Publius of Terents. Publius terentius afr

Publius of Terents. Publius terentius afr

A life

The best source for his biography is an ancient biography of him, belonging to Suetonius.

He lived between the 2nd and 3rd Punic Wars, was from Carthage and belonged to some African (or Libyan) tribe, as indicated by his nickname "Afr".

Having somehow got to Rome, Terence was a slave to Senator Terence Lucan, who, noticing his outstanding abilities, gave him a thorough education, and then freedom.

Terence's talent gave him access to the highest circles of Roman society. The best part of the young generation of the Roman aristocracy, who was well acquainted with the rich literature of the Greeks, then strove, under foreign influence, to ennoble both Russian speech and Russian customs.

At the center of this society was Scipio the Younger, next to whom stood his friend Lelius. Terence also joined this circle. Encouraged by his patrons, he decided to devote his energies to comedy.

Creation

According to the tastes of the time, Terence was not original; As a model for himself, he chose mainly the Greek comedian Menander, without translating him, however, literally, and borrowing whole scenes from other Greek writers, for example from Apollodorus. In the art of composing his plays from the works of two authors or from two works of the same author (the so-called contamination) Terentius achieved considerable skill, but this indicates, at the same time, the poet's lack of his own inventiveness.

By a rare accident, all of Terence's works have come down to us, there are only 6 of them:

  • "Girl from the island of Andros" (Andria),
  • "Mother-in-law" (Hecyra),
  • "Punishing himself" (or Self-torturer) (Heautontimorumenos),
  • "Eunuch" (Eunuchus),
  • "Formion" (Phormio; name of the pimp in the play);
  • "Brothers" (Adelphae).

These pieces, listed in chronological order, were first staged on the Roman stage during the period from to BC. BC e. The most successful play was "The Eunuch", which was performed twice in one day and won prizes.

On the contrary, “Mother-in-law” was received very coldly by the public. During the 1st and 2nd performances, the people preferred to leave the theater and watch rope dancers and gladiators. Currently, Terence's most consistent work, both in the course of action and in the development of characters, is recognized as "The Brothers". The success of "Eunuch" among the Roman public should be explained by some piquant details of this play, the hero of which disguised himself as a eunuch and in this capacity was present at the bathing of his beloved. After the production of "The Brothers" in 160 BC. e. Terence undertook a trip to Greece, from which he never returned: he died in 159 BC. e. , 25 or 35 years old.

The plays of Terence, in accordance with the society in which the poet moved, are distinguished by a much greater purity and nobility of language than the comedies of Plautus. Terence's syllable was so elegant that the poet's enemies spread a rumor that he was helped in composing the comedies of Scipio and Lelius. Along with this, Terence tries to avoid everything especially obscene in action. He apparently paid much attention to the development of the characters of the characters, which in most cases are much more restrained than types Plavta.

Terentius has no hints of Roman life. This feature of his comedies contributed most to the vitality of his works until almost the 19th century. The plays of Terence could be mainly liked by a select audience, and not by the masses. We read praises for them in the ancient world from authors such as Caesar and Cicero. Horace, Persius and Tacitus discover a close acquaintance with Terentius. Even in antiquity, the comedies of Terence got into schools and became the property of scholars of grammar, who wrote various interpretations to them.

Subsequent tradition

Many manuscripts of Terence have come down to us. All of them, with the exception of the main source for the restoration of the text - the Bembin Codex (5th century; named after the former owner, Cardinal Bembo, now in the Vatican), go back to a review of the grammar of the 3rd century. n. e. Calliopia. Some of the manuscripts (Parisian, Vatican, Milanese) have interesting drawings.

Even in antiquity, the comedies of Terence got into schools and became the property of scholars of grammar, who wrote various interpretations to them. The most valuable among them are the comments of a scientist of the 4th century. n. e. Donat, whose work contains very interesting instructions to the actors.

