Roman Comedy

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This advanced course introduces students to Latin comic drama. Comic plays were a popular attraction at Roman religious festivals, and Rome produced two outstanding comic writers of completely opposite temperament, the boisterous and broad Plautus, and the wry and elegant Terence. Both continue to influence Western dramatic forms. Readings from Plautus and Terence reveal the conventions of comic drama and its use as a distinctive instrument to reflect upon the concerns of Roman life.