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The Parasite As Portrayed by Plautus

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The Parasite As Portrayed by Plautus UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY Class Book Volume My 08 15M i THE PARASITE AS PORTRAYED BY PLAUTUS A STfJDy" OP MBNAECHMI. MILES GLORIOSUS, CAPTIVI, STJCHLS, CURCUCrO. PERSA. BACCHIDES. ASINARIA BY CARE ELMER ARMELlNti. A.B.. 1904 A THESIS FOK TH K SUHMITTKD ixX fAHTIAI. FIT OF THE KKQUIKEMK;>JTS DEGREE OE MASTER OP ARTS IIS- EATIN IN THE OKADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OP ILLINOIS 1908 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 190 THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY ENTITLED ittXAAj d hAJMjO^^AAAAA f^A^ "iLirtUS^iAJ^, ^ <X.^L&Ask/- IS APPROVED BY ME AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Instructor in Charge. Approved: 7 HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF . Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/parasiteasportraOOarme Ar5 there is perhaps In the entire scope of Latin comedy entertaining than that of the no character more interesting and of Plautus and Ter- so-called parasite. In nearly all the plays the play is not assigned ence where this part of the action of only the broadly comic ele- to slaves, the parasite supplies not the fertility of expedi- ment, but the wit of the dialogue, and drama. Moreover, we must ent which makes the interest of the introduced merely to not get the notion that this character is propensity to gor- amuse us by his successful roguery, or by his and often in mandize, on the other hand, in witty repartee, superior to the pa- practical wisdom, he is represented as far means easy to explain tron to whom he is attached. It is by no the parasite and satisfactorily this anomalous position between the Athenian citi- his benefactor. To some extent it is because dravm, held them- zens, from whom Plautus is supposed to have business of life— selves somewhat above the common practical someone else to do in short, they considered that they paid witty parasite oc- their thinking for them in such matters. The akin to the cupied a position in those households somewhat freedom which king's jester in later times allowed to use a rank. In the would not have been suffered from those of higher Plautus and Ter- Athens depicted by Menander and in the Rome of and when men of ence, when life was altogether more in public, this character, though any moderate position seldom dined alone, the purpose of perhaps not in the exaggerated form which suited sufficiently common. the comic dramatist, appears to have been V./ -2- has been ruined The parasite is a free-born man, but father's debt and tortured by on account of his omi or his start on the hunt of a chronic hunger which has forced him to (except in Persa) unmarried, free table. Being still young and time and person so that he he has the freest disposition of his his search for a meal. If he can with complete devotion go about guest or has not yet lacks steady accommodation as a constant the market place before been invited out, he seel^s his prey in means of his agreeable meal-time, makes acquaintances and, by If there occurs conversation, obtains an invitation to dinner. from the kitchen betrays to him a wedding or if a pungent odor comes even unasked. In re- that a feast is being prepared, he offers his unlimited turn for the good treatment he receives he and pa.-cicularly must stock of witticisms and practical jokes cf his host. Outwardly he be pleased at everything on the part feels hin- submissive and full of approval and admiration, he Along with his self inwardly far superior to his revered lord. to his cleverness and shrev/dness which he makes so serviceable work for patron he also fully understands how to exploit his his humor never the enhanced claims of his stomach. Furthermore, keeping with deserts him, and even his personal figure is in his outward aTD his unique character. As the principal traits of and pearance we notice his sly, canine movements, hla grinning though by greedy expression of countenance, ears flattened(a3 bent nose frequent cuffs and blows from his irritable patron), a the smooth forehead, and a lively, furtive glance. In addition, characters, Peniculus of the Menaechmi and Curculic of the play —a 3- only one eye. •by the same name, are represented as having It is an interesting fact that in most cases the names of these individuals are onomatopoeic, that is, they are made to suit the characters. Peniculus says that the young men gave him the name" Sponge" because he wipes the tables clean. Saturio is a name