Titus Maccius Plautus, Miles Gloriosus

Christopher Bungard (Butler University)

Ed. by William John Dominik, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. -206

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Comedy
Play

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Plautus’

Miles Gloriosus

(

The Braggart Soldier

) features one of the great stock character types of comedy. Likely a play of Plautus’ early career (probably around 206 BCE based on lines 211-212 which scholars think refer to the imprisonment of the playwright Naevius), it focuses on the conniving of Palaestrio (the clever slave) to rescue Philocomasium (the girlfriend) for his master Pleusicles (the lover), from the clutches of Pyrgopolynices (the braggart soldier) whose sense of his own hyper-masculinity is constantly undermined by other characters. Palaestrio must first deceive the soldier’s slave Sceledrus in order to remove him from the picture before turning his attention to bamboozling the soldier. Through these two deceptions, the audience is encouraged to simultaneously…

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1281 words

Citation: Bungard, Christopher. "Miles Gloriosus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 June 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=21414, accessed 25 November 2024.]

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Titus Maccius Plautus, Miles Gloriosus

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