Plautus: Mostellaria

The Mostellaria (ten called in English The Haunted House) is one of Plautus' most lively plays and one which contains his most skilfully handled elements of farce. Probably based on a Greek original, Philemon's Ghost, it concerns the scheming slave Tranio's attempts (including the invention of a haunted house) to disguise from his old master the sexual and financial prodigality of his son Philolaches, who is in love with the beautiful but unsuitable Philematium. The complex plot of deceit and confusion is, in the way of the genre, finally resolved in reconciliation and forgiveness. This edition, first published in 1968, was conceived as a first reader in Roman comedy. Its introduction includes sections on Plautus, on the genre, on the play and its plot, on Plautine language, style and metrics. Annotation and a full vocabulary aid the beginning reader.