Module 3: Roman Theatre Flashcards
What was the ludi romani?
Roman Games (honored the god Jupiter).
How did Roman theatre differ from Greek theatre?
Roman theatre was more professionalized, and its plays weren’t as big into civic duty/virtue. Their masks were more elaborate than the Greeks, and they set their shows to more music (but eradicated the chorus).
How were actors viewed in Rome?
They were looked down upon and disrespected.
Scaena
Roman word for “skene,” except Rome’s was bigger and joined to the walls of the auditorium.
Adulescens
Roman Stock Character: “hero” (young straight lover, male)
Virgo
Roman Stock Character: “girl-next-door” (young straight lover, female)
Meretrix
Roman Stock Character:
“prostitute” (sex worker)
Senex
Roman Stock Character: “father/old man” (bumbling grandpa
Servus
Roman Stock Character: “wily slave” (tricky/clever slave)
Leno
Roman Stock Character: “pimp” (toxic masculinity vibes)
Miles Gloriosus
Roman Stock Character: “bragging soldier” (protein shake bros)
Parasite
Roman Stock Character: “slave/servants” (greedy slave)
Three common stock plots are:
Thwarted lovers; Disagreement between parent & child; Mistaken identity
Parabasis
direct address to the audience (Roman theatre)
How did stock plays usually end?
With a happy ending (at least for lovers)
What kind of plays did Plautus write?
Rambunctious comedies about middle-class people and their slaves.
What was unique about Plautus’ plays?
At least half of each play was sung
Who wrote “Mostellaria” (The Haunted House)?
Platus
Who is Tranio?
The servus (wily/tricky/clever slave) of Mostellaria
Who is Philolaches?
The son in Mostellaria who ate and drank away his father’s fortune
Who is Theoproprides?
The master in Mostellaria who went away for three years and came home to Tranio trying to keep him from discovering Philolaches’ frivolous spending
Seneca wrote which type of plays?
Stoic
Who wrote Thyestes?
Seneca
Why was Seneca important to theatre history?
He inspired Shakespeare to adopt the five-act play structure
What was Thyestes about?
A man accidentally eating his own children (baked them into a pie)
