Wonder(s) in Plautus
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Chrysanthi Demetriou
Abstract
This paper examines the cases where a Plautine comic intrigue is identified with a story of wonder. It focuses on the Amphitruo, the only play from the period of New Comedy that revolves around divine actions. By elaborating on the idea that miraculous incidents in the Amphitruo are presented as a comic scheme by Jupiter, it co-examines the incidents of this unique comedy with other, more ‘conventional’ Plautine intrigues, mainly in the Mostellaria and the Miles Gloriosus. By juxtaposing the way wonders are presented by the comic tricksters, and how they are perceived by their audience, the paper argues that Plautus, in his treatments of wonders, while offering a manifold approach to the wondrous, also accentuates the importance of personal experience. Finally, the playwright’s treatment of wonders is examined as a possible parallel to contemporary ideological debates, in order to also disclose the interests of Plautus’ audience.
Abstract
This paper examines the cases where a Plautine comic intrigue is identified with a story of wonder. It focuses on the Amphitruo, the only play from the period of New Comedy that revolves around divine actions. By elaborating on the idea that miraculous incidents in the Amphitruo are presented as a comic scheme by Jupiter, it co-examines the incidents of this unique comedy with other, more ‘conventional’ Plautine intrigues, mainly in the Mostellaria and the Miles Gloriosus. By juxtaposing the way wonders are presented by the comic tricksters, and how they are perceived by their audience, the paper argues that Plautus, in his treatments of wonders, while offering a manifold approach to the wondrous, also accentuates the importance of personal experience. Finally, the playwright’s treatment of wonders is examined as a possible parallel to contemporary ideological debates, in order to also disclose the interests of Plautus’ audience.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgments V
- Table of Contents VII
- Introduction: In search of the Miraculous IX
-
I. Miracles
- Ctesias’ Indica and the Origins of Paradoxography 3
- The Epidaurian Iamata: The first “Court of Miracles”? 17
- Medicine and the paradox in the Hippocratic Corpus and Beyond 31
- ‘One might rightly wonder’ – marvelling in Polybios Histories 63
- Omens and Miracles: Interpreting Miraculous Narratives in Roman Historiography 85
- Miracles and Pseudo-Miracles in Byzantine Apocalypses 111
-
II. Workings of Miracles
- Wonder-ful Memories in Herodotus’ Histories 133
- Wonder(s) in Plautus 153
- Telling Tales of Wonder: Mirabilia in the Letters of Pliny the Younger 179
- Paradoxographic discourse on sources and fountains: deconstructing paradoxes 205
- Lucian’s Alexander: technoprophecy, thaumatology and the poetics of wonder 225
-
III. Believing in Miracles
- Perceiving Thauma in Archaic Greek Epic 259
- Turning Science into Miracle in the Voyage of Alexander the Great 275
- ‘Many are the wonders in Greece’: Pausanias the wandering philosopher 305
- Miracles in Greek Biography 327
- Apuleius on Raising the Dead Crossing the Boundaries of Life and Death while Convincing the Audience 353
- Recognizing Miracles in ancient Greek Novels 381
- List of Contributors 417
- Index Nominum et Rerum 423
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgments V
- Table of Contents VII
- Introduction: In search of the Miraculous IX
-
I. Miracles
- Ctesias’ Indica and the Origins of Paradoxography 3
- The Epidaurian Iamata: The first “Court of Miracles”? 17
- Medicine and the paradox in the Hippocratic Corpus and Beyond 31
- ‘One might rightly wonder’ – marvelling in Polybios Histories 63
- Omens and Miracles: Interpreting Miraculous Narratives in Roman Historiography 85
- Miracles and Pseudo-Miracles in Byzantine Apocalypses 111
-
II. Workings of Miracles
- Wonder-ful Memories in Herodotus’ Histories 133
- Wonder(s) in Plautus 153
- Telling Tales of Wonder: Mirabilia in the Letters of Pliny the Younger 179
- Paradoxographic discourse on sources and fountains: deconstructing paradoxes 205
- Lucian’s Alexander: technoprophecy, thaumatology and the poetics of wonder 225
-
III. Believing in Miracles
- Perceiving Thauma in Archaic Greek Epic 259
- Turning Science into Miracle in the Voyage of Alexander the Great 275
- ‘Many are the wonders in Greece’: Pausanias the wandering philosopher 305
- Miracles in Greek Biography 327
- Apuleius on Raising the Dead Crossing the Boundaries of Life and Death while Convincing the Audience 353
- Recognizing Miracles in ancient Greek Novels 381
- List of Contributors 417
- Index Nominum et Rerum 423