Interest in Terence did not stop in the Middle Ages: in the 9th century, his comedies were read by Alcuin at the court feasts of Charlemagne; in the 10th century, the nun of Hrotswitt fought against Terence's plays as the source of all temptations. In the era of the Reformation, Erasmus earnestly recommends Terence for his language, and Melanchthon for the elaboration of characters. In France Terentius influenced Moliere, especially his plays Le dépit amoureux, L école des maris and Les fourberies de Scapin. In Great Britain, many of Terence's translations were performed by J. Coleman.

The most complete critical review of Terence's text in the 19th century belongs to Umpfenbach’y (B., 1870); then the editions of Fabia (P., 1895), Fleckeisen'a (Lpts., 1898, 2nd ed.), Dziatzko (Lpts., 1884) deserve attention. Foreign literature about Terence until the end of the 19th century is indicated in the book by Schanz “Geschichte der röm. Litteratur "(Part 1, Munich, 1898).

The cycle of large-format paintings illustrating the play "Andria" was written by the Danish artist Nikolai Abildgaard.

Editions

A complete translation of all comedies (A. Khvostov, M. Golovin and others.) Was published in St. Petersburg. in 1773 - 74:

  • Comedies by Publius Terenty African, translated from Latin into Russian. With the introduction of the original. T. 1-3. SPb, -. (the same in 2 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1773-1774)
    • T. 1. Andriyanka. / Per. A. Khvostova. Eunuch, or Skopets. / Per. M. Golovin. 1773.444 pp.
    • T. 2. Eauton-timorumenos, or the Man who punishes himself. / Per. F. Richmann. Adelphs, or Brothers. / Per. K. Florinsky. 1774.424 pp.
    • T. 3. Ekira, or Mother-in-law. / Per. F. Moiseenkova. Formion. / Per. F. Sinsky. 1774.380 pp.
  • Geavton Timorumanos. (Punisher of himself.) Comedy Publius Terence the African... / Per. A. Rezoali. Kiev, 1862.62 p.
  • Brothers. Comedy P. Terence... / Per. M. P [etrov] skogo. Kazan, 1873.87 p.
  • "Andria" in translation by D. Podgursky (Kiev, 1874; reprint from "Works of Kiev Spiritual Academician" for 1873),
  • Punishing himself. Comedy P. Terence... / Enter., Comm. and Russian. per. A.K.Dellen. Kharkov, 1879.379 p.
  • P. Terentius... Andryanka. / Per. V. Alekseeva. SPb, 1896.69 p.
  • Resettlement from the island of Andros. Comedy P. Terence... / Per. S. Nikolaeva. SPb, 1893.85 p.
  • Brothers. Comedy Terence... / Per. P.N. Chernyaeva. Rostov-on-Don, 1917.94 p.

With Russian notes, two plays were published by T .: "Heautontimorumenos" - by Dellen (Kharkov, 1879, reprint from Zap. Kharkiv Univ., 1878-79) and "Eunuchus" - by Vogel (Nizhyn, 1884; reprint from " Known. Nezh. Inst. ", Vols. IX and X).

In the 1930s, all of Terence's comedies were translated into Russian by AV Artyushkov (published by the Academia publishing house).

  • Terence. Comedy. / Per. A.V. Artyushkov, ed. and with comm. M. M. Pokrovsky, entry. Art. P. Preobrazhensky. (Series "Ancient Literature) Moscow-Leningrad: Academia. 643 pp. 5300 copies.
    • republished: (Series "Library of Classical Literature. Rome"). M., Art. lit. 1985.576 pp.
    • republished: (Series "Antique Drama"). M., Art. 1988.480 pp.
    • republished: (Series "Library of Classical Literature"). Kharkiv, "Folio", 2001. 605 p.
  • Adelphi. Latin text, trans. A. V. Artyushkova, introduced. and comm. S. I. Sobolevsky. M., Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. 1954.463 pp. 4000 copies.

