Curculio (play)

Plot

In Curculio, Phaedromus is in love with Planesium, a slave girl belonging to the pimp Cappadox. Phaedromus sends Curculio (a stock parasite character) to Caria to borrow money from a friend. Unsuccessful, Curculio happens to run into Therapontigonus, a soldier who intends to purchase Planesium. After Curculio learns of his plans, he steals the soldier's ring and returns to Phaedromus. They fake a letter and seal it using the ring. Wearing a disguise, Curculio takes it to the soldier's banker Lyco, tricking him into thinking he was sent by Therapontigonus. Lyco pays Cappadox, under the conditions that the money will be returned if it is later discovered that she is freeborn. Curculio takes the girl to Phaedromus. When the trick is later discovered, the angry Therapontigonus confronts the others. However, Planesium has discovered from the ring that she is actually Therapontigonus's sister. Since she is freeborn, Therapontigonus's money is returned, and Planesium is allowed to marry Phaedromus.

The play is set in Epidaurus (line 341), in Greece. On the stage are the houses of Phaedromus and Cappadox, and between them a temple of Aesculapius, the god of healing.

Metrical structure

Plautus's plays are traditionally divided into five acts. However, it is not thought that the act-divisions go back to Plautus's time. The structure of the plays is often more clearly shown by the variation in metres. A common pattern in Plautus is for a metrical section to begin with iambic senarii (which were unaccompanied by music), followed optionally by a musical passage or song, and ending with trochaic septenarii, which were recited or sung to the music of a pair of pipes known as tibiae.

The metrical structure of the Curculio is very simple. Taking A = iambic senarii, B = other metres, C = trochaic septenarii, with a break after each C passage, the order of passages might be seen as follows: :ABC, AC, AC, BC, AC

C. W. Marshall (2006), however, prefers the following break-down, starting each section (or "arc") with iambic senarii: :ABC, AC, ACBC, AC

He points out the effectiveness of the sudden change to iambic senarii, when the music stops, at the moment when the soldier reveals where he got the ring (line 635).

There is one polymetric canticum (96–157), and one passage of 90 lines of iambic septenarii (371–461). Apart from this the only metres used are the usual iambic senarii and trochaic septenarii. As with several other plays, the first music is sung by a female character. The iambic septenarii, which are often associated with love, are used when Planesium is brought out from Cappadox's house and seen off by the slave-dealer. Another short passage of iambic septenarii (125–7) is used when Leaena pours a libation of wine to the goddess Venus.

Phaedromus visits Planesium

• Act 1.1 (1-95): iambic senarii (95 lines)

• Act 1.2 (96-157) polymetric song (aeolics, an, ia-tr, cr, ba, ia7) (62 lines)

• Act 1.3 (158-215): trochaic septenarii (58 lines)

Curculio returns with a plan

• Act 2.1–2.2 (216-279): iambic senarii (64 lines)

• Act 2.3 (280-370): trochaic septenarii (91 lines)

Curculio tricks the banker

• Act 3.1 (371-461): iambic senarii (90 lines)

• Act 4.1 (462-486): trochaic septenarii (24 lines)

• Act 4.2 (487-532): iambic septenarii (46 lines)

• Act 4.3–5.2 (533-634): trochaic septenarii (101 lines)

All ends well

• Act 5.2 (cont.) (635–678): iambic senarii (41 lines) :: Eventually the soldier reveals that the ring used to belong to his father. Planesium delightedly greets him as her brother. Therapontigonus at first is suspicious, but at last, after she has mentioned certain details and shown him a ring which he once gave her, he recognises her as his sister. The ever-hungry Curculio suggests that they should both hold dinners to celebrate the reunion. Phaedromus asks the soldier to betroth his sister to him, which Therapontigonus agrees to.

• Act 5.3 (679-729): trochaic septenarii (51 lines)

Translations

• Henry Thomas Riley, 1912:
• Paul Nixon, 1916-38:
• George E. Duckworth, 1942
• Christopher Stace, 1981
• Henry S. Taylor, 1995
• Amy Richlin, 2005
• Wolfang de Melo, 2011

References

References

1. W. de Melo (2011), "Plautus: ''Curculio'' (Loeb Classical Library vol. 61), pp. 223–4.
2. For the ABC order, common in Plautus, see Moore, Timothy J. (2012), ''Music in Roman Comedy''. Cambridge University Press, pp. 237-42, 253-8, 305-8, 367-71.
3. Marshall, C. W. (2006). ''The Stagecraft of Roman Comedy'' (Cambridge University Press), p. 217.
4. Moore, T.J. (2012), ''Music in Roman Comedy'', p. 246.
5. Moore, T. J. (2012), ''Music in Roman Comedy'', pp. 185, 188.
6. For details of the metres line by line see: [http://romancomedy.wustl.edu/ Database by Timothy J. Moore of ''The Meters of Roman Comedy''], Washington University in St Louis.
7. The character names are not known for certain here: Papaioannou, Sophia (2008/9). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/27750226 "What's in a Name? The Real Identity of Palinurus in Plautus' ''Curculio''."] ''The Classical Journal'', Vol. 104, No. 2 (Dec.–Jan., 2008/2009).
8. Moore suggests that these "running slave" scenes, which occur in several plays of Plautus, were probably performed to dance movements: Moore, T. J. (2012), ''Music in Roman Comedy'', pp. 122–124.
9. Similarly in ''[[Persa (play). Persa]]'' 159, the parasite Saturio hires out a costume for his daughter from a choragus in order to play a trick.
10. Plautus. (2011). "Plautus, Vol II: Casina; The Casket Comedy; Curculio; Epidicus; The Two Menaechmuses". Loeb Classical Library.