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Alone on stage, Pseudolus boasts of his ability to carry about schemes. Soon Pseudolus encounters Harpax, the Macedonian soldier’s slave, who is looking for Ballio. Pseudolus pretends to be Ballio’s slave, Surus, and tells Harpax he can leave the money for Phoenicium with him. Harpax refuses, but he does leave a sealed letter from his master.
Pseudolus is frustrated that Simo’s knowledge of his plan presents an unexpected complication. Noticing Pseudolus, Simo tells Callipho he wants him tortured; Callipho tells him to ask about the rumors. In response to Pseudolus’s witty comments, Simo notes that Pseudolus is “high and mighty” (458); Callipho agrees there is “no lack of ...
Class does not equal intelligence: With the stock character, the clever slave (played by Pseudolus), the audience gets a glimpse that, despite the assumptions that Pseudolus, a slave, cannot possibly outwit the upperclass citizens, Ballio and Simo, this indeed does occur. Pseudolus is able to prove just how clever he is by fooling multiple others in order to help his owner's son, Calidorus.
Scene 17 Summary. Ballio tells Simo he can rest assured that the twenty minae he bet with Pseudolus are “safe and sound” (1069). When Simo expresses doubt, Ballio tells him that if Pseudolus steals Phoenicium, Ballio will give Simo the twenty minae himself. He also suggests that if Phoenicium has been turned over to Calidorus, Simo can take ...
If Simo now gives Pseudolus twenty minas, he does not suffer any true loss. Pseudolus is free to offer Simo half or even more of the twenty minas. If the role reversal with the promise of money to Simo at the end of the play goes back to Plautus, as is likely, it is also possible that the pimp’s exuberant promise (l. 1075) to let go of the girl and not just the twenty minas is Plautine too.
Sep 5, 2023 · Last Updated September 5, 2023. Pseudolus was written by Titus Maccius Plautus and is one of the oldest plays that survives from ancient Rome. The play begins with a warning that it’s long ...
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Pseudolus. Mosaic of Actors Preparing to Perform a Play. As in both the plays of Aristophanes and Menander, the roman playwright Plautus addresses the issues of class consciousness and status in his works. Plautus particularly addresses the influence that class and status had on ancient Roman society and thinking.