Notes (edit)

Research

  • Zotov, "Analysis of T. Comedies" ("Repertoire" for 1845).
  • K. Tress was engaged in the language of T.
  • V. I. Modestov, "Lectures on the History of Roman Literature" (St. Petersburg, 1888);
  • Chernyaev P.N. Observations on Terentius and his interpreter Donatus. Warsaw, 1910.143 p.
  • Chernyaev P.N. Life and customs based on the comedies of Terence. Warsaw, 1912.464 p.
  • Savelieva L. I. Artistic method P. Terence Afra. Kazan, Kazan Publishing House. un-that. 1960.208 pp. 500 copies.
  • Yarkho V. Dramaturgy Terence: Lessons of Humanity // Terence. Comedy. M., "Fiction", 1985

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Publius Terentius Afrus (195-159 BC) created more serious palates. This writer was neither Roman nor Italic. His nickname (cognomen) Afr, as it were, means that the comedian is from Africa, but it is not clear what his origin is: a Libyan, a Punian, or maybe a Greek. The name Terence indicates that he was a slave (the slaves who were released according to Roman custom received the name of the master's clan), but we do not know how or when he got to Rome. The writer died young. The opinion that he died by drowning on a ship is the most popular, but it is also not accepted by everyone, since in the IV century. n. e. the grammarian Donat, who wrote a biography of Terence and commentaries on his comedies, offers several versions (Don. Vita, 5). It is only clear that the writer left for Greece or even further and never returned to Rome. He created 6 comedies that have survived to this day. These are: "Andriyanka" ("Girl from Andros"), "Brothers", "Formion", "Mother-in-law", "Punishing himself", "Eunuch".

The plays of Terence differ from the plays of Plautus in that they have almost no carnival fun of Saturnalia, foul language or vilification, Roman energy and pressure. Terence varies the universal and eternal humanistic ideas of Menander. The motto of the comedian can be considered the expression: "I am a man, and I believe that nothing human is alien to me" (Heaut. 77). He is ready to help to realize the vices, he is determined to correct society. He is guided by the principle of fabula docet ("the fable teaches"), he is more concerned with the psychological situation, rather than intrigue, human characters, and not laughter. Comedy characters most often love and respect each other, conflicts arise only due to misunderstandings or ignorance.

In the comedy "Brothers" Terence raises questions of the relationship between different generations, education and human communication in general. At the beginning of the first act, Mikion lays out the backstory of the comedy. Rich and unmarried, he adopted a nephew. The brother raises another son himself. They don't get along about their upbringing. The brother "considers that power is more authoritative / And stronger that only holds on to power, / Than that that is created by friendliness" (66-68). Mikion is sure that with children you need to be condescending and friendly. In dialogues with his brother Demeya, he appears to be a complete liberal, although alone with himself he admits that he does not like the ugly actions of his pupil. Later it becomes clear that not a single brother raised a perfect, blameless person. Brought up in severity, Ctesiphon falls in love with a hetera, and Aeschines, spoiled by indulgence, seduces the daughter of his neighbors. True, they are not completely spoiled people. Ctesiphon, who flashed in passing in the play, turns out to be sincere and conscientious, only struck by the evil arrow of Cupid by a young man. Aeschines nobly took upon himself the shame of kidnapping a kifarist woman and vowed to marry his girlfriend, only he did not dare to open up to his father. Because of this selfish fear, he has to listen to a sermon on humanism:

The girl offended: did you have the right to do this?

Yes, great, great offense, yet human;

People and good people, it happened, did the same.

But, if it happened so, then what were you waiting for?

Say everything? But how then could I know? For now

You hesitated, a whole nine months have passed!

He betrayed himself, his son, and her unfortunate woman.

(Adelph. 686-693).

At the end of the comedy, the stern Demea is corrected, but Terence shows that Mikion is not always right. In his comedies, there are generally no completely negative or perfect heroes.

Occasionally Terence also attracts elements of buffoonery. The scene of the fight with the pimp organized by Aeschines is full of such ridiculous fun. However, such scenes are few. The comedian is more willing to amuse the audience with misunderstandings that have arisen due to ignorance (Demea does not know that Ctesiphon is fascinated by the kypharist, most of the characters do not know that Aeschines kidnapped the cypharist for his brother, Aeschines does not know that Mikion is preparing his wedding, etc.), a parody (Sir aptly parodies Demea's pedagogy), etc.

