. 180; J. Mesk in Wiener Studien, 1913, Part II; Lorenz: Ed Introd. p.32. eo Brix-Niemeyer: Ed. Introd. p.14. ei Langen: Plaut. Stud. p. 167; Brix: op. clt., note on v.350. no DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS from the street; or the contradiction between Sceledrus' appearance in v.8i6 and his determin- ation in v.586 to run away. In fact we would agree with Lorenz 62 that it is in cases like these that Plautus shows his carelessness towards the requirements of dramatic action, as we consider them, and his disregard of minor and unessential details. Mostellaria The deception in the Mostellaria which springs entirely from sudden inspiration under stress of circumstances, but in no incom- prehensible nor improbable manner, 63 passes from one step to the next, from one lie to an- other, as the trickster becomes more and more involved in difficulties. When Philolaches' easy, revelling ways are disturbed by the report of his father's imminent return, Tranio, the slave, promises to ward off the old man's possible inter- ference by keeping him out of his own house, vv.388ff. . . Taceas: ego quo istaec sedem meditabor tibi. Satin habes, si ego aduenientem ita patrem faciam tuom Non modo ne intro eat, uerum etiam ut fugiat longe ab aedibus? Vos modo hinc abite intro atque haec hinc propere amolimini. 62 Op. Cit. P. 37. es Lorenz: Ed. Introd. p. 19. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION in He accomplishes that end by a lie, i. e. the story of the ghost haunting the house, vv.475ff., cf. v-531 Quid ego hodie negoti'confeci mali. vv.422f Quin etiam illi hoc dicito : Facturum, ut ne etiam aspicere aedis audeat, Capita obuoluto at fugiat cum sum- mo metu show that Tranio has the lie worked out although he does not state exactly what his plan is. The arrival of a danista to claim the money loaned by him to Philolaches to ransom Phile- matium, vv.539f., forces Tranio to conceal the actual reason for the loan, so a second lie is in- vented, the purchase of the neighbouring house, vv.637f. When Theopropides wishes to inspect his son's purchase, v.674 Cupio hercle inspicere hasce aedis. Tranio is again obliged v.7i6 Quo dolo a me dolorem procul pellerem, to invent a third lie in order to deceive the actual owner of the house, Theopropides' old friend Simo, as to the reason for the inspection, vv.745ff sed senex Gynaeceum aedificare uolt hie in suis Et balineas et ambulacrum et porti- cum. ii2 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS So far so good. But the arrival of some ad- vorsitores to escort their young master, Callida- mates, Philolaches' boon companion, home from his drunken revels, betrays the true state of af- fairs and the lies are all revealed, the first in vv.959ff., the second in vv.977ff., the third, in vv.ioioff. And Theopropides duly acknowl- edges, v.i 033 that he has been hoaxed. Thus the plot works out clearly and logically in spite of a few incongruities which in no wise affect the progress of the trickery, such as Phile- matium's making her toilet on the public street, vv.248ff., the sort of scene which the exigencies of the ancient stage necessitated. The disap- pearance of Philematium from the play, contra- dicting the careful character painting of her in the toilet-scene shows how Plautus 64 pushed into the background the love affair of the hero in or- der to emphasize the character of the slave and thus to meet the demands of the public for amusement. In this play the element of time is again dis- regarded in Tranio's tale of the ghost, 65 and the improbability that Theopropides, in spite of his exceptional stultitia, does not know a tale so in- timately connected with his own house is over- looked by the poet. Inasmuch as the poet could have avoided these difficulties, the conclusion is evident that he did not care to. Greater care- lessness is evident in the scene between Theopro- pides, Tranio, and the danista. The scene is im- 64 Leo: R6m. Lit. pp.114; 117. 65 Langen: Plaut. Stud, p.170. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 113 probable and it is impossible to find a natural and satisfactory explanation for it. 66 Just as unsatisfactory is the explanation of Theopro- pides' ignorance of the plan of his neighbour's house and Tranio's escape from punishment at the end. In a play like this in which the comic effect is gained largely 67 by improvised and unexpected turns of circumstance which necessitate con- tinual change in plan and action, where Tranio with his clever superiority symbolizes this sort of comedy, artful trickery triumphing over prosaic worldly wisdom, such unessential points may justifiably be disregarded, as they are, by Plau- tus. Persa. Two lines of trickery are found in the Persa. Toxilus enlists the help of both Sagaris- tio, his fellow-slave, and Saturio, the parasite, to ransom his sweetheart, Lemniselenis, from a leno. He succeeds, but, as in the Pseudolus, there are loose ends in the thread of deception. In Act I i, having laid his dilemma before Sa- garistio, and his need of money. v.36 Vt mihi des nummos suscentos, and having received his promise of help, he as- sures Sagaristio that he will await him at home, ee ibid, p.m. 67 Ritschl: Opusc. II p.740. ii4 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS v.52 Vsque ero domi, dum excoxero lenoni f malam. But when the latter has hit upon the means whereby to secure the money, i. e. by stealing money which his master has given him to pur- chase some oxen in Eretria, vv.2^gff., he meets the puer Paegnium with the question. v.277 Vbi Toxilus est tuos erus? which, though superfluous, is perfectly natural. The question introduces one of those digressions of which Plautus is fond, in which two charac- ters abuse each other. In Act II 5, Toxilus receives the money from Sagaristio and in Act III 2 arranges with the leno, after much bandying of words, for the re- lease of Lemniselenis. The second trick which is the chef d'ceuvre of the comedy, though more involved, has not the many inconsistencies of the other plays; for the play, as Ritschl says, 68 has on the whole a very natural, uniform trend. The two tricks are, however, connected, e. g. the leno is made to pay the money which Toxilus will then pay back to Sagaristio, vv.324ff. The money secured by Sagaristio for Toxilus is necessary for the pur- chase of Toxilus' arnica and is actually paid to Dordalus, v.437. They then get it back by trick- ing the leno through Lucris. Lemniselenis must 68 Opusc. II p. 749. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 115 be secured before they trick the leno. The money, to be sure, is nowhere actually paid back by Sa- garistio, but in vv.424f. Toxilus promises to re- pay, cf. vv.676ff. where Sagaristio is instructed to take the money secured from Dordalus to Toxilus' house; cf. also Saragistio's jubilant bearing at the feast. The slaves paid 600 nummi for Lemniselenis, i. e. 1200 drachmae or 12 minae. Thus they had a handsome balance out of Dordalus' 60 minae. Perhaps the poet ought to say that the stolen money has been re- paid, but it is not important. Langen 69 points out inconsistencies in details, but none that concern the internal working-out of the trickery. Such repetition as occurs in vv.33off., where Saturio says, v-334 Communicaui tecum consilia omnia and then proceeds to outline again all the plans, is as has been noted before, for the benefit of the audience. The negotiations with the leno end in his buy- ing Lucris, suo periculo, for 60 minae, the exor- bitant price increasing the appearance of the de- ception played upon Dordalus, which terminates in the claim brought against the leno by Lucris' father, Act IV 7, and his threats to bring suit against him, .746. Of the fate of the parasite and his daughter nothing is said, but it must be remembered that they were in Toxilus' power and were acting under his threat to cut off sup- 60 Raut. Stud. pp.!75ff. n6 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS plies, vv.i4off; and the parasite always con- cerned about his eating, for the sake of which he entered into the bargain, v.146, has not even a share in the banquet which ends the play, a banquet which has no raison d'etre save for comic effect and a still further opportunity for the slaves to heap abuse and ridicule upon the leno. Just as Philematium, in the Mostellaria, dis- appears from the play, so here the parasite and his daughter disappear after their duty is per- formed. This disappearance from the plays of various persons, who seem to be brought in mere- ly to contribute their little share to the develop- ment of the plot and then to drop out of sight, is a noteworthy detail. Palinurus in the Cur- culio is such a character. 70 He is supplanted in the action by Curculio. Similarly the hired fidi- cina in the Epidicus, Callipho in the Pseudolus, and as just mentioned, Philematium in the Mos- tellaria, disappear. In other words it would seem as if the poet did not care about unity in personnel any more than he did about unity in action. 71 So long as the deception moved along a course which afforded amusing situations for the entertainment of the audience the purpose of the play seems to have been attained. The psychological improbabilities in the char- acter drawing of the parasite and his daughter, 70 Leo: Plaut. Forsch. p.197, n.L 71 H. W. Prescott: The Interpretation of Roman Comedy, Class. Phil. XI No. 2. April 1916, pp.128-135. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 117 noted by Langen, 72 do not affect the trickery, nor do the poor business methods of the leno, ex- cept, as we have said, that the higher the price of the girl the greater the impression of the suc- cess of the trickster, who fools him into paying it. The other details mentioned by Langen are minor points and the discrepancies connected with them would easily escape an auditor, if not a careful reader, of the play. Poenulus The prologue of the Poenulus in outlining the plot of the play refers merely to the anagnorisis, not to the plot of trickery, vv.i2if. It belongs therefore to only one of the two plays which are combined to make the Plautine comedy, that is, the Poenulus is one of the "contaminated" plays, 73 though scholars will never agree as to the original Greek elements and the Plautine elements in the play. The comedy contains two tricks against the leno, combined, as Langen maintains, 74 and as we have held for the complexity of the trickery in other comedies, to bring more life into the play and to increase the comic effect, regardless of the inconsistencies resulting from the union. 72 Plaut. Stud. pp.!75f. 73 Leo: Plaut. Forsch. pp. 170ff.; Langen: Plaut. Stud. pp.!81ff.; Wilamowltz In the Neue Jahrb. 1899, p.519; Kar- sten in Mnemos, 1901, pp. 363ff.; Legrand in Rev. d.et.gr. 1903, p.358; Jachmann. XptT? 1911. pp.249ff.; op- posed by Goetz, ind. lect. Jena, 1883. 