{"id":164,"date":"2009-10-14T05:33:56","date_gmt":"2009-10-14T05:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/classics\/st-olaf-latin-plays\/aulularia\/"},"modified":"2023-06-07T08:13:32","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T13:13:32","slug":"aulularia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/classics\/st-olaf-ancient-plays\/aulularia\/","title":{"rendered":"Plautus’ Aulularia<\/em> (“The Pot of Gold”) – 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"

St. Olaf Latin Play MMIX<\/h2>\n

Click here <\/a>to download a slideshow from the 2009 production of Plautus’\u00a0Aulularia<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254-184 B.C.) composed over 100 comedies in Latin, adapting them from Greek originals.\u00a0 The play on which he based his Aulularia<\/em> (\u201cThe Pot of Gold\u201d) has not survived.\u00a0 Moli\u00e8re’s 17th-century L\u2019Avare<\/em> (\u201cThe Miser\u201d) is the most famous of the later comedies inspired by the Aulularia<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like all classical drama, the Aulularia<\/em> is written in verse, and certain sections are meant to be sung by the actors.\u00a0 We have set five of these lyrical passages to music.\u00a0 In ancient times accompaniment would have been provided by an aulos<\/em>, a double-reed instrument similar to an oboe.<\/p>\n

Although the characters in the Aulularia<\/em> speak Latin, nearly everything else about them is Greek:\u00a0 they have Greek names, Greek clothing, and Greek customs.\u00a0 The action takes place on a residential street in Athens.<\/p>\n

All of Plautus’ actors were men or boys, and they wore masks.\u00a0 The Aulularia<\/em> would have been performed without intermission, as we too perform it.<\/p>\n

\"\"Prologue<\/span>:\u00a0 The Lar (guardian god of the household) tells the audience about Euclio, a poor, stingy man who lives alone except for an old housekeeper named Staphyla and Euclio’s daughter Phaedria, nicknamed Aula (\u201cPot\u201d).\u00a0 Euclio has no idea that Phaedria is pregnant and about to give birth.\u00a0 He has just discovered a pot filled with gold and is frantic that someone may steal it from him.\u00a0 The Lar assures us that the pot of gold will eventually enable Phaedria to marry Lyconides, the young man who loves her and has fathered her baby.<\/p>\n

Scenes 1-2<\/span>:\u00a0 Euclio drives Staphyla out of the house, suspecting that she is after his pot of gold–when, in fact, no one except Euclio even knows that it exists.\u00a0 He then leaves for the marketplace, where there is to be a free handout.<\/p>\n

Scenes 3-5<\/span>:\u00a0 Eunomia has come to visit her bachelor brother Megadorus, Euclio\u2019s rich neighbor.\u00a0 She advises him to get a wife (Song #1).\u00a0 Reluctant at first, he soon relents and decides to ask Euclio for his daughter\u2019s hand in marriage, not knowing that she is pregnant.\u00a0 As Eunomia departs, Euclio shows up and is persuaded to accept Megadorus\u2019 proposal.\u00a0 Megadorus volunteers to pay for two wedding feasts, one in his house and one in Euclio’s; he takes his slave Strobilus with him to the marketplace to help him hire cooks and buy food.\u00a0 Euclio, after giving directions to Staphyla, leaves to go shopping himself.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a>Scenes 6-15<\/span>:\u00a0 Strobilus leads back from the market four silly cooks.\u00a0 After lamenting their bad reputation as crooks (Song #2), the cooks enter Euclio’s and Megadorus’ houses.\u00a0 Euclio, returning to find his home filled with commotion, chases everyone out, sure that his gold has been stolen.\u00a0 Finding it still safe, he lets the cooks continue with their work while he carries the pot with him under his cloak.<\/p>\n

Scenes 16-18<\/span>:\u00a0 Megadorus comes on stage, reflecting on the wisdom of marrying a poor girl with no dowry (Song #3).\u00a0 Euclio, overhearing the song, is pleased with its sentiments but still suspect Megadorus of wanting to marry his daughter only to get at his gold.\u00a0 Megadorus leaves to prepare for the wedding as Euclio goes into the shrine of Fides (\u201cTrust\u201d or \u201cFaith\u201d) to hide his pot there.\u00a0 Lyconides’ slave Pythodicus now appears, having been sent by his master to spy out the situation.\u00a0 He boasts about his perfect behavior (Song #4).<\/p>\n

\"\"Scenes 19-23<\/span>:\u00a0 Euclio, talking to himself about his gold as he leaves the shrine, is overheard by Pythodicus.\u00a0 As soon as Euclio enters his house, the slave rushes into the shrine to steal the pot.\u00a0 At that moment the sound of a bleating sheep sends Euclio running back into the shrine to check on the gold.\u00a0 Finding Pythodicus there, he drives him outand interrogates him, finally letting him go when he sees that the slave is empty-handed.\u00a0 He decides to hide the pot in a remote grove; as he exits, he is followed secretly by Pythodicus.<\/p>\n

Scenes 24-28<\/span>:\u00a0 Lyconides and his mother Eunomia arrive at Megadorus’ house.\u00a0 Eunomia, having learned the truth from her son, goes inside with Lyconides to convince her brother to abandon his wedding plans.\u00a0 Pythodicus joyfully runs by with the pot he has pilfered; after him comes Euclio, bemoaning the loss of his gold (Song #5).\u00a0 Lyconides now confesses to Euclio and reports that Phaedria has had a baby.\u00a0 As Euclio races inside his house to confirm this, Pythodicus returns, having hidden the pot in his master’s house.\u00a0 He brags to Lyconides about the theft and asks whether he can buy his freedom with the stolen gold; outraged, Lyconides orders him to give the pot back to Euclio.\u00a0 At this point the text breaks off.\u00a0 In our production the Lar will deliver an epilogue reconstructing the lost ending of the play, and everyone will, of course, live happily ever after.<\/p>\n

Return to Latin & Greek Plays<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St. Olaf Latin Play MMIX Click here to download a slideshow from the 2009 production of Plautus’\u00a0Aulularia. Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254-184 B.C.) composed over 100 comedies in Latin, adapting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":163,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-164","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/classics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/classics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/classics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/classics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/classics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/classics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10529,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/classics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/164\/revisions\/10529"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/classics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/classics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}