Terence was the outstanding comedic playwright of his generation and one of the founding fathers of European comic drama. All six of his plays survive and are collected in this volume. Acknowledged as classics soon after his early death, admired above all for their style but also for their insights into human nature, these plays have been imitated by authors as diverse Moli�re and P.G. Wodehouse. They deal with the love-life of adolescent boys and with associated tensions in their relations with their fathers, showing love triumph over obstacles of various kinds. The action is enlivened by a number of stock characters such as scheming slaves, parasites, prostitutes, pimps, and boastful soldiers, and stock situations such as the rediscovery of foundlings. Rome had reached a pinnacle of power in the Mediterranean world, and the plays reflect tensions that were in the air at the time. But they are also true to universal elements of human experience, and audiences today can readily engage with the issues they raise. This new translation with introduction and explanatory notes aims to be both accurate and idiomatic, and to convey the liveliness of the plays as pieces written for the theatre.
The Comedies (Oxford World's Classics)
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Editorial Reviews
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This new translation ... is to be warmly welcomed. The whole is marked by the kind of scholarship one would expect from Brown, well informed, perceptive, alert to opposing views, and above all judicious. John Barsby, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
--This text refers to the
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Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Latin --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Original Language: Latin --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
timeless classic comedy,
By Some Pug Loves Me (Baton Rouge, LA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Comedies (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
Terence's character development is superb. He takes stock characters of past Greek plays and turns them around so that the reader sees that people are not black or white. They are rather gray with good and bad qualities. His stories develop around his characters and in each comedy there is a message that is as timesless as the dialogue and interaction between characters in his plays. I didn't really know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised with the mastery with which Terence took Greek plays and adapted them for his Roman audience. The editing was good, and I think that there is a little something for all readers in the comedies of Terence. They are timeless classics that draw a quiet smile from the reader rather than an outright laugh.
6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Comedic,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Comedies (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
This book is one of my favorite textbooks ever. The storylines are interesting, though perhaps not hilarious from a modern standpoint. They do however make excellent fodder for research papers and for a deeper understanding of the ancient world!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved this book,
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This review is from: Terence The Comedies (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)
I bought this book for a Roman history class and I really enjoyed the plays. I think that I will read more than just the assigned readings.
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First Sentence:
When the author first turned his mind to writing, he thought the only task he was set was that the plays he'd written should please the public. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
thirty minas, view from the right, goes indoors Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
The Eunuch, The Self-Tormentor, The Brothers, The Mother-in-Law, The Toady, Megalesian Games Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
When the author first turned his mind to writing, he thought the only task he was set was that the plays he'd written should please the public. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
thirty minas, view from the right, goes indoors Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
The Eunuch, The Self-Tormentor, The Brothers, The Mother-in-Law, The Toady, Megalesian Games Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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