74 Op. cit. p.182. n8 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS The first plan consists in involving the leno in a law-suit, vv.i75ff., 1846., for accepting stolen money from a slave. 75 Collabiscus is to be primed to take the part of the slave, vv.i94f. Abeamus intro, ut Collabiscum uilicum Hanc perdoceamus ut ferat fallaciam, and witnesses, advocati, for the trial are also en- gaged, vv.424, 447, 506. Collabiscus is engaged and given the money, vv.4i5f., and all are ready and primed for their duties, vv.576f. Euge opportune egrediuntur Milphio una et uilicus. Basilice exornatus cedit et fabre ad fallaciam. cf. vv.557ff., where for clearness the whole trick is rehearsed. The action starts in earnest in Act III 3 and the money is handed over to the leno, vv.7i3., which he accepts to his undoing, vv.726f. Em istaec uolo ergo uos commeminisse omnia Mox quom ad praetorem usus ueniet, and the trial is to come off on the next day, v.Soo. 75 The money is supposed to have been stolen from the slave's master. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 119 But the whole trick is purposeless, 76 and Mil- phio, the architectus doli, in inexplicable ignor- ance of the outcome of his plots, starts out upon a second trick, vv.8i7f. Exspecto, quo pacto meae techinae processurae sient. Studeo hunc lenonem perdere: to cheat the leno of his property, vv.894ff., on the ground that the girls in whose interests he and his master are working are free-born Carthagin- ians, v.o/xx Hanno, the Poenus, arrives opportunely and is engaged to help along the trick by passing himself off as the father of the girls, vv.ioggfi. The pre- tense turns out to be a fact, Act V 4, when Hanno recognizes the girls, v.i2$6, and the leno is to re- ceive his due reward, v.i 343 In ius te uoco. The question of double or triple ending does not affect the deception and the methods of its ac- complishment. As we have already noted, most of the incon- sistencies and loose ends in the two tricks are due to the fact that the play is "contaminated". To that cause are likewise due the contradic- tions in the characterization, especially of the two girls, 77 cf. the virgo in the Persa. In 76 Leo: Plaut. Forsch. p. 172; Teuffel: Stud. u. Char. p.337f. 77 Langen: op. cit. pp.!82ff. 120 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS this play also is found haste contradicted by de- lay, vv.3i7ff. As Langen shows, 78 disagreeing with Goetz's rejection of w.33o-4o8 as un-Plau- tine, 79 and as we have noted in regard to the other plays in which this same detail occurs, Plautus desired to entertain and amuse his au- dience rather than to take into consideration the laws of dramatic art. Most of the other inconsistencies noted by Langen concern details in the final anagnorisis and need not be considered here. Suffice it to say that in the Poenulus, as in the Miles, in spite of the rather loose combination of two plots, the progress of the deception is always clearly and definitely worked out. Pseudolus All the interest of the Pseudolus is concentrated upon the clever slave who gives the name to the play, 80 from the very beginning when, v.i 9, 1056., he offers his help to his young master, Calidorus, in his efforts to release Phoe- nicium from the leno, Ballio, till the end when the method used to attain that object, i. e. per- sonation, is disclosed by the appearance of the real Harpax. The chief beauty of the play lies in the fact that the rogue warns his intended victims, vv-382, 5iof., but in spite of warnings they are cheated. The leno is, of course, the 78 Ibid. p. 193. 79 Act. soc. phil. Lips. VI p. 313, cited by Langen. so Schanz: I. MUller's Handbuch, VIII I 1. p. 85. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 121 chief enemy against whom the artifices of Pseu- dolus are directed, vv.233, 382, 526ff., and in ad- dition to the constant threats against the leno, throughout the play, and the general attitude characteristic of comedy of hostility against the leno as the villain of the piece, v.9O5 di immortales uolunt esse et lenonem ex- tinctum prepares the audience for the final discomfiture of Ballio. But Pseudolus plans to approach the old man Simo, Calidorus' father, for the needed money, v.i 20, if other sources fail, even though when the leno suggests such a possibility, Pseudolus, as- suming a virtue which he does not have, indig- nantly objects, v.288. Upon Ballio's persistence in adhering to a "spot-cash" bargain, Pseudolus utters his direct threat against him, v.382, and bids Calidorus, v.385, 389, furnish him with an assistant. From all this planning and threatening on the part of Pseudolus, the audience would infer that he has his plans definitely laid out. So the mono- logue in Act I 4 comes as a surprise, especially vv -397 Q u i neque paratast gutta certi con- sili. io6f. Atque id futurum unde unde dicam nescio, Nisi quia futurumst : 122 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS That he was actually plotting against his old master, though with no definite plan in mind, not- withstanding his pretended scorn of Ballio's sug- gestion, is revealed again here, v.4O7, as is also the fact that Simo has heard of the slave's inten- tions, vv.4o8, 426. Yet in spite of that dis- covery, the slave is still confident of success, vv.4i2f., and warns Simo to beware of him, vv.5ioff., the repetition of the warning heighten- ing the comic effect as well as anticipating the actual accomplishment of the trickery. Pseudo- lus admits that he was preparing to get money from Simo, vv.485ff., but since his intentions are known he insists that Simo shall give it, vv.5o8, 510, 518, cf. v.530. The necessity of carrying out this threat re- minds Pseudolus of the trick against Ballio which he must accomplish, vv.524f. He seizes upon Simo's interest, indicated by his question, v.526 Quam pugnam? to unite his forces and to settle both promises at once. In securing the money by the bet, on the part of Simo, trickery is not necessarily implied. But against Ballio trickery is implied. 81 The difficulties inherent in Pseudolus' plan and their possible cause, i. e. contaminatio, will be dis- cussed later. Simo's attitude here may seem inconsistent to some, who hold that the old man too easily takes up the bet. Simo is merely cocksure. It may si Ix>renz: Pseudolus, ed. Introd. pp.!9ff. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 123 be that Plautus has merely followed that trend of comedy mentioned before, of making the leno the butt of all classes; and the old man's atten- tion is turned aside from his personal difficulties and danger, and with an old man's forgetfulness and desire to get ahead of someone else he takes up the wager. He has, too, sporting blood in him, cf. his bet with Ballio, when his suspicions of collusion between Pseudolus and the leno against himself, vv.539ff., suggest to him his bar- gain with the leno against Pseudolus, vv.869ff., cf. vv.ioyoff. At least it prepares the audience for that wager when Ballio, exultant in his belief that Simo's warnings to him to beware of Pseu- dolus have been needless, takes up Simo's offer. (It might be noted that with this wager Simo is again brought into the play, after three acts in which the action centres only in the tricks against the leno. ) In other words the wager makes only one trick necessary. Already in the beginning of the play, as has been noted above, Pseudolus had realized the dif- ficulty of his position and had sent Calidorus to get some assistant, v.385. Now under still greater stress of circumstances Pseudolus enlists the help of Callipho, v.547- But when chance, TU^T], intervents to bring Harpax, the agent of the miles, who intends to claim Phoenicium by making the final payment due the leno, new dif- ficulties arise, v.6oi Nouo consilio nunc mihi opus est: noua res haec subito mi obiectast. 124 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS . . . ilia omnia missa habeo quae ante agere occepi. v.6i4 .... procudam ego hodie hinc multos dolos. cf . vv.672ff., which however bring with them the opportunity of deceiving three people, vv.6o,i, 705*. Harpax' arrival is prepared for both by Phoe- nicium's letter, vv.5iff., with her statement of the impending sale and the details coincident with it, the symbolus, letter, etc., and again by the leno's account of the sale, v.346, and his anticipation of the payment of the money that day, v.373- Har- pax upon his arrival, by his first words, v.598, meets the requirements of that preparation. This is a good illustration of the way in which Plautus is generally careful to make all the details of his trickery clear, both in preparation and in execu- tion. This fact will be discussed at greater length at the end of the analysis of this play, in a sum- mary of the repetitions for clearness which oc- cur in the play. Pseudolus' determination to carry out his plot somehow, vv.567f., results in definite plans, vv.579ff., which have to be relinquished vv.6oiff., upon the arrival of Harpax. But his apparent unpreparedness adds to the comic and dramatic effect of the plan, vv.6oif., which occurs to the clever slave upon his meeting with Harpax. A somewhat similar situation is found in the Asi- TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 125 naria, 82 where the appearance of the mercator suggests at once to Leonida his plan of persona- tion. In the Pseudolus, to be sure, there is a double personation, of Ballio's chief slave by Pseudolus, v.6o9, and of Harpax by Simia. Here Pseudolus partially convinces Harpax, by his knowledge of the latter's business, cf. w.6i6ff. which repeat again the information given to the audience in Phoenicium's letter, and by Ballio himself ; and Harpax, though refusing to give the money, hands over that which, like the miles' ring in the Curculio, is of more value for the trickster's purpose than money, i. e. the symbo- lus, vv.647. Harpax retires to an inn to await Ballio's pleasure, while Pseudolus makes use of his lucky turn, vv.66o,f. He realizes that money and proof are now within his power, v.6ji. All that he needs is some "canny" assistant, vv.724ff. While outlining his new plan to Calidorus, vv.725ff., of the personation of Harpax, Pseudo- lus accepts Charinus' offer of Simia as an assist- ant, and money; and he is now sure of his bet, vv.73iff. He goes off to the forum to engage Simia's services, vv.764f., and to instruct him as to his duties. That instruction is given off the stage, v.94i, but the audience has been told, vv.725ff., and Simia upon his appearance in Act IV under- stands his role. That Ballio is the object of all their intrigue is clear from the dialogue between Simia and Pseudolus, Act IV i, and from Act IV 82 cf. Terence: Phormlo. 