THE DRAMATIC VALUES IN PLAUTUS

J. W. Donaldson, in his lectures on the Greek theatre,40 has
plagiarized Schlegel practically verbatim, while giving the scantest
credit to his source. His work thus loses value, as
DONALDSON being a mere ccho, or compilation of second-hand
material.
We learn from Schlegel that Goethe was so enamored of ancient
comedy that he enthusiastically superintended the translation and
production of plays of Plautus and Terence. Says Schlegel:41
"I once witnessed at 'iVeimar a representation of the Adelphi of
Terence, entirely in ancient costume, which, under the direction of
Goethe, furnished us a trnly Attic evening."
In this connection the opinion of Sir Walter Scott may be
interesting. He too, not being a classical scholar par excellence,
may be better equipped for sound judgment. In
SCOTT the introduction to Dryden's Amphitryon he says:
"Plautus left us a play on the subject of
Amphitryon which has had the honour to be deemed worthy of
imitation by Moliere and Dryden. It cannot be expccted that the
plain, blunt and inartificial style of so rude an age should bear any
comparison with that of the authors who enjoyed the highest
advantages of the polished times to which they were an ornament."
There speaks the sophisticated and conscious literary technician !42
The most comprehensive and judicious estimate of all is certainly
attained by LeGrand in Daos.43 He appreciates clearly
that "la nouvelle comedie n' a pas ete, en toute circon-
LEGRAND stance, une comedie distinguee. Elle n' a pas
dedaigne constamment la farce et Ie gros rire. "44
How much more then would this apply to palliatae!
We now believe that we have on hand a sufficiently large volume
of criticism to appreciate practically every phase of judgment to
which Plautus has been subjected.45 The ancients overrated him
stylistically, but he was a man of their own people. Men such as
Becker, Weise, Lorenz and Langrehr have proceeded upon a dis-
4°Theatre of the Greeks, p. 443 . 41P. 197.
"Cf. Ritschl's opinion, Note 30.
43V. supra. 41P. 620. But d. Note 37.
4sCf. £urther Plessis, La poesie latine (Paris, 1909), p. 54 ff.; Patin, E'tudes
sur la poesie latine (Paris,1869), Vol.. II, p. 224 ff.; Ribbeck, Geschichte der
romischen Dichtung (Stuttgart, 1894) , Vol. I, p. 57 ff. ; Tyrrell, Early Latin
Poetry, p. 44 ff. A very excellent discussion is contained in Duff, A Literary
History of Rome (N. Y., 19(9), p. 183 ff .
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