Terence's comedies have less Roman spirit than Plautus's plays. Educated people understood and appreciated them better. Preserved reviews of the work of Terence in the verses of the two famous Romans who lived later, Cicero and Caesar (Don. Vita, 7). Both of them consider Terence an excellent translator of Menander's comedies, both admire his correct, clean, beautiful language. This shows that the Romans valued Terence for completely different things than modern times. We like Terence's call to love others, to help them, to sympathize, his tactful admonition to abandon vices. The comedies of Menander and other Hellenistic authors have not reached us, but the Romans read them, they knew the ideas and content of the plays, Terentius did not say anything particularly new.

Therefore, it is more important for Cicero and Caesar to note that Terence began the formation of the literary Latin language. The protagonists of Plautus' comedies spoke in a rich, rich, but irregular folk language, while Terence, according to Cicero, writes in a "chosen language" - lecto sermone (Don. Vita 7, 13). Caesar, calling him a lover of pure language - puri sermonis amator (Don. Vita 7, 9), regrets that the writer lacks a strong comic.

Thanks to his pure, beautiful language, Terence was read in schools, and many expressions from his plays, which were remembered by the readers, became maxims. For example: "how many people, so many opinions" - quot homines, tot sententiae (Phorm. 454); "lovers' quarrels renew love" - ​​amantium irae amoris integratiost "(Andr. 555);" everyone has their own character "- suus cuique mos (Phorm. 454);" old age itself is a disease "- senectus ipsa est morbus (Phorm. 575) ; "I am a man, and I believe that nothing human is alien to me" - homo sum: humani nihil a me alienum puto (Heaut. 77), etc.

Like Plautus, Terence did not translate Menander or other authors verbatim. From parts of their various comedies, he weaved his own fabric, the various threads of which we would not have noticed if we did not have Donat's commentary that has survived. Although the New Comedy influenced Terence more than Plautus, it is not easy to discern symmetry in his plays. The commentator Donath has twice emphasized that it is difficult to divide them into five acts (Don. Euanth. III, 8; Andr. Praef. II 3). Modern scholars of comedy Terence completely agree with him. However, they emphasize that even without a symmetrical structure, Terence's comedy is carefully thought out: it fully reveals the unfolding action and theme.

The prologues of Terence's comedies are especially original and interesting. They are not written off or translated, the writer created them himself. The prologues of Terence resemble the parabases of the comedies of Aristophanes, which were not related to the content of the play: in them the writer, on his own behalf, explained the phenomena of political or cultural life of interest to him. In the prologues, Terence speaks about the assessment of his work, argues with critics. In the prologue to the comedy "The Brothers" he explains what plays by the authors of the New Comedy he used, mentions rumors that spread in Rome that he was not the author of his comedies, that they were written by Scipio or Lelius, who, not daring to admit it (at that time writer in Rome was not yet respected), hide behind the name of a poet of low origin. Terence neither denies nor confirms this. Calling the rumor bearers spiteful critics, he asks the favor of the just audience, which gives the poet the strength and determination to write.

There are even two prologues in the comedy "Mother-in-law". This play has been staged three times, and only the last time was it possible to play it. We have no prologue for the first attempt. When the comedy was staged a second time, Terence in a short prologue complained that the last time the audience had not gathered, because at the same time there was a performance of rope acrobats. The second prologue mentions the first failure and tells about the failed second attempt: at first I liked the play, however, when rumors spread about gladiatorial battles taking place nearby, the audience fled. Now, for the third time, the writer asks the audience for indulgence and benevolence.