126 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS 2, where the appearance of the leno gives the plotters the opportunity of playing their trick upon him. The plans are carried out and Pseu- dolus is successful in his abduction of Phoeni- cium, vv.iO52ff. Callipho's help is not used as it had not been required and so had been dropped. (Note Pseudolus' aside in vv.984f., which indi- cates a point overlooked in the plans for the per- sonation, i. e. the name of the miles. Simia is clever enough to evade the danger by making Ballio himself supply the name. The mere fact of Pseudolus' dismay at the omission intimates that all details necessary for the execution of trickery were, as a rule, carefully indicated. The meeting of such a crisis is, however, a common device to display the trickster's resourcefulness.) The leno, confident in his apparent escape from any possible plot against himself on the part of Pseudolus, now that he has delivered Phoeni- cium presumably to Harpax, readily takes up Simo's wager, before mentioned. With the ar- rival of Simo upon the scene, v.io63, the so- lution of Pseudolus' plots against him is intro- duced and the appearance of the real Harpax, who offers the money which he had brought from the miles, discloses Pseudolus' stratagems, Act IV 7, v.1213, whereby Ballio has been cheated of the girl and the purchase-money which he has to return to the real Harpax, v.n83, and of the wager to Simo. Simo himself prepares, vv.i24if., to pay his own wager to Pseudolus, which the slave claims for his successful accomplishment of all his plots, TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 127 .1312, but which he consents finally to share with his master, vv.i328f. Repetition as a means of obtaining clearness in the details of trickery has been mentioned above. This is especially noteworthy in the details of the sale of Phoenicium to the miles. As has been stated, they are first given by Phoenicium herself in her letter to her lover, vv.5iff. The leno re- peats them when he informs Calidorus that he has disposed of the girl, vv.342ff. When Pseu- dolus meets Harpax and inquires into his busi- ness, vv.6i6ff., the details are again minutely given, as they are also when Pseudolus reports to his master his success in obtaining the symbo- lus and letter from the miles' messenger, Har- pax, vv.7i6ff. Again when Simia plays his role of pseudo-Harpax, vv.o/^ff., all the details are again rehearsed, as they are when Ballio reports to Simo, vv. 1 09 iff., how he has presumably out- witted Pseudolus. Finally when the real Har- pax turns up to carry out his master's injunctions, vv.ii22ff., the same details are once more out- lined. In other words, Plautus keeps constant- ly before the audience the thread of trickery. In similar fashion the fact that Pseudolus is the trickster is kept before the audience, from his first offer to help his young master, v.ig, and the reiteration of indefinite help, vv.79, 104, n8ff., to his general threat to everyone to beware of him, vv.i25ff. Again in v.232 his assurance to Calidorus is repeated, as is his promise to the leno for his master in w.3i6f. And the identity of Pseudolus is clearly kept before the audience, 128 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS in addition to the evident relations existing be- tween him and Calidorus, by Simo's explanation to his friend Callipho, vv.445ff., and by Cali- dorus' to his friend Charinus, vv.7ooff. One other repetition may be noted the sum of money needed by Calidorus to meet the leno's de- mands, 20 minae, vv.52, 113, 114, 117, 280, 344, 404, 412, 484, 1070. Repetition then is one of the means whereby Plautus gains clearness of plan and execution in trickery. It is in fact the most important point in a study of the technique of trickery in the Plautine comedies. Such care being therefore evidently a charac- teristic of Plautus' methods where important de- tails are concerned, wherever the opposite occurs, as in the two requests to Calidorus for an assist- ant, 83 and in the disappearance of Callipho, 84 when his help had been quite evidently enlisted, some explanation must be found. Contaminatio has been adopted as the explanation by Langen and Lorenz, but another more natural one is pos- sible. Calidorus brings Charinus, who does not answer well to v.385 Ad earn rem usust hominem astutum doctum, cautum et callidum, but fits vv.39off. 83 Langen: Plaut. Stud. p. 2 03. 84 Ibid, p.202; Lorenz: Pseudolus, ed. Introd. p.20. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 129 Pauci ex multis sunt amici, homini qui certi sient. Ps. Ego scio istuc: ergo utrumque tibi nunc dilectum para Atque ex multis exquire illis unum qui certus siet. At v.385 Pseudolus apparently has in mind a fel- low of the tricky type, but we must remember that he has as yet no definite plans and he does not know Charinus, cf. v.6^g. Moreover, he agrees with Calidorus' intention to bring a friend, vv.39off. When Calidorus and Charinus ap- pear, Pseudolus has already begun his real trick and knows exactly the kind of a helper he needs, vv.725ff., and Charinus furnishes Simia. There is no serious defect here. It is indeed not hard to assume that Pseudolus expected the friend, Charinus, to be able to help him more directly, but since his plan has become definite, the type of assistant needed has changed. As for Callipho, his help also was enlisted at the time when Pseudolus did not know what he was going to do. Indeed the statement that Callipho will remain at home ready to help, if needed, is a good motivation of his absence dur- ing the rest of the play. 85 Callipho's part is really played in the one scene. The reason for Callipho's disappearance may be more easily dis- covered if it is compared with the disappearance of similar characters, as of Apoecides in the Epi- 85 cf. Sosia la Terence's Andria, first scene, end. 130 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS dicus, of the parasite and the virgo in the Persa, of Libanus in the Asinaria, of Palinurus in the Curculio, of Philematium in the Mostellaria, which was discussed above. All these charac- ters drop out of the plays when their contribu- tion to the progress of the plot has been made. So there is no reason to attribute that disappear- ance to contaminatio as Langen does. 86 Langen's 87 (and Lorenz's 88 ) objection to the tardiness of Calidorus' revelation of his difficul- ties to his confidential slave, vv.i6f., when all the city knows of them, vv.4i8ff., can be met by the requirements of the play, in that the revela- tion is made for the information of the audience through this expository scene. The fact that the letter in Act I i, vv.5iff., belongs to the ex- position of the plot against the leno and so has no integral connection with the scene in which it stands, inasmuch as that entire scene belongs really to the plot against the father, may be, as Leo has pointed out, 89 an indication of contamin- atio. But if the Pseudolus is "contaminated", Plautus has done the work so well that no satis- factory proof of contaminatio has as yet been ad- duced. The reference to "touching" the old man Simo may be merely a jest. At any rate the play contains no trick against Simo. No connection with the plot of deception is evident in the inconsistencies of Ballio's orders 86 Ibid. 87 Ibid, p.198. 88 Op. clt. p. 25. 89 Q. Q. N. 1903, pp. 347ff. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 131 given to his household from the street, vv.i55ff., 90 especially to Phoenicium, who already sold to the miles should be regarded as released from such orders on the part of the leno ; in the relative positions on the stage of Pseudolus and Ballio in vv.243ff. ; in Ballio's haste contradicted by his tarrying to argue with Calidorus, vv.25off. ; in Pseudolus' appearance in Act V. from a drunken revel ; in the slave's exaggerated jubilation at his victory over Simo at the end, and the inconsistent treatment of the master by his slave. 91 The contradiction between Harpax' willing- ness to give Pseudolus the letter and sym- bol, when he has refused the money, which is not nearly so important, 92 is explained by the necessi- ties of the plot. Moreover, the money seems more important to Harpax, and probably to the audi- ence, since he has been convinced that Pseudolus is Ballio's slave and cannot know that Pseudolus will misuse the symbolus, etc. For the accom- plishment of his trick Pseudolus needed the letter and the seal, hence Plautus' disregard of plausi- bility in the method of obtaining them. The complications arising in vv.524ff., are hard to explain, where Pseudolus plans, 03 first to out- wit the leno, then to get money from Simo, when Simo offers to give him the money if he accom- plishes both, his offer thus pre-supposing Pseu- 80 Langen: op. cit. p.199. siLegrand: Daos, p. 403. 92Langen: op. cit. pp.202ff. 83 Leo: G. G. N. 1903. p.350; Langen: op. cit. pp.201f. 132 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS dolus' obtaining the money from himself. Leo 94 attributed them to contaminatio, i. e. to an unsuccessful attempt to combine two tricks from two plays, one with a plot of the confounding of the leno, the other of the befooling of the senex. This passage is certainly not clear. Pseudolus will first cheat Ballio out of the girl; second, ap- parently cheat Simo out of the money; third, win a bet, i. e. money, from Simo if he accomplishes the first and second. But again we have to re- member that Harpax' arrival and Charinus' aid provide Pseudolus with the necessary money for the first, and that he abandoned any plan he may have had against Simo. Nevertheless, the bet is paid because Pseudolus has accomplished only one of his promises. Perhaps we have not a case of contaminatio, but Plautus has simply cut out the trick against Simo and neglected to change vv.5O7ff., especially v.529 sufficiently. Bierma 95 attributes such carelessness in composition to the nature and genius of the playwright and to the uncritical nature of the audience, an explanation to which we have had occasion to refer before. This fact also explains partially the difference between the plays of Plautus and Terence. To the many weaknesses in the intrigue of this play Lorenz 96 would attribute the fact of the few imitations of it in later times. It is quite evident from our discussion that the plot does not move 94 Ibid. 95 Quaestiones de Plautina Pseudolo, Groningen, 1897, pp.34ff. 96 Pseudolus, ed. Introd. p.30 note 30. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 133 as smoothly as in some of the other comedies. But it certainly is more successful than the clear- ly "contaminated" play, the Miles. Trinummus. The thensaurus about which the stratagem of Megaronides and Callicles is planned is first mentioned in v.i 50 Thensaurum demonstrauit mihi in hisce aedibus, cf. vv.isSf. Callicles states his reason for pur- chasing the house, to save the treasure for a possible dowry for his ward, vv.i/Qf. The need arises, vv.374f ., which Lesbonicus, the girl's bro- ther, tries to meet, vv.5o8f., but he fails and finally agrees to give his sister to his friend, sine dote, v.693. Callicles, their guardian, does not like this bargain, v.6i2, but cannot tell Lesboni- cus about the treasure. The first part of the play, then, up to Act III, is a mere family plot, with no intrigue. The guardian's desire to supply his ward with the needed dowry leads him finally to consult his friend Megronides. Between them they evolve a plan, vv.765ff., of hiring someone, i. e. per- sonation, to bring a message supposedly from the girl's father, vv.77off., and money for a dowry, vv.778f., which shall in reality be the thensaurus, w.782ff., unearthed for the purpose by Callicles, without arousing the young man's suspicions, 134 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS vv.784ff. Suspicionem ab adulescente amoueris. Censebit aurum esse a patre allatum tibi: Tu de thensauro sumes. The speeches of the sycophanta, vv.852ff., show that the ruse made by the strategists is carried out in all its details, but its success is thwarted by the unexpected return of the father himself. The fact of the deception is emphasized also by the agent, v.867 Apud illas aedis sistendae mihi sunt syco- phantiae, all of the details of which are repeated, vv.955ff., in the sycophant's revelation to Charmides, the father. An explanation follows, vv.nooff., when the old men meet. In this play appear improbabilities like those found in the plays already treated, the consultation about the secret treasure in the open street, 97 Charmides' deflection from an im- mediate entrance into his own house, after hear- ing the sycophant's business, to satisfy his curi- osity about a man running down the street ; Stasi- mus' long monologue, vv.ioopff., in spite of his apparent hurry. These are all details of minor importance and of the sort generally treated carelessly by Plautus. As to the difficulties at- tendant upon Callicles' appropriation of the hid- den treasure for the girl's dowry, 98 and his evi- 97 Langen: Plaut. Stud. pp.219f. es Ibid.: pp.227ff.; Brix: ed. note on v.755. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 135 dent readiness to dig it up and use it in carrying out his trick when formerly fear of discovery of such an act on his part by Lesbonicus had pre- vented such appropriation, these present just the sort of inconsistencies which the poet is al- ways ready to overlook for the sake of the trick which he is working out. The details regarding Lesbonicus' dwelling, after his sale of his paren- tal home, and the neighbour Philto's inquiry, im- plying as it does ignorance of a fact which one would expect a neighbour to know, do not con- cern the progress of the plot of deception. More- over, such apparently essential facts are fre- quently neglected by Plautus, cf., the ignorance on the part of Theopropides, in the Mostellaria, of the arrangement of his friend Simo's house. Amphitruo The plot of the Amphitruo like that of the Captivi rests upon an exchange of roles." And as Mercury foretells in the pro- logue, vv.54f., 59, comedy and tragedy combine in the play, though the amusing situations pre- dominate. Mercury also carefully explains all the details of Jupiter's personation of Amphitruo and his own of the slave Sosia, so that the au- dience may appreciate the ensuing complications. The action starts at once upon the meeting of Sosia and Mercury, the pseudo-Sosia, in Act I i, when Mercury tries the effect of his disguise 99 cf. the Eunuchus of Terence. 136 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS upon his counterpart, v.265. Mercury succeeds in evicting Sosia, in Jupiter's interests, vv.463ff. Jupiter's assumption of the person of Amphi- truo is proved by the goblet which he gives to Alcumena in Act i 3 and which causes so much confusion later, vv.73iff., 780, 792. In Act III i, Jupiter states, as Mercury did in the prologue, his ability to change his identity at will, v.864, and promises a final clearing-up of all the dif- ficulties, vv.876ff. That explanation occurs in The Amphitruo might be called the comple- ment of the Menaechmi, inasmuch as it depicts intentional confusion arising from the assump- tion of co-identity, whereas that in the Menaech- mi depends upon unconscious similarity. None of the difficulties cited by Langen 100 pre- vents a complete understanding of the plot. The course of the deception is clearly outlined before- hand, in the prologue, and is assisted by the many repetitions and explanations to a final successful close. 101 C. Special Details Under this heading may be grouped such de- tails as have already received some consideration 100 Op. cit. pp. 91ff. 101 The Amphitruo has been placed last in the analysis of the plays with the view of merely summing up the play, inasmuch as it differs from the other plays both in the nature of the plot and in the characters. But in technique of deception it is similar to the other plays in which personation is used. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 137 in the discussion of the object and nature of de- ception or of the methods whereby that decep- tion is carried out. But the recurrence of them in several plays, as for example the intervention of Tu/r), discussed above, 1 or the uniqueness of a certain feature as the absence of women from the Captivi, renders a summary of them at this point desirable. 1 i ) Chance Tii/Y) as a force to be reckoned with in the plays has already been discussed. It will suffice then here merely to men- tion the four plays in which it intervenes in an important manner, the Bacchides, Epidicus, Poenulus and Pseudolus. (Chance is constant- ly a minor feature in all drama.) (2) Anagnorisis the recognition-scene, which as will be seen later is derived from tragedy and especially from Euripides, is the ending of the Captivi, Casina, Curculio, Epidicus, Menaechmi and Poenulus. Of the plays in which the chief interest is not centered in the trickery, the Ru- dens and the Cistellaria 2 also end with an anag- norisis, as did also the Vidularia probably. Here it is possible to see Plautus' adherence to a fea- ture popular among his predecessors in spite of his more frequent departure from the norm set by them. The connection of this feature with the plot of deception is made usually by a dis- 1 cf. II B 4 above, pp.40-43. 2 Leo: Plaut. Forsch. pp.!58f. 138 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS closure of the plans of the trickster, as in the Poenulus and the Epidicus, when a recognition between the persons involved in those plans leads to an explanation of the situation in which they severally find themselves. (3) Banquet-scenes occur in the Asinaria, Bacchides, Persa, and Stichus, as has already been noted, either as an integral part of the play or as an additional feature at the close included for comic or dramatic effect. (4) Absence of women. The prologue of Captivi presents as a proof.of the superiority of the play the absence of some characters which play so large a part in the other comedies, vv.54ff. Profecto expediet fabulae huic operam dare: Non pertractate factast neque item ut ceterae, Neque spurcidici insunt uersus im- memorabiles : Hie neque periurus lenost nee mere- trix mala Neque miles gloriosus. In a way this might also be said of the Trinum- mus. But the latter play contains that romantic situation from which the Captivi is free. And this situation, though the girl does not appear in TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 139 person in the play, controls the action to a large extent. The other details to be considered concern the trickery more closely than those just mentioned. (5) Warnings As a preparation for the deception, several of the plays contain warnings of various sorts, de- livered to the person concerned or indefinitely. Such warnings are issued in the Asinaria, Bacchides, Curculio, Miles, Poenulus, and Pseu- dolus. 3 Asinaria, indefinite and spoken, vv.nSf. Non esse seruos peior hoc quisquam potest Nee magis uorsutus nee quo ab caueas aegrius. Miles, against Sceledrus and spoken, vv.295f. Nam tibi iam ut pereas paratumst dupliciter, nisi supprimis Tuom stultiloquium. Pseudolus, indefinite and spoken, vv.i27f. Omnibus amicis notisque edico meis, In hunc diem a me ut caueant, ne credant mihi. a cf. Terence: Andrla, v.206. 140 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS against Simo vv.5i7f. Praedico, lit caeueas: dico, inquam, ut caueas : caue : Em istis mihi tu hodie manibus argen- tum dabis. Bacchides, to Nicobolus, by a letter, vv.734ff. Poenulus, to Lycus the leno, by an oracle, vv.463ff. Condigne haruspex, non homo trio- boli, Omnibus in extis aiebat portendi mihi Malum damnumque et deos esse ira- tos mihi. Curculio, to Cappadox the leno, by a dream, vv.27off pacem ab Aesculapio Petas, ne forte tibi eueniat magnum malum, Quod in quiete tibi portentumst. Dreams also foreshadow coming events in the Miles as well as in the Mercator and the Rudens. 4 As Leo points out, the presence of the dream motive in the plays is explained on very much the same principle as that of the anagnorisis, in- asmuch as it is a feature characteristic of tragedy as well as of New Comedy. It may be combined with the anagnorisis, then, to prove a connection between Plautus and the Greek. 4 Leo; Plaut. Fonsch. pp.!62ff. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 141 (6) Futility of trickery The apparent futility of some of the tricks and the abandonment of them for others is character- istic of some of the plays, as the Bacchides, Epi- dicus, Persa, Miles, Poenulus, Pseudolus, and the Trinummus. Such abandonment of plans is caused either by some act, unanticipated by the audience, on the part of one of the characters, as the returning of all the money by Mnesilochus in the Bacchides, or the arrival of the father in the Trinummus ; or by the careless uniting of two plots, as in the "contaminated" plays, the Miles and the Poenulus. This has been considered in the discussion of contaminatio in the various plays. (7) Disappearance of characters As this has been discussed at some length above 5 it need merely be mentioned here. From this summary it seems evident, there- fore, that Plautus had a stock of scenes and mo- tives on hand which he mingled at will with the plot of deception, for which they were to serve as embellishment and expansion. Or the reverse may be true, that deception was inserted in plays of varying situation and plot. This list does not pretend to be exhaustive. Only the more un- usual details have been selected for consideration. 5 cf. under the Persa, In HI B, p.116. 