derived from "Satur", meaning "full of food". Gelasimus is derived from the Greek/<f A^^ ^'^ ^laughable; hence its meaning of buffoon or jester. Artotrogus, from the gnav/, gives us the meaning Gree-^V^TOS , bread, andTp^A)/^, to "bread-gnawer". A similar idea is expressed in the Latin name Gurculio which means" corn-worra" or "weevil". Gnatho from means "full-mouth". In the name of Ergasilus from to work, we have an idea quite different from that of the above- mentioned derivatives, as we have also in Phormio from C^O^|^ ^ door-raat. In six of the eight cases the parasite bears a name which indicates from its derivation the greedy propensities of the character. The idea "to work" suggested by the name Ergasilus is hardly in keeping with the real nature of the char- acter. unless we stretch a point and understand that "to work" means in this case"to scheme" or "to contrive plots". Likewise the name Hhormio would seem to have little real significance since that character is far from being a lowly jdo^^mtrodden per- son as seems to be indicated in the original Greek word. Still we might understand this case to be merely an associated idea a reference to the frequent visits and appearances of the par- asite in the door-way as an uninvited guest. The one quality which, in the portrayal by Plautus I parasite ae a and Terence, most generally characterizes the Usually on his class is his ravenous, insatiable appetite. condition and first appearance in the play he "bewails his hungry gives us moans about the gnawings of his stomach. Aulus Gelliue gormandizing guests in an admirable description of one of these which he attri- a passage from a lost comedy— "The Boeotian"— butes to Plautus:- "The gods confound the man who first invented This measuring time by hours: Confound him too, Who first set up a sim-dial — chopping up My day into these miserable slices I appetite, vnien I v/as young, I had no dial but The very best and truest of all timepieces; it. rnien that said "Eat", I ate— if I could get not. But now, even when I*ve the chance to eat, I must Unless the sun be willingi for the town Is grown so full of those same cursed dials. That more than half the population starve." The Oxford Edition has been used for all passages taken from Plautus and Terence. 21-S9. (1) Aulus Gellius, 111,3. Pragmenta, 11. Ut ilium di perdant primus qui horas repperit quique adeo primus statuit hie solarium, qui mihi comminuit misero articulatim diem nam me puero uenter erat solarium, multo omnium istorum optumum fet verissimum. -5- HoBt and servants alike seemed to recognizo a wide freedom in their gibes as to the greedy propensities of this class of self-invited guests. The cook in the Menaechmi is or- dered to provide breakfast for three :- Cook. What sort of three? Erotiiun. Myself, Menaechmus, and his parasite, Oook. Then that makes ten. I count the parasite as good as ajiy eight, (1) Again in a fragment of Plautus we find the amusing little pun: "*Tis not to gather strength he eats, but wishes to gather strength that he may eat the more". In many instances also the parasite himself goes to considerable length in his amusing soliloquies upon the subject of his ovm hunger. For in- stance, Peniculus in the Menaechmi says: -"The young men have given me tho name "Peniculus" because, vihen I eat, I wipe the tables clean. The persons who bind captives with chains, and who put fetters on runaway slaves, act very foolishly, in my ubi is te monebat, esses, nisi quom nihil erat; nunc etiam quod est non estur, nisi Soli lubet. itaque adeo iam oppletum oppidum est solariis: maior pars populi aridi reptant fame. (1) Menaechmi J 11. S21-223. Cy. qLioiuamodi hie homines erunt? Er. ego et Menaechmus et parasitus e^ius. Oy. iam isti sunt decern; nam parasitus octo hominum munus facile fungitur. added to a wretched man' opinion at least. For if bad usage is to run away and to do misfortune, the greater is hie inclination does he release himself from amiss. For by some means or other he either wears away a linte the chains; while thus fettered stone he Imocks out the nail; that with a file, or else with a wish to keep securely from running is easy to do. He whom you and drink; bind down the away, ought to be chained with meat long as you give him in a- mouth of a man to a full table. So and drink, he will bundance each day what he desires to eat committed a capital offense; never run away, even if he has you bind him with such easily will you. secure him so long as of food, the more you chains, so very supple are these chains they bind." (D stretch them, so much more tightly do (1) Menaechmi, 11.
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