The laughter of ancient comedy through the plays of Plautus and Terence, dressed in a Greek cloak, entered the drama of modern times. Following Plautus 'Menechms, Shakespeare created The Comedy of Errors, Moliere, influenced by Plautus' Amphitryon, wrote his play with the same name, and Terence's comedy Formion became the prototype of his "Scapen's Tricks". From antique comedies to the works of European writers came doubles, disguises and other elements. Sly slaves became resourceful servants and maids, a boastful warrior became the captain of the commedia dell'arte, and stern old men and crying young men in love just threw off their Greek cloak and put on a dress in the fashion of modern times. The influence of Plautus and Terence in modern times was best expressed by La Fontaine, who wrote the following epitaph to Moliere:

Plautus and Terentius rest in this grave,

Although in fact you will find Moliere here.

Three talents made one soul

And they made France laugh together.

Bibliography

1. Braun L. Die Cantica des Plautus. Göttingen, 1970.

2. Brozek M. Terencijusz i jego komedie. Wroclaw, 1960.

3. Büchner K. Das Theater des Terenz. Stuttgart, 1974.

4. Duckworth G. The Nature of Roman Comedy. Princeton, 1952.

5. Dunkin P. Sch. Post-Aristophanic Comedy. Illinois, 1946.

6. Fraenkel E. Plautisches in Plautus. Berlin, 1931.

7. Haecker E. Zum Aufbau plautinischer Cantica. Berlin, 1936.

8. Jachmann G. Plautinisches und Attisches. Berlin, 1931.

9. Lefèvre E. Die Expositionstechnik in der Komödien des Terenz. Darmstadt, 1969.

10. Lefèvre E. Plautus barbarus. Tübingen, 1991.

11. Leo F. Plautinische Forschungen. Berlin, 1912.

12. Leo F. Geschichte der römischer Literatur. Berlin, 1913.

13. Maurach G. Untersuchungen zum Aufbau plautinischen Lieder. Göttingen, 1964.

14. Norwood G. Plautus and Terence. New York, 1932.

15. Primmer A. Handlungsgliederung in Nea und Palliata. Wien, 1984.

16. Przychocki G. Plautus. Kraków, 1925.

17. Segal E. Roman Laughter: The Comedy of Plautus. Cambridge, 1968.

18. Spranger F. Historische Untersuchungen zu den Sklavenfiguren des Plautus und Terenz. Mainz, 1960.

19. Skutsch F. Plautinisches und Romanisches. Darmstadt, 1970.

20. Sudhaus S. Der Aufbau der plautinischen Cantica. Leipzig und Berlin, 1909.

21. Talladoire B. A. Essai sur le comique de Plaute. Monaco, 1965.

22. Zagagi N. Tradition and Originality in Plautus. Göttingen, 1980.

23. Zwierleine O. Zur Kritik und Exagese des Plautus. Stuttgart, 1990-1991, I-III.

24. Kats A. L. Social orientation of creativity Plautus. / Bulletin of ancient history. 1980, No. 1, 72-95.

25. Savelieva L. I. Artistic method P. Terence Afra, Kazan, 1960.

26. Savelieva L. I. The methods of comic at Plautus. Kazan, 1963.

27. Trukhina N. N. Hero and antihero Plautus. / Bulletin of ancient history. 1981, No. 1, 162-177.

28. Yarkho V. N., Polonskaya K. P. Antique comedy. M., 1979.

Publius Terentius Afr(lat. Publius Terentius Afer) - playwright, representative of the ancient Roman comedy.

A life

The best source for his biography is an ancient biography of him, belonging to Suetonius.

He lived between the 2nd and 3rd Punic Wars, was from Carthage and belonged to some African (or Libyan) tribe, as indicated by his nickname "Afr".

Having somehow got to Rome, Terence was a slave to Senator Terence Lucan, who, noticing his outstanding abilities, gave him a thorough education, and then freedom.

Terence's talent gave him access to the highest circles of Roman society. The best part of the young generation of the Roman aristocracy, who was well acquainted with the rich literature of the Greeks, then strove, under foreign influence, to ennoble both Russian speech and Russian customs.

At the center of this society was Scipio the Younger, next to whom stood his friend Lelius. Terence also joined this circle. Encouraged by his patrons, he decided to devote his energies to comedy.