142 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS A collection of the more common motives, such as scenes including cooks, parasites and the like, would only strengthen the deduction drawn from the present list. From all three points of view then, methods, plan, and extraneous detail, a study of the tech- nique of the comedies of Plautus leads to the conclusion that deception was the chief interest. Especially throughout the analysis of the plan and action involved in the performance of the deception I have endeavoured in each play to in- dicate to what extent Plautus was careful to at- tain unity and plausibility, and in what details he apparently considered such care unnecessary. That clearness of plot was gained, as has been seen, by carefully planned and executed pur- pose, achieved by constant repetition 6 of the de- tails of that plan and by asides 7 on the part of the characters, either in self-addressed mono- logue, anticipating or commenting upon the pro- gress of the deception, or in dialogue spurring each other on to carry out the trick in hand. As Legrand says, 8 Plautus wished everything to be clearly understood by even the most ignorant auditor. Details unessential to the plot of deception were frequently disregarded : the element of time 9 in the Bacchides, Asinaria, Captivi, Casina, e cf. under the Pseudolus, Miles and Menaechml, in III B. 7 cf. under the Captivi, In III B, pp.77ff. 8 Daos: p. 547. 9 cf. under the Bacchides. in III B, p.66f. TECHNIQUE OF DECEPTION 143 Curculio, Miles, Mostellaria; haste contradicted by delay 10 for mirth-provoking wrangling and argument in the Asinaria, Captivi, Poenulus, Pseudolus, Trimimmus; discrepancies in charac- terization in the Asinaria, Curculio, Epidicus, Mostellaria, Persa, Pseudolus; the apparent ig- norance of some fact important for the progress of the action, when that ignorance adds to the comic effect, in the Asinaria, Bacchides, Captivi, Menaechmi, Mercator, Mostellaria, Trinummus; ignorance in money matters 11 or contradictions in the price demanded in the Curculio, Epidicus, Mercator, Persa; minor details of action which are not vital to the main course of the trickery and hence are unmotivated, since they are not used, 12 in the Asinaria, Casina, Curculio, Epidi- cus, Miles, Persa; disappearance of characters 13 in the Curculio, Epidicus, Mostellaria, Persa, Pseudolus. These together with the particular cases of "psychological improbability" 14 noted under each play and with the contradictions ap- pearing sporadically, but of the same general na- ture as those shared in common with several of the plays, justify our conclusion that the play- wright paid little heed to consistency in unessen- tial details. 10 When not otherwise Indicated the details summar- ized above have been mentioned in each play as they occurred. 11 cf. under the Curculio, in III B, p.88f. 12 cf. under the Casina, in III B, p.83f. is cf. under the Persa, in III B, p.H6f. 14 cf. under the Asinaria, in III B, pp.74f. 144 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS In a single rendering of a play before an au- dience whose only desire was to be entertained, most discrepancies in plot would pass unnoticed. And inasmuch as the inconsistencies in no in- stance affect vitally the progress of the trickery, it is all the more important that we bear in mind that Plautus wrote his plays "to make a Roman holiday" and not to bear the microscopic analysis of literary criticism. Under such circumstances we might expect the emphasis to be laid upon the effect rather than upon the method, upon the burlesque details rather than upon the tech- nique of the plot. And this seems to be the case. With the attention of the playwright focussed upon that dramatic effect, lack of proportion in other details, inconsistencies and the like, either escaped the notice of the audience or were con- sidered of no importance. Whence the idea for such centralization arose, what forces combined to shape it, i. e. the sources of deception in comedy, and how far the present form of the comedies represents the original Plautine tradi- tion, i. e. the relation of the plays to the Greek models and especially the question of contamina- tio and of retractatio, remains still to be con- sidered. CHAPTER IV APPLICATION OF FACTS TO HIGHER CRITICISM Contaminatio and Retractatio ONE of the most valuable results of the fore- going study and analysis of the element of deception in the comedies of Plautus may be at- tained by the application of the conclusions drawn to the difficulties of higher criticism i. e. to the solution of problems connected with con- taminatio and retractatio. Inasmuch as con- taminate is Plautine, our object is to determine whether Plautus' method is essentially different in his treatment of deception in the ''contaminat- ed" and the uncontaminated plays and whether some light may be thrown upon the plays still in doubt, as the Bacchides, Epidicus, and Pseudolus. In other words, how far do abnormalities support or refute contaminatio or retractatio ; for some of the abnormalities may be attributable to the lat- ter. Retractatio will necessarily claim the chief consideration in this section; for, as has just been noted, contaminatio is Plautine, and because of that fact has already been discussed in the fore- going study of the dropped threads, inconsis- tencies and the like, in the analysis of each play. 1 That consideration brought us to the conclusion i cf. under section III B. 145 146 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS that Plautus' methods were haphazard and care- less in the treatment of unessential details. In- tent upon the plot of deception, as seems quite clear from our comparison of the plays, Plautus neglected no details absolutely indispensable to an understanding of that plot either in plan or in action. Where obscurity is apparent in the plot of deception, as in the Epidicus, which is the only play in which obscurities enter to such a marked degree, it has seemed justifiable, in view of the general adherence of most of the plays to a certain norm, to consider such obscurity as due to later reworking of the play, i. e. to retrac- tatio. Moreover, the analysis of the comedies has shown a great deal of uniformity 2 in the sort of ambiguities and inconsistencies which occur in both the contaminated plays, e. g. the Miles and the Poenulus, and the uncontaminated, like the Mostellaria and the Trinummus. Inasmuch as the same sort of contradictions, e. g. discrepan- cies in character portrayal, motiveless action, etc., occur in those plays still sub mdice, like the Bacchides, it is clear that too hasty conclusions must not be drawn from such occurrences as a basis for proof of contaminatio. This "work of the Danaids", as Lindsay styles it, 3 is not solved so easily. Let us take the arguments pro and con for contaminatio in the Bacchides just mentioned as 2 ef. summary of section III, pp.!42ff. a Bursian's Jahresbertcht, Vol. 166-169, 1914, Part II p.18. APPLICATION OF FACTS 147 an illustration of the difficulty of arriving at a decision in the matter. As early as 1842, Lade- wig 4 maintained contaminatio for the Bacchides, and also for the Captivi, Miles, Pseudolus, Tru- culentus and less positively for the Stichus and the Trinummus. Leo 5 and E. Frankel 6 held that the discrepancy between the statement in v.iopo bis and the existence of three tricks in the Bacchides is due to contaminatio; and that the second letter is too Attic to be an invention of Plautus. But Leo himself grants the possi- bility, which is just as reasonable a solution as contaminatio, that the letter may be merely a repetition of the first one, introduced by Plautus himself in his desire to increase the comic effect and the impression of Chrysalus' cleverness by a more complete discomfiture of the old man Nico- bulus. And Plautus, while using the Menan- drean model, forgot at the end that he had in- corporated a third trick and merely translated the Greek St'? 7 . Frankel 8 suggests also the possibility of retractatio as an explanation of this contradiction ; but that seems hardly probable, since there is no reason for it in this play. The double trickery would suffice for the comic in- terest, which it was usually the desire of the re- tractatores to increase. 4 liber den Kanon des Volcatius Sedigitus, Neustrelitz, pp.27ff. 5 R6m. Lit. pp.H9f. e De media et nova comoedia Qiiaestiones, Diss. Gott- ingen. 1912, pp.lOOff. 7 Leo: R8m. Lit. p.119. 8 Op. cit. 148 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS In the light of our investigation of this play and our consideration of its inconsistencies, it would seem justifiable to reject the explanation of contaminatio and to regard the Bacchides as a good example of the way in which Plautus dealt with his Greek model, adding trickery to that already present and carelessly neglecting minor details of connection, or allusion, in his emphasis upon the main theme of trickery. The same sort of addition for comic effect, as noted in the Bacchides, can be seen in the Asi- naria, in the new condition imposed in vv.735ff., which was not included in the original bargain. Yet if it were not in the Greek original no one would attribute that addition to anyone but Plautus. The connection of discrepancies of this sort with contaminatio, and the rejection or accep- tance of contaminatio as the explanation for them, were considered, as has been noted, under the analysis of the separate plays. 9 A few gen- eral remarks about several plays in regard to this question may, however, still be made here. The Persa may be classed with the Asinaria; for like that play its plot combines two tricks, the appropriation of the purchase money by Sa- garistio and the personation, which gives the name to the play. Both plays likewise end in banquet scenes, like the Stichus, though in the Persa and the Asinaria the banquet scenes be- long logically and organically to the play, 10 vhile cf . section, III B. 10 Leo; Plaut. Forsch. pp.!68f. APPLICATION OF FACTS 149 in the Stichus this feature, probably derived from the IoBoe of the Old Comedy is dragged in forcibly. As Leo maintains for the Stichus, it is probable that all three plays illustrate in their structure that heterogeneous combination of far- cical elements from various sources of which Plautus was fond. The distinction between this combination of elements and the fusion of plots which has come to have the technical name of contaminatio should be borne in mind. The theory of contaminatio for the Persa sug- gested by Ladewig 11 and maintained by A. Van Ijsendyk 12 has not been accepted; for the threads of trickery run parallel and intermingle 13 in a way which is not true in the plays like the Miles and the Poenulus, which are surely contaminated. As to the shortening of the play especially after Act IV scene 8, 14 and the absence of the para- site from the banquet, how much may be attri- buted to Plautus and how much to a later hand it is impossible to determine. Both branches of the manuscript tradition, A and P, 15 show many traces, however, of retractatio. Free from contaminatio in the technical sense are the Captivi 16 and the Curculio. The peculi- arity of these plays lies in the motiveless action. 