Volume 55, Issue 2

Abstract

Abstract

Discussions about the interpretation of Plautus’ self-proclaimed usually centre on the interpretation of the character of Alcumena, the wife of the eponymous general: should we see her as a tragic heroine or as a comic character? In this paper I will elaborate a third option, in which Alcumena is interpreted as a comic character precisely because her tragic features are grotesquely parodied, and I will argue for an analysis of the as a parody of tragedy. Mercury plays a central role as the divine who brilliantly directs the various reversals throughout the play and ‘performs’ the transition into a tragicomedy on the stage.

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2022-08-01
2024-03-28
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Keyword(s): Alcumena; Amphitruo; performative; Plautus; seruus callidus; tragicomedy

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