Creation

According to the tastes of the time, Terence was not original; As a model for himself, he chose mainly the Greek comedian Menander, without translating him, however, literally, and borrowing whole scenes from other Greek writers, for example from Apollodorus. In the art of composing his plays from the works of two authors or from two works of the same author (the so-called contamination) Terentius achieved considerable skill, but this indicates, at the same time, the poet's lack of his own inventiveness.

By a rare accident, all of Terence's works have come down to us, there are only 6 of them:

  • "Girl from the island of Andros" (Andria)
  • "Mother-in-law" (Hecyra)
  • "Punishing himself" (or Self-torturer) (Heautontimorumenos)
  • Eunuchus
  • "Formion" (Phormio; name of the pimp in the play)
  • "Brothers" (Adelphae)

These pieces, listed in chronological order, were first staged on the Roman stage between 166 and 160. BC e. The most successful play was "The Eunuch", which was performed twice in one day and won prizes.

On the contrary, “Mother-in-law” was received very coldly by the public. During the 1st and 2nd performances, the people preferred to leave the theater and watch rope dancers and gladiators. Currently, Terence's most consistent work, both in the course of action and in the development of characters, is recognized as "The Brothers". The success of "Eunuch" among the Roman public should be explained by some piquant details of this play, the hero of which disguised himself as a eunuch and in this capacity was present at the bathing of his beloved. After the production of "The Brothers" in 160 BC. e. Terence undertook a trip to Greece, from which he never returned: he died in 159 BC. e. , 25 or 35 years old.

The plays of Terence, in accordance with the society in which the poet moved, are distinguished by a much greater purity and nobility of language than the comedies of Plautus. Terence's syllable was so elegant that the poet's enemies spread a rumor that he was helped in composing the comedies of Scipio and Lelius. Along with this, Terence tries to avoid everything especially obscene in action. He apparently paid much attention to the development of the characters of the characters, which in most cases are much more restrained than types Plavta.

Terentius has no hints of Roman life. This feature of his comedies contributed most to the vitality of his works until almost the 19th century. The plays of Terence could be mainly liked by a select audience, and not by the masses. We read praises for them in the ancient world from authors such as Caesar and Cicero. Horace, Persius and Tacitus discover a close acquaintance with Terentius. Even in antiquity, the comedies of Terence got into schools and became the property of scholars of grammar, who wrote various interpretations to them.

Subsequent tradition

Many manuscripts of Terence have come down to us. All of them, with the exception of the main source for the restoration of the text - the Bembin Codex (5th century; named after the former owner, Cardinal Bembo, now in the Vatican), go back to a review of the grammar of the 3rd century. n. e. Calliopia. Some of the manuscripts (Parisian, Vatican, Milanese) have interesting drawings.

Even in antiquity, the comedies of Terence got into schools and became the property of scholars of grammar, who wrote various interpretations to them. The most valuable among them are the comments of a scientist of the 4th century. n. e. Donat, whose work contains very interesting instructions to the actors.

Interest in Terence did not stop in the Middle Ages: in the 9th century, his comedies were read by Alcuin at the court feasts of Charlemagne; in the 10th century, the nun of Hrotswitt fought against Terence's plays as the source of all temptations. In the era of the Reformation, Erasmus earnestly recommends Terence for his language, and Melanchthon for the elaboration of characters. In France Terentius influenced Moliere, especially his plays Le dépit amoureux, L école des maris and Les fourberies de Scapin. In Great Britain, many of Terence's translations were performed by J. Coleman.

The most complete critical review of Terence's text in the 19th century belongs to Umpfenbach’y (B., 1870); then the editions of Fabia (P., 1895), Fleckeisen'a (Lpts., 1898, 2nd ed.), Dziatzko (Lpts., 1884) deserve attention. Foreign literature about Terence until the end of the 19th century is indicated in the book by Schanz “Geschichte der röm. Litteratur "(Part 1, Munich, 1898).

The cycle of large-format paintings illustrating the play "Andria" was written by the Danish artist Nikolai Abildgaard.

