14 h 44 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A father's wedding plan, a son's secret love, and a clever servant: what could possibly stay under control?
The Comedies of Terence brings together six Roman plays: Andria, Eunuchus, Heautontimorumenos, Adelphi, Hecyra and Phormio. Young men fall in love, fathers demand obedience, and household schemes threaten to unravel. In Andria, Simo tests his son Pamphilus with a planned wedding, while the quick-thinking slave Davus tries to help—and gets caught in his own cleverness.
Behind the intrigue lie difficult questions about family life. In Adelphi, Micio and Demea raise sons through kindness and strictness. In Heautontimorumenos, Menedemus punishes himself after driving his son away. Hecyra gives us Sostrata, a mother-in-law wrongly blamed for a troubled marriage. Terence makes room for wit, regret and people whose good intentions do not keep them out of trouble.
What you’ll discover
- Fathers facing their sons Watch parental demands collide with young love, secret attachments and the wish to choose.
- Schemes that tangle together Follow carefully linked plots where a plan that helps one person may harm another.
- Women with their own aims Meet Thais, seeking a girl's return to her family, and Sostrata, ready to leave home.
- Wit under pressure Discover Davus's tangled cleverness and Phormio's daring legal trick on behalf of young men.
- Human troubles close at hand Find sharp dialogue and domestic conflicts that make these Roman households feel recognizably human.
Who will love it
For readers who love family drama, sharp dialogue and the roots of the modern sitcom, and for students of Latin or theatre.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A freed slave writes for Rome
- Two fathers, two schemes, two houses
- Cruel love and gentle fathers
- A mother-in-law and a parasite
- What the plays say about families
- How Terence builds a comedy
Who’s who
- Simo (Andria)An Athenian father who pretends to arrange a wedding to test his son Pamphilus, whom he suspects of a secret attachment.
- Davus (Andria)A quick-thinking household slave who tries to help young Pamphilus escape his father's plan, and often gets tangled in his own schemes.
- Thais (Eunuchus)A courtesan who wants to please a rich soldier while securing a young girl's return to her family.
- Chaerea (Eunuchus)A young man who falls for a girl at first sight and takes a reckless chance to get close to her.
- Menedemus (Heautontimorumenos)A lonely farmer who punishes himself with hard work after driving his son away, and longs to bring him home.
- Micio and Demea (Adelphi)Two brothers who raise sons in opposite ways, one with kindness in the city and one with strictness in the country.
- Sostrata (Hecyra)A mother-in-law wrongly blamed for trouble in her son's marriage, who is ready to leave home to set things right.
- Phormio (Phormio)A parasite who lives by his wits and offers the young men a daring legal trick.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 9 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Le commedie di Terenzio
by Terenzio
Simo stages a pretend wedding to test his son's secret attachment, setting a whole Athenian street in motion.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Comedies of Terence gathers the six plays that a young Roman playwright wrote for the stage in the second century BC. Terence was born in North Africa, came to Rome as a slave, and won his freedom.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A freed slave writes for Rome
Publius Terentius Afer, known to us as Terence, was born in Carthage in North Africa. He came to Rome as the slave of a senator named Terentius Lucanus, who saw his talent, had him educated and set him free. He took his master's family name, and the word Afer, meaning African, stayed with him. He wrote all six plays while still young.
His plays belong to the Roman tradition of comedies set in Greece, performed in Greek dress and based on Greek originals. The setting is usually Athens or a town nearby. The audience in Rome watched Greek households and Greek streets, but heard Latin speech, with music to accompany some scenes. The plays were staged at public festivals and at funeral games, in noisy crowds that did not always sit still.
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What are the six plays of Terence?
They are Andria, Eunuchus, Heautontimorumenos, Adelphi, Hecyra and Phormio. All six survive complete. Each is a comedy set in a Greek household, adapted from Greek New Comedy, mainly the work of Menander and Apollodorus.
Who was Terence?
Terence was a Roman playwright of the second century BC. He was born in Carthage, came to Rome as a slave and was freed by his master. He wrote six comedies before dying young, and his Latin became a school model.
Are the plays of Terence based on Greek originals?
Yes. Terence adapted Greek comedies, mostly by Menander, and sometimes joined scenes from two Greek plays into one Latin play. Rival writers attacked this habit, and he defended it in his prologues.
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