A commentary on Plautus' 'Aulularia'

Abstract

This thesis provides a commentary on Plautus' Aulularia. In the introduction I examine the key themes and issues of Aulularia, in particular the two main textual problems of the names of the slaves and the lost ending, and the two main themes of communication and religion. The introduction also examines the characters of the play, some aspects relating to the Greek model, the main features of Plautine Latin, and the MSS tradition. However, there is not an attempt either to discover exactly what Plautus wrote, or to reconstruct the Greek model. The commentary focuses on the explanation of lines which are difficult or unusual linguistically, metrically, or textually, but also discusses social and historical themes as they arise, which are not examined in the introduction. Thus I have aimed to investigate technical aspects in detail, while keeping in mind a broader perspective, which enables one to discover the themes of the play. These themes have been emphasised in order to create a form useful to both undergraduate and postgraduate students, since the ultimate aim is to publish the commentary. At the end of the commentary there is a conspectus metrorum, which aims to provide a starting-point for an investigation of the metre of the play, rather than a definitive analysis. It is the aim of this commentary and introduction to aid appreciation and understanding of the material that survives to us, while not forgetting that it does not exist in isolation from its Greek model, but recognising that there is value in a study of this play for itself, whether or not Plautus remained close to or deviated much from his Greek model.