Latin texts:

  • Latin Comedy Texts

TERENCE, PUBLIC OF TERENCE AFR(Publius Terentius Afer) (c. 195-159 BC), Roman comedian. Born in Carthage, he was brought to Rome as a slave and then released. Terence became a close friend of Scipio the Younger, whose circle included statesmen and writers who wanted to improve the Latin language, give it polish and grace. Six of Terence's comedies were staged in 166–160. All of them are in the genre of palliata (fabula palliata, can be translated as "a play in Greek clothing"), that is, like the works of Plautus, they were alterations from the new Greek comedy. Girl from Andros(Andria), Self-torturer(Heauton timorumenos), Eunuch(Eunuchus) and Brothers(Adelphoe) are based on the works of Menander, Formion(Phormio) and Mother-in-law(Hecyra) - Apollodorus. In 160 BC. Terentius took a trip to Greece, where he died the following year (or died in a shipwreck).

The comedies of Terence are quite different in spirit from the works of Plautus. There is little singing and dancing, there is no rude humor and elements of farce inherent in the work of the senior comedian, the language is less energetic and impetuous than that of Plautus, jokes and puns are much less common. The humor of Terence is not an exaggeration of human flaws and not amusing situations, but that "meaningful laughter" that J. Meredith ( Essays on Comedy, 1897) considers it typical of Menander and Moliere. Lacking the breadth and variety of Plautus, Terentius works the plot and characters much more subtly. There is less mutual deception of characters in Terence's plays; by following Menander, he for the most part forces the heroes not to recognize or misrecognize each other, with recognition coming at the denouement. The fathers of the heroes behave much more dignified and wiser, and if they are sometimes seized with confusion or they are not able to comprehend what is happening, then this always follows from the situation ( Formion, Mother-in-law, Brothers). Heterus Terentius often displays noble and magnanimous, for example Faida in Eunuch and Bacchis in Mother-in-law... Even more unusual is the image of Sostrata's patient and selfless mother-in-law in Mother-in-law... An outstanding feature of Terence's dramatic technique was the use of a twofold plot: the love stories of two young people, usually brothers or cousins, are intertwined, so that the happy resolution of one novel depends on the other. The dual plot is inherent in all of Terence's comedies, except Mother-in-law.

One of the innovations of Terence was a different than before, the use of the prologue. Plautus explains in his prologues the situation in which the heroes of the comedy find themselves, and often cheerfully asks the audience for favor. Terence, on the other hand, avoids any allusion to the content of the play in the prologues, but devotes himself entirely to defending against the attacks of other playwrights, especially the comedian Lucius Lanuvin. Referring to the example of his predecessors - Nevi, Plautus and Ennius, Terentius admits that he also introduces episodes from another Greek original into the comedy, and defends his right to this technique, called contamination. Partly due to the fact that the prologue does not touch the plot, partly due to the skillful construction of Terence's action (we see this in Formione and Mother-in-law) viewers remain perplexed about the secret springs of events.

Terence's art is more Greek than Roman, his plays lack the Italic flavor of Plautus, there are no references to Italian places or events. Terence tried to reproduce as accurately as possible the thought and style of the Greek original. Like Plautus, Terentius had a great influence on the playwrights of the Renaissance. Moliere carried out the alterations Formion and Brothers, and through him Terence also influenced the English playwrights of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Brothers... Unlike other Roman comedies, Brothers- a play with a trend, since it shows two opposite ways of raising children, as well as their consequences. Mikion adopted Aeschines, the son of his brother Demea, and raised him in affection and generosity. Another son, Ctesiphon, is raised by Demea himself in severity and prohibitions. The play depicts the love affairs of Ctesiphon and Aeschines. Ctesiphon fell in love with a slave, and for the sake of his brother Aeschines kidnaps the girl from the pimp. Demea believes that Aeschines is in love with her, and Sostratus, the mother of the girl whom Aeschines actually loves and who became pregnant from him, suspects the same. The misunderstanding is clarified after Mikion discovers the truth and convinces Demea to come to terms with what happened. When Demea sees that his brother has achieved universal favor with his tolerance, he playfully changes his lifestyle and, showing sudden generosity, wins the love of both sons.