11 Op. cit. pp.38ff. 12 De T. Macci Plauti Persa, Utrecht, 1884. is M. Meyer: De Plauti Persa, pp.!57ff. i4Ritschl ed. 1853, Praef., p.IX. is C. Coulter: Retractatio in Plautus, Diss, Bryn Mawr, 1911, p.41. 16 Coulter: op. cit. p.5. 150 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS In the Captivi, Hegio's only purpose was to send some captive to ransom his son. From this point of view, to be sure, the master, Philocrates, had to be held as a hostage ; the slave was worth- less for this purpose. But as far as the ex- igencies of the plot are concerned, the exchange of roles by the captives is unnecessary. 17 The reason for the exchange is in the minds of the captives, for their own advantage; but as the plot develops nothing is made of that exchange. The pathetic interest of the play is heightened, to be sure, by it, and one overlooks the lack of motive in the interest aroused by it. In other words this is another instance of Plautine tech- nique in the disregard of unimportant details for the sake of the dramatic interest. The same thing is true of the Curculio, 18 inas- much as from the soldier's point of view the mo- tive of his disclosure to Curculio is nil. But for the development of the action, as has been noted above, 19 it is necessary, because the trick whereby Planesium falls into Phaedromus' pos- session rests upon it. Likewise the appearance of the soldier from Caria is without motive. As Langen suggests, 20 the defects may be due to re- tractatio. But the play is essentially Plautine in nature and clear in spite of shortening. The dis- appearance of Palinurus from the play, which 17 Legrand: Daos, p.401 note 2. is Langen: Plaut. Stud, p.134. 19 cf. section III B, p.87. 20 Op. cit. APPLICATION OF FACTS 151 Leo notes, 21 after the return of Curculio, is due merely to the fact that upon the trickster and his plans the action, here, as in other plays, focuses ; and subordinate characters, as we have pointed out above, 22 disappear when their contributions to those plans have been made. The Mostellaria is the sort of play wherein this power of improvisation on the part of Plau- tus, or his model, has freest rein, inasmuch as all the trickery is brought about by sudden unex- pected turns of chance, 23 and plans spring from the need of the moment. The Trinummus, which the prologue tells us is translated from the rjuaupo? of Philemon, vv.iSf., is very similar to the Mostellaria in its freedom from difficulties involving contaminatio, as far as the plot of de- ception is concerned. The question of contaminatio in the Miles, Poenulus, and Pseudolus has been discussed at some length under the separate plays. 24 Scholars still differ as to the reconstruction of the original plots which served as their models. For the Pseudolus the analysis suggested by Bierma, 25 modified by the views of Seyffert, 26 , of Leo, 27 and of A. Schmitt, 28 is the prevailing one today. 21 Plaut. Forsch. p.197, note 1. 22 cf. section III B., p.116. 23 Ritschl: Opusc. II, p.740. 24 cf. section III B., pp. 109ff.; 117ff.: 128ff. 25 Questiones de Plautina Pseudolo, Groningen, 1897. 28Berl. Phil. Wbch. 18, 1898, coll. 1511-1515. 27 G. G. N. 1903, pp.347ff. 28 De Pseudoli Plautinae exemplo Attico, Strassburg. 1909. 152 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS For the Poenulus the results of the analysis of Langen, 29 Leo, 30 and Karsten 81 still remain un- changed. The relation of the Miles to its originals and all the work done upon that question has been summarized by J. Mesk 32 who accepts in general Leo's analysis. 33 Aside from the arguments of- fered by them in substantiation of contaminatio for these plays, from the analyses of the decep- tion which we have made, we would maintain such contaminatio, especially for the Poenulus and the Miles where the tricks are so separate and dis- tinct, and where the dropped threads indicate quite evidently the combination of two plots. For the Pseudolus the proof is not conclusive. The conclusion in regard to contaminatio and its reaction upon the comedies of Plautus is now clear. Discrepancies and irregularities in details are not abnormal to the: method of Plautus and can therefore not serve as criteria by which to test the plays still in doubt. The analysis of the plays with the motive of deception as the central point has shown this. In the Miles and the Poenulus, which are generally regarded as "con- taminated", are found the same characteristics of technique as in the Asinaria, Curculio, and Trinummus, for example. In all the plays Plau- tus shows the same pains about the same points, 29 Plaut. Stud. pp.lSlff. so Plaut. Forsch. pp. 170ff. 31 Mnem. 29, 1901, pp.363ff. 32 Wiener Studien, 1913, pp.211ff. 33 Plaut. Forsch. pp,178ff. APPLICATION OF FACTS 153 i. e. he keeps the fact of imposture before the audience 34 by a repetition of the essential details and traces clearly the course of the trickery through plan and execution; and the playwright also shows the same carelessness about the same points, e. g. the element of time, the disappear- ance of certain characters, the minor psycholo- gical improbabilities, and the like. 85 Former studies have emphasized too much the separate, individual irregularities of each sepa- rate play and have focussed their attention too exclusively upon the separate, individual plays. The relative importance of those irregularities can only be seen by a comparative study of all the plays. From such a study it seems that con- taminatio must be based upon really organic dif- ficulties, e. g. lack of proper motive, as in the Miles and Poenulus, for a second trick, and not upon crudities of technique which are normal in Plautus. In other words, this study has contributed no new points, perhaps, as evidence for or against contaminatio, but it has enabled us to indicate the relative value of the proofs already existent. That valuation has, accordingly, forced us to re- ject some of the discrepancies advanced as proof of contaminatio, e. g. in the Pseudolus especial- ly, 36 since they are characteristically Plautine and can be explained on more rational grounds than by resorting to contaminatio. That being the 34 cf. section III B. passim, especially pp.!27f. 35 Ibid. se cf. section III B. pp.lSOff. 154 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS case, it remains still to discover the source of the abnormalities which are un-Plautine. In other words, are they due to retractaio? As to retractatio, which is the result of the need of later presenters of the Plautine plays 37 to accommodate the play to the trend of mind of a new and later audience, the decision be- tween genuine and ungenuine passages depends largely upon the subjective estimate of the cri- tic. 38 Hence the difficulty of arriving at a defi- nite conclusion is merely increased. For that purpose an examination of passages which are suspected of being "retractated" is necessary to determine what sort of passages suffer general- ly at the hands of the retractator. But it is not necessary to determine whether they are justifi- ably suspected. In other words from the point of view of trickery as the chief interest in the comedies, an examination of the passages re- garded as "retractated" will suffice to show whether essential or only minor details connect- ed with deception suffered at the hands of the later emendators of the Plautine text. 39 The basis of any work in this connection is Langen's Plautinische Studien, section III pp.233-387, a good summary of work before 1886, with which are compared the readings in the editions of Leo, Goetz-Schoell and Lindsay 37 H. A. Karsten: De Interpolationlbus in Plautl Cap- tivis, Mnem. XXI, 1893, p.289. 38 Langen: Plaut. Stud, p.233. 39 The problems connected with the lacunae are not in- cluded in this discussion. APPLICATION OF FACTS 155 and the contributions made by later monographs to our investigation. Here again the Bacchides is taken as a starting-point. v.233 is a good illustration of the sort of verse affected by retractatio. Anspach 40 considers it a case of dittography of v.2$2; but Langen disa- grees and holds it as presenting an additional and an essential idea. As has been said, how- ever, our purpose is not to come to any decision between such conflicting authorities but merely to note the lines thus suspected and to examine their contents to see whether in any way they are connected with the plot of deception. 41 Special note should be made of Act II 3 in which two themes are apparently interwoven, the depositing of the money in the temple of Diana, and the depositing of it with a friend. But the editors differ as to the attribution of the verses to Plautus. Even so, the passage has no connection with the plot of deception except in so far as the tale told is to convince the old man that the money was not brought home, and either or both tales might have convinced him. Like- wise a large part of Act III 2 was suspected by Ritschl following K. W. Weise, cf. vv.393 and 403 which contain similar endings. Leo and 40 De Bacchidum Plautinae retractatione scaenicae Bonn. 1882. 41 Lines considered by Langen which contain no refer- ence to deception: w.!21ff. ( 150, 152f., 159f., 220f., 361ff., 366f., 3378-382, 479, 486ff., 508, 984ff., 1120-1142, 1188ff.; division of Act I 1, cf. also Leo, for w.67 and 69, follow- ing Ribbeck and Buecheler. 156 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS Ussing (editions) apparently regard the whole as Plautine. But the scene has no immediate con- nection with the trickery. The same is true of Act IV 9 and the suspect- ed verses in it, a sign of retractatio, or the two recensions in Act IV 8, vv.842-883 and w.884- 901. Langen's theory in this scene particularly is contradicted successfully by H. Weber. 42 But it is evident that the main details of the plot have been left untouched by the retractator. It is ap- parently such sententious moralizing, as in Act III 2, or such expansions of the thought of pre- ceding lines, as vv.i59f., of hie uereri perdidit, that indicate most frequently the hand of the amender. An examination of more of the plays must, however, precede any conclusions as to this point. Amphitruo In the Amphitruo contradictory lines are found by Langen, Goetz and Leo. But an examination of all the lines discussed by them 43 reveals no connection with the trickery. Asinaria In the Asinaria, at the end of Act I i, occurs a double recension which is connect- 42 Plautus Studien, Phllol. 