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Commentary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2013

David M. Christenson
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
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Summary

Argumentum I

Plot summaries in iambic senarii were added to P.’s plays in (probably) the second century ad. An acrostic version survives for most plays; some have in addition a non-acrostic summary of 15 verses (the 9-line non-acrostic of Am. is unique). The argumenta consciously archaize, and usually replicate the particulars of P.’s versification. For Am., Arg. 1 is written more carefully than Arg. 11, and demonstrates deeper understanding of the play’s central themes. Acrostics were a mannerism of Hellenistic literature (cf. Virgil’s reference to his own name at G. 1.429–33, with Thomas’s (1988) note on 427–37), but their use in prophecy and the like suggests an origin in magical beliefs about the power of words.

1 faciem: the word does not occur in the play, where forma (266, 441, 456, 600, 614) and imago (121, 124, 141, 265, 458) are used in contexts describing the act of impersonation. The composer’s appreciation of uariatio can be glimpsed in 4 (cf. Arg. 17n.).

2 dum … gereret: P. would probably have used the indicative in this purely temporal clause (Lindsay 133–4).

3 Alcmenam: the spelling Alcu- is universal in the play and is in fact the transmitted reading here and in 5, but it does not scan in either place. The composer perhaps thought the penult of Alcumenam was short. uxorem cepit usurariam: a conflation of the gods’ favourite expressions, i.e. 108 usuram corporis cepit (cf. 1135–6) and 498 uxor usuraria (cf. 980–1), to describe the sexual ruse; cf. pp. 39–40.

Type
Chapter
Information
Plautus: Amphitruo
, pp. 129 - 317
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2000

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  • Commentary
  • Plautus
  • Edited by David M. Christenson, University of Arizona
  • Book: Plautus: Amphitruo
  • Online publication: 05 March 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139166652.011
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  • Commentary
  • Plautus
  • Edited by David M. Christenson, University of Arizona
  • Book: Plautus: Amphitruo
  • Online publication: 05 March 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139166652.011
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Commentary
  • Plautus
  • Edited by David M. Christenson, University of Arizona
  • Book: Plautus: Amphitruo
  • Online publication: 05 March 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139166652.011
Available formats
×