Mother-in-law... After two failures, the comedy was staged in Rome for the third time in 160 BC. The comedy is unusually serious in tone, it shows the discord that began among the spouses after the wedding. The mother-in-law is unfairly accused of the troubles associated with the birth of a child, whom the husband refuses to recognize, since the wife lost her innocence before the wedding. Later it is revealed that the husband is the father of the child, and everything ends well. This comedy, considered the best example of the ancient "high comedy", is unusual in many respects: the public remains in the dark until the very end, there is little humor, and the author constantly removes the slave, usually the most amusing character, from the stage, so that he is deprived of the opportunity to understand situations. Women's characters are distinguished by incredible nobility and dedication.

Formion... Formion is a dexterous parasite (parasite) who patronizes two cousins ​​in love. First, he helps the first, by deceiving the authorities, to marry his girlfriend. The situation is complicated by the appearance of fathers of young people. One of the fathers has a bastard daughter, whom he wishes to marry off to his nephew. When it turns out that the young man is already married, and it is to her, Formion uses the money that he had previously lured from his father, who wanted to upset the marriage, in order to ransom a slave girl loved by another young man. The play amusingly combines confusion of recognition with a complex plot.

) - playwright, representative of the ancient Roman comedy. He died at a young age, managed to write 6 comedies. All of them have come down to our time.

A life

The best source for his biography is an ancient biography belonging to Suetonius and contained in his work "On Famous People" (De viris illustribus).

The plays of Terence, in accordance with the society in which the poet moved, are distinguished by a much greater purity and nobility of language than the comedies of Plautus. Terence's syllable was so elegant that the poet's enemies spread a rumor that he was helped in composing the comedies of Scipio and Lelius. Along with this, Terence tries to avoid everything especially obscene in action. He apparently paid much attention to the development of the characters of the characters, which in most cases are much more restrained than types Plavta.

Terentius has no hints of Roman life. This feature of his comedies contributed most to the vitality of his works until almost the 19th century. The plays of Terence could be mainly liked by a select audience, and not by the masses. We read praises for them in the ancient world from authors such as Caesar and Cicero. Horace, Persius and Tacitus discover a close acquaintance with Terentius. Even in antiquity, the comedies of Terence got into schools and became the property of scholars of grammar, who wrote various interpretations to them.

Subsequent tradition

Many manuscripts of Terence have come down to us. All of them, with the exception of the main source for the restoration of the text - the Bembin Codex (5th century; named after the former owner, Cardinal Bembo, now in the Vatican), go back to a review of the grammar of the 3rd century. n. e. Calliopia. Some of the manuscripts (Parisian, Vatican, Milanese) have interesting drawings.

Even in antiquity, the comedies of Terence got into schools and became the property of scholars of grammar, who wrote various interpretations to them. The most valuable among them are the comments of a scientist of the 4th century. n. e. Donat, whose work contains very interesting instructions to the actors.

Interest in Terence did not stop in the Middle Ages: in the 9th century, his comedies were read by Alcuin at the court feasts of Charlemagne; in the 10th century, the nun of Hrotswitt fought against Terence's plays as the source of all temptations. In the era of the Reformation, Erasmus earnestly recommends Terence for his language, and Melanchthon for the elaboration of characters. In France Terentius influenced Moliere, especially his plays Le dépit amoureux, L école des maris and Les fourberies de Scapin. In Great Britain, many of Terence's translations were performed by J. Coleman.

The most complete critical review of Terence's text in the 19th century belongs to Umpfenbach’y (B., 1870); then the editions of Fabia (P., 1895), Fleckeisen'a (Lpts., 1898, 2nd ed.), Dziatzko (Lpts., 1884) deserve attention. Foreign literature about Terence until the end of the 19th century is indicated in the book by Schanz “Geschichte der röm. Litteratur "(Part 1, Munich, 1898).

A cycle of large-format paintings illustrating the play "Andria" was written by a Danish artist