57, 1898, pp.231ff. 43W.401, 479-485, 629ff.; dittograpliies in, vv.371-375, 825ff., 916f., 1006ff. parallel to w.997ff.; interpolations in vv.160, 166, 685. 974f., suspected lines in w.172, 892-896. APPLICATION OF FACTS 157 ed with the trickery. Goetz-Loewe 44 had indi- cated vv.io6, 107, 108, 116-125, 109-116 as one recension, vv.io6-ii5 as the other, because of v.ioS, ego eo ad forum which apparently would exclude such a question as ubi ens? in v.no. For the success of the plan of deception it is es- sential that Demaenetus should know where Li- banus will be, but ad forum Langen holds to be sufficient direction. Should further direction be needed, as Langen concedes possible, still Li- banus' answer to the query, ubiquomque lubitum erit animo appears to Langen entirely irrelevant and he would accordingly consider vv.iO9-no as later interpolations. But such literal-minded- ness often leads the German scholar into error. It is just as probable that the playwright himself conceived of the impudent answer of the slave for comic effect as that it should have been in- vented by a later retractator. So the point is not conclusive. Of the other lines questioned by Langen, 45 v.93 is not essential to the course of the trickery, since its question, Defrudem te ego? is repeated in the following line. So it is quite evidently the work of a retractator and its omission in no way affects the plot, v.252 in like manner mere- ly repeats v.25o. vv.48o-483 and 48911 give a double recension of the end of Act II 4, the im- 44 Praef. p.XXII cf. Langen: Plaut. Stud, p.240. 45 vv.23f., 25f., 33, 66, 77, 93, 133, 204ff., 252, 312-314; 434f., 480-483, 489ff.. 552, 583, 828f, 901ff.; for double ending of Act H 4 cf. Goetz: Praef. XXIII; Langen: op. clt. p.243f.; P. Ahrens: De Plauti Asinaria, Jena, 1903. 158 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS poster scene, but without affecting the course of the trickery, v.583 merely repeats v.58i and is not essential. So again the scope of the work of the retractator is found outside the important parts of the play. Captivi. The same thing holds true for the Captivi. Contradictions occur, 46 , interpola- tions, 47 dittographies, 48 a double ending, 49 verses suspected for other reasons. 50 But none of the verses cited affect the progress of the deception and hence need no separate comment. Casina Although it is certain that the Casina was acted after the death of Plautus, 51 it shows fewer interpolations than the other plays and ap- parently suffered more through cutting than through expansion. 52 Langen defends V.2O3 against Spengel's suggestion that it is a repetition of v.2o8. He also defends v.498 against Loewe's 46 cf. H. T. Karsten: op. cit. p.294. 47W.46-51, 102-107, 152, 231ff., 288, 401ff., 530-532, 664ff. 48 vv.438, cf. Brix: Anhang; Karsten; 521; 1022; 49 cf. Terence: Andria, L. Havet: rev. de Phil. 16, 1892, p. 73. 50V.133-175, cf. Karsten: op. cit.; vv.280, 324, 968, cf. Leo and O. Seyffert: B. Ph. 4, 1887, p.780f. 51 Langen: op. cit. pp.278ff. 52 Teuffel: Stud. u. Char, p.320. APPLICATION OF FACTS 159 rejection of it, 53 as a gloss; and vv.688ff., against C. Fuhrmann's rejection. 54 Leo holds v.97o as a contradiction of v.97i. But here again none of the verses in question touch the plot of decep- tion. If the retractatores cut this play, they did not produce obscurities. 55 Curculio The suspected passages of the Cur- culio are discussed by Langrehr. 56 The only one that is connected with the trickery is vv. 545-551, and O. Seyffert 57 defends those lines on the basis that they anticipate .582. They are not really essential to the plot, so their acceptance or re- jection is not important; suffice it to note that they are connected with the plot of deception. Epidicus In the Epidicus the interchange of verses in Act I i which Langen 58 and Hasper 59 hold against Schredinger 60 does not affect the trickery. Again it is a case of authorities dif- fering as to their estimate of what is genuine and what is un-Plautine. The same is true of vv.46ff. That the revelation contained therein is contradicted by v.6o 61 is hardly the case, since 53 Anal. Plaut. p.204. 54jahrb. f. Philol. 97, 1869, p.482. 65 A. L. Wheeler: Epidicus, op. cit. 56 De Plauti Curculione, Friedland, 1893; w.17, 61, 76, 72, 93, 155-157, 161, 175, 193f.. 200, 276. 284, 292, 305, 429, 461, 472, 493, 503, 545-551, 678, 705, 711. 57 Bursian's Jahresbericht, 1895, Part II. p.27. 58 Op. cit. pp.288ff. 59 Ad Epidicum Plauti coniectanea, p.9. eo De Plauti Epidlco, Progr, MUimerstadt, 1884, p. 21. ei Ussing, Hasper, and Reinhardt in Jahrb. f. Philol. Ill, 1875, p.199. 160 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS such pretended reticence after such open speech is psychologically in keeping with a slave's atti- tude. Leo and Goetz-Schoell retain them. W.I09-UI, since they are lacking in the Am- brosian palimpsest may be an interpolation. Moreover, they are just the sort of sententious moralizing added by later reworkers of the plays which we have commented upon before. But for our consideration they are not important. Likewise unimportant are the other suspected verses. 62 Menaechmi The Menaechmi presents no sus- pected lines connected with the trickery. 63 Mercator As to the reworking of this play by later hands, especially the prologue, cf. Ussing 64 who cites the opinion of Ritschl, of Dziatzko, 65 of Reinhardt. 66 Proof of such reworking is possible from the text, as these scholars have 62W.50, 135f., 261-266, 339f., 353, 384, 393, 419, 518ff. 63 w.77f., 130, 185ff., Act II 2 passim, 478, 586f., 601, 639a, 655f., 694f., 750, 831f., 882ff., 983f., 1040, cf. Sonnenburg: de Menaechmis Plautina, Bonn, 1882; Langen: op. cit. pp.296ff. 64 Comment, p.314. 65 Rh. M. XXVI p. 421; XXIX p.63. 66 Studemund's Studlen I pp.SOff. APPLICATION OF FACTS 161 indicated. But it has in no wise affected the simple trend of the trickery. 67 Miles. Retractatio in the Miles has been discussed by Lorenz, 68 by F. Schmidt 69 by Langen, 70 by O. Ribbeck, 71 and by Brix. 72 Apart from the lines rejected by Leo 73 and by Goetz-Schoell 74 and by Langen, 75 only Langen's rejection of Act III i needs consideration here. Langen thinks that the whole scene could be dispensed with, since Act III 3 contains all the information necessary for understanding the second trick, and since the irrelevancy of vv.6i5~ 765 cast suspicion upon the whole scene. F. Schmidt 76 solved the difficulty by rejecting merely those lines, which is probably the saner proce- dure. Plautus is often irrelevant, but in no place does he carry it so far with so little reason. Moreover, the passage examined on stylistic grounds is not Plautine, so Langen holds. Leo 77 67 cf. w.126, 145ff., 150-165, 182, 185, 276, 220ff., 263, 269f., 356, 373ff., 419f., 448a, 492CC., 536, 555b, 620ff., 745; 849, 983a. es Introd. ed. pp.36ff. 69Jahrb. f. Phllol. Suppl. IX, 1877-78, pp.391ff. TO Op. cit. pp.313-333. 71 Alazon, 1882. 72 Introd. ed. pp.!4f. 73W.585, 602f., 708, 710. 74 w.!89a-192, 228, 328ff., 599b, 1002, 1287ff. 75 vv.1019-1033. 76 Op. cit. 77 Plaut. Forsch. p.181. 162 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS does not agree. Langen also holds that the con- trast between the praise of the easy-going life of the egoistic youth and the faithful performance of duty on the part of a loyal, steady citizen is not a theme which would appeal to a Roman audience of Plautus' time. It would, however, he thinks, suit the taste of an audience of the time of the Plautine revival. Hence it is retractated. But the poof is not convincing. If a scene prefatory to Pleusicles' adoption of the role of nauclerus in vv.ii77ff. is required, Langen would place it somewhere between Acts II and III. J. Franke 78 maintains the Plautinity of Act III i. But this must remain an open question ; nor is it essential to our purpose to decide it, since the rejection or the acceptance of the whole scene or of parts of it does not in any way affect the course of the deception, i. e. even though there are several deceptions which are not well con- nected, the presentation of each is free from ob- scurities. Mostellaria None of the suspected verses of the Mostel- laria needs special comment. 79 78 De Militis Gloriosl Plautlnae compositone, Weidae Thuringii, 1910, pp.48ff. 79w.87f. ( 93f., 126f.. 185, 208ff., 306f., 410, 609, 721a, 741, 1001, 1033ft. APPLICATION OF FACTS 163 Persa The Persa offers slight evidence for assuming that the play suffered change. 80 The verses which are noted 81 with minor variations do not affect the trickery. The shortening of the play in Act IV 9 was probably due to retractatio, 82 as is the case with the Poenulus, but to what extent the play has suffered it is impossible to determine. Poenulus The Poenulus shows more alteration than any play of Plautus. The double ending is the long- est case of dittography 83 which we have. It con- tains parallel versions, 84 variant lines, 85 longer alternate versions. 86 But none of these influence the course of deception, nor do the other lines that have been suspected. 87 Pseudolus The same is true of the Pseudolus. 88 so Coulter: op. cit. p.40. Siw.433-436, 442f., 605, 608, 609f., 703, 704. 82 Ritschl: Praef. p.IX. 83 Coulter: op. clt. p.65. 84vv.504ff., 1315ff. 85W.214, 218, 304, 390b. 86 vv.121-128, 917-929, 1042-1052. 87 Coulter: op. cit. p.66 note 28. 88 cf. w.523b, 688ff., 1137; certain cases of retractatio, cf. Coulter: op. clt. p. 81: vv.142, 151, 166, 206f., 259-263, 412, 535ff., 544a, 562ff., 576ff., 596ab. 600, 696ab; 745-750 parallel to 734-744, 842, 1077, 1086, 1196, 1279f., 1314. 164 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS Trinummus The Trinummus is especially good as an illus- tration of the general work of the retractator* 9 since the play is so full of sententiae and moral reflections, upon which the retractatores are par- ticularly inclined to exert their efforts. The play also from vv.582, 889-891, 901, and iO93ff., has apparently been shortened. 90 This study of the suspected passages of the comedies leads to the conclusion that to retrac- tatio are due changes in unimportant details, i. e. the shortening or omission of unessential speeches and scenes, or such a second ending as that offered for the Poenulus. But the hand of the retractator has apparently spared, almost entirely, the details which are essential to the plot of de- ception. In fact, this study but strengthens the theory already expressed, that Plautus worked for comic effect and, so long as the result was superficially successful, considerations of struc- tural roughness and incompleteness were of minor importance. To that end the poet com- bined at will either details from various sources, for one single plan of action, as in the Asinaria and the Persa, or various plans of action for the complex plots of the Miles and the Poenulus; and the resulting product served his purpose of 89 Coulter: op. clt. p.107. 