A Commentary on Plautus' Curculio

Lively and critically aware, T. H. M. Gellar-Goads A Commentary on Plautus Curculio is the new reference text on the play. Curculio follows the efforts of the title character to trick a sex-trafficker into handing over an enslaved woman to the young man infatuated with her instead of to the soldier whos paid for her and will turn out to be her long-lost brother. As Plautus shortest comedy, Curculio has proven to be a desirable text for university performances. The play exemplifies Plautus style, with a blend of erotic, deception, and recognition plotlines, plus a wide range of archetypal characters. Gellar-Goads commentary is the complete package, with introductions to themes, content, humor, meter, and syntax; notes on matters of performance, interpretation, and social history; and a text with aids to scansion and clarifying stage directions. This up-to-date, authoritative commentary on the play will prove useful to directors and actors and will readily introduce students to the joys of Roman comedy.