Please Thursday, September 25, pleas read Plautus' The Prisoners (Captivi). Cite a line from this play that shows something about Roman society or Roman history one might not learn from a more conventional historical source, e.g., something about day-to-day life in Rome, something about Roman values, or something about the Roman sense of humor. Explain why you chose this particular line. Alternatively, note something Plautus has done with one of the five "narrative essentials" (plot, character, theme, setting, and tone) that shows something important about Roman history.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
The Prisoners
Please Thursday, September 25, pleas read Plautus' The Prisoners (Captivi). Cite a line from this play that shows something about Roman society or Roman history one might not learn from a more conventional historical source, e.g., something about day-to-day life in Rome, something about Roman values, or something about the Roman sense of humor. Explain why you chose this particular line. Alternatively, note something Plautus has done with one of the five "narrative essentials" (plot, character, theme, setting, and tone) that shows something important about Roman history.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The passage that I found the most interesting was when Hegio said, " I am glad to see that you accept your servitude in the proper spirit and you will find that your willingness will be to your own advantage as much as anyone else's."
ReplyDeleteThis shows that slaves are expected to work for their masters with the utmost respect. Their servitude should be accepted not overlooked.
Essentially the Roman slaves were an important part of society and if the slaves knew that and embraced it then there wouldn't have been so many problems. The slaves also weren't a minority they were normal Roman citizens who just had a rough life as slaves. But most of them were sold by their fathers into slavery much like in the examples provided in the Prisoners.
One passage I found to represent Roman life was when Tyndarus said "just because you have been reduced to poverty in your own country and haven't a penny to live on, you want to make out that everyone is in the same case. It doesn't surprise me; beggars are always spiteful and envious of respectable people.
ReplyDeleteThis quote to me represents the Roman upper class' disdain towards those beneath them. Roman's valued power, and most of the time wealth was pure power. When someone was in poverty, they lacked respect.
I think the main theme of this play is about freedom; and this quote makes note that the poor are prisoners in their own right. While not slaves or prisoners of war, the poor succumb to the will of the rich and do not have true freedom.
-Zack Krage
One passage I found which showed one aspect of how masters treated their slaves is " GUARD: I'm sure we'd all rather be free than slaves""HEGIO: But not you it seems."
ReplyDeleteJust this subtle two line conversation tells a whole lot about how masters of the time treated their captive slaves. This tells us that the slaves obviously valued their possible freedom highly and that the masters used this to make the slaves work harder. The slaves in this story obviously had to have some belief that if they worked hard and did what they were told then they might have a chance of becoming free again in the future. Whether this belief I founded or not is not clear however they still held it. When Hegio said this he was holding that possible freedom against the guard saying the guard did not value his possible freedom highly enough to follow his orders.
Matthew Remmich
At the beginning of Scene 3, Philocrates says "I'm quite disposed to do both of you a good turn, sirs, you and him both; you can use me like a wheel, I'll turn your way or his, either way, wherever you like."
ReplyDeletethis is a good example of the entire opinion slaves have of their masters in this play and perhaps in Roman society. they seem surprisingly content and appreciative for their forced upon lot in life and it makes me think that maybe slaves didn't have they same problems with being considered property back in the day. for the most part people appear to seem them as real people who just so happen to be prisoners.
Sean McCracken
I thought the passage between Hegio and his slaves was important to the study of Roman culture. The relationship between slave and owners in our history was not what it was like in Rome. In the South the slaves were treated awful and did not have any opportunities to become free. That was not the case you find in Rome. You get to see interactions between master and slave that seem pretty normal. You wouldn't know that one was a slave just by looking at the conversation. That seemed real interesting to me because it was so different from the system the was set up in the south and other places during that time.
ReplyDeleteTyndarus: I shall not complain- so long as I am not sent to my death as a criminal...Die if i must, what i have done will be remembered to my credit after I am dead...how i chose to imperil my own life rather than let him die.
ReplyDeleteThis line shows a belief in a good death by even the commoners of Rome not just the famous Romans. This theme works well in the play because Tyndarus is wrongly enslaved and at one point sees death as the only way to escape enslavement but wants to have a strong legacy left behind him, which he then goes on to list some of the deeds that could be in his legacy. This also tells how easy it was for men to become slaves in Ancient Rome. I chose this line because of its appeal to the Roman belief in death and legacy in common people. The author also sets a heroic tone through Tyndarus as a result of the speech that welcomes death but knowing that one has not died in vain.
-Jackson Pasco
The part that I found the most interesting was when Hegio was talking to the guard. They were discussing the prisoners and how they need to make sure they don't escape, and you learn the guard is also a slave. I think this shows a lot about the slaves in that time and how loyal they are. The slaves believe in the possible freedom so much that they will stay with their masters until their work is complete which is a lot different than the slaves we think about today.
ReplyDeleteKaycee Teppo
I think the way slaves were treated is interesting. Yes almost everyone knows that the romans have slaves. we also know how horrible I can be from our own American history. The culture of Rome is different from that of the American south thought. One of these examples was the way the master treated one of his slaves as a sex object. Another slave he sent to the mines to die before he found out he was his son. -Trent Dean
ReplyDelete