90 For other suspected lines cf. Coulter: op. clt. p.107, note 19, APPLICATION OF FACTS 165 entertaining an audience uncritical and unobserv- ant of the many superficial discrepancies which only the critical analysis of a scholar would seize upon. The Epidicus alone seems to stand out as dif- ferent from the other plays, both in the nature of some of the threads of deception which are drop- ped and in the general obscurity and looseness of connection in the plot as it develops. Lade wig was the first 91 to discuss the difficulties in the play and to attribute them to contaminatio. Rein- hardt, in i873, 92 overthrew that possibility and attributed the mutilation of the play to the hands of the later actors who desired, perhaps, to hasten the denouement and to meet the public wish for a speedy conclusion to the play after the climax. Langen in i886, 93 as Schredinger 94 and Francken 95 before him, attributed the discrepan- cies to retractatio. The brevity of the play is a strong point for such an argument; for the Epidicus, as has been noted before, is apparently stripped of most of those scenes unessential to the plot and introduced merely for comic effect which are found in the other plays. On the other hand, the change in the ending, as was pointed out by Dziatzko, 96 necessitated by i Zeit. f. alt. wiss. 1841, coll. 1079-1099. 02 Studemund's Studlen I pp.79-111. 93 Plaut. Stud. pp.!37ff. 84 Observations In Plautl Epidicum, Progr, 1884. 95 Plautlna In Mnem. VII, 1879, pp.184-204. 96 Der Inhalt des Georgos von Menander, Rh. M. LV, 1900, pp.!04ff. 166 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS the Roman repugnance to the conclusion of the Greek original, involved certain confusion, even though Plautus, by substituting a reconciliation of the conflicting interests by Epidicus and by centering the interest on him and his plots, en- deavours to turn the attention of the audience away from the inconsistencies. Leo, while hold- ing to the internal unity of the play, 97 assumes the loss of a prologue containing an outline of the argument, which could fill in such gaps in the plot as need explanation. How far the playwright's effort to reconcile these difficulties has affected the play and how far it has suffered from later reworkings it is impos- sible at present to decide. As has been noted above, the study of the other plays has led to the conclusion that non-essentials alone were con- cerned in the processes of the retractatores. If that conclusion be accepted, in view of the dif- ficulties presented by the Epidicus, it is clear that both carelessness on the part of Plautus and re- working by later hands have caused the present obscurities and irregularities in the Epidicus. That retractatio has wrought greater disorder in it than even the most careless of Plautus' own methods of composition seems evident from a comparison of the outline of the Epidicus with those of the other plays. From this study of the influence of contamina- tw and retractatio upon the comedies of Plautus the conclusion in regard to the technique of Plau- tus is only strengthened. "Intent upon the mo- 97 Plaut. Forsch. p.198, especially note 2. APPLICATION OF FACTS 167 mentary comic effect and centralizing all the ac- tion in that, the playwright has neglected at will the finely spun threads of the action, especially where he 'contaminated' several plays. The Miles and the Poenulus on one side, the Casina and Stichus on the other, compared with the closely unified 98 plot of the via, are atrocities, from the point of view of a careful reader, of lack of or- der. Seldom does the poet develop an action so logically and closely as in the Bacchides and the Mostellaria." 99 But the thread of deception is, in all cases except the Epidicus, clear and distinct Hence, too, the deduction that the work of the retractator seems to have been concerned with extraneous details only. This study must, however, leave us still of the opinion of Leo 100 that in view of the fact that we possess only a portion of the works of Plau- tus and yet from these can see how he sought to please the taste of his public and indiscriminately remodelled plays of such entirely different spirit as the Amphitruo and Asinaria, the Captivi and Persa, it is impossible to say with certainty how much of the elaboration of the plots is Plautine, how much of the shortening is un-Plautine. What Plautus owed in the technique of deception to his Greek predecessors is still to be considered. 98 cf. H. W. Prescott: The Interpretation of Roman Comedy, Class. Phil. XI, No. 2, 1916, pp.!28ff. for an opposite view. E. Norden: Die rBmische Literatur, in Einleitung in die Altertumswissenschaft, Vol. I, 1910, p.463. 100 Plaut. Forsch. pp.!67f. CHAPTER V SOURCES OF THE ELEMENT OF DECEPTION \ LTHOUGH no complete comedy of the ^A- Greek vea is extant to serve as a criterion, Plautus and Terence, so far as they are Greek, have been generally acknowledged as handing down the tradition of the New Comedy. When- ever we know who was the author of a Greek original (or what was the title) the evidence in every case except the Persa points to the vsa. That Plautus borrowed also from Old Comedy is pos- sible, as he surely did from Middle Comedy, e. g. the Persa. 1 To what extent he did so needs, how- ever, further investigation. But the relation be- tween the Roman and the Greek and their con- nection with antecedent comedy are difficult to establish directly because of the fragmentary re- mains of Hellenistic comedy. An effort has been made in the present chapter to throw some light upon this relation by tracing through the Greek drama an outline, at least, of deception. As has been seen from the foregoing analysis, the methods of Plautus in developing the plot of i v. Wilamowitz's view of the Persa : De tribus car- minibus Latlnis, Index Lect. G8tt. 1893-4, pp.!3f.; H. W. Prescott: The Interpretation of Roman Comedy, Class. Phil. XI No. 2. April 1916. pp.125-147; XII No. 4, Oct. 1917, pp.405-425. 168 SOURCES OF DECEPTION 169 deception, which is the centre of interest in the comedies, although at times haphazard, seem in general well ordered and painstaking, with due care as to the explanation of preceding and the preparation for subsequent action. The former method approaches that of Aristophanes, 2 in whom there is little or nothing of explanation or preparation, with slight connection between the successive scenes. The prologues of the plays of Aristophanes, as Croiset points out, 3 contain the germ of the drama which is developed step by step throughout the comedy. The action which is organized thus in the prologue is extended in the first part of the play, e. g. in the Acharnians ; and in the second part the result of that action is shown in a simple succession of incidents like the scenes of the primitive comedy. The situations unravel themselves, with the denouement fore- seen perhaps, but uncertain, somewhat like the gradual unexpected development of the plot of the Mostellaria. This laxer construction in plot is but a reflection of the difference between the carefully stated outlines of the play given in the prologues of Euripides and the summary state- ment of the theme in the prologues of Aristo- phanes just noted. But there are more specific points of resem- blance than this between Aristophanes and Plau- tus. The types of characters already established 2M. Croiset: HIstoire de la Litt6rature Grecque, Vol. Ill, pp.552f. 3 Op. cit. p.557. 170 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS in the comedy of Aristophanes, 4 old men and women, slaves like Cario in the Plautus, and the ending of some of the plays in a revel, as the Acharnians and the Lysistrata, the Persa and the Asinaria, show the possibly indirect influence of the Old Comedy upon Plautus. 5 Impossibilities were also a characteristic of Attic Old Comedy, 6 illustrated in the Lysistrata by the gathering together of women from hostile cities, friends and enemies alike, in the assembly convoked by Lysistrata. Plautus' disregard for verisimilitude has been noted. 7 Lies, to be sure, are a feature of all comedy. Aristophanes realized the possibilities of amuse- ment in lies when he presented them so aptly in his satire on the Sophists in the Clouds. 8 Lies are, of course, the basis of all deception. But personation, which is the chief element of decep- tion in Plautus, appears also in Aristophanes. In the Frogs, Dionysus masquerades as Heracles vv.464ff., with Xanthias as a slave; in vv.498ff., they exchange roles; in v.742 the slave passes himself off as the master. In the Plutus, Cario the slave, threatens to play the part of Cyclops, 4 A. Couat: Aristophane et 1'Ancienne Com<5die Attique. Paris, 1892, pp.367ff.; Leo: R8m. Lit. p.106. 5 Leo: Plaut. Forsch. pp.!37ff. 6 Rogers: ed. Lysistrata, Introd. p.XLI. 7 cf. Section III B, pp.72ff. 8 Passim. Pheidippides illustrates the supposed lying methods of the Sophists by beating his father and then justifying his own conduct, cf. Knights, w.7, 64, 486, 491, 696. SOURCES OF DECEPTION 171 v.29off., and then that of Circe, vv.3oiff., and change the chorus into pigs. In the Acharnians, the Megarian disguises his daughters as pigs, vv.739ff. In the same play Dicaeopolis plays the role of a beggar to carry out his plan, v.445 . . . sTCTa [A-f^ava 9ff. : Die Uberarbeitung des Plautin- ischen Epidicus, Jahrb. f. Philol. in, 1875, PP- I94ff. Ribbeck O. : Alazon, Leipzig, 1882. 198 DECEPTION IN PLAUTUS Schanz M. : Geschichte der romischen Litera- tur, I. Miiller's Handbuch VIII I i, Munich, 1907. Schmidt F. : Miles Gloriosus des Plautus, Jahrb, f. Philol. Suppl. IX, 1877, pp. 323*?. Schmitt A.: De Pseudoli Plautinae exemplo Attico, Strassburg, 1909. Schredinger C. : Observationes in T. Macci Plauti Epidicum, Munich, 1884. Seyffert O. : Bericht iiber Plautus, Bursian's Jahresbericht, 1895, Part II. : Zur Uberlieferungsgeschichte der Komodies des Plautus, Berl. Phil. Woch. XVI, 1896, coll. 252ff., 283ff. Sonnenburg E. : De Menaechmis Plautina, Bonn, 1882. Teuffel W. : Studien und Charakteristiken, Leipzig, 1889. Van Ijsendyk A. : De T. Macci Plauti Persa, Utrecht, 1884. Weber H. : Plautusstudien, Philogus 57, 1898, PP- 23 iff. Wheeler A. L. : The Plot of the Epidicus, A. J. P. Vol. XXXVIII No. 3, 1917, pp.236- 264. Wilamowitz v. Moellendorf U. : Der Landmann des Menandros, Neue Jahrb, 1899, pp. 51 iff. : De tribus car- minibus Latinis, Index schol. Gott. 1893-4, pp. i3ff- UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY CENTRAL UNIVERS ITnivorsirv nf 000 807 870 , University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. ii 1 [I JAN 1 6 2001 QUARTER L0> vN DUG 13 RtC'D