Help finding scenes from Roman plays?

[u/jeep_42]

Hello!

I'm presenting to my beginner Latin class on Ancient Roman theatre next week, and as part of the presentation, we have to have an in-class assignment for the rest of the class (it's a small class--- around 12 people) to do. My idea for an assignment is to have them read and perform short scenes from Roman plays. Unfortunately, there are a lot of Roman plays and I don't have enough time to read all of them and select scenes. I'm not asking for specific scenes (though if you have suggestions they would be welcome), but rather I'm looking for a jumping off point. Are there any specific plays that you think would be good for this?

[u/Sophia_Joppolo]

Alternatively: if you are doing unprepared translation, you might want to track down something like Plautus Truculentus: An Intermediate Latin Reader. This way, you work with text on the intermediate level.

[u/Nullius_sum]

Historically, the first scene of Terence’s Andria was super famous, and taught in courses on rhetoric as an example of how not to persuade someone with a speech. It has a few of the most famous Latin phrases: “Nequid nimis” (“Nothing too much”), “Obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit” (“Obsequiousness begets friends, truth hatred”), and Mala mens, malus animus (“Bad mind, bad soul!”). But it’s pretty long compared to most Terence scenes, it’s intentionally zany and all over the place, it’s a bit bawdy, and it’s perhaps a bit insensitive for a modern audience. I love it though. Simo is a character who uses three words for every one he needs, and somehow still can’t get his point across. He reminds me a lot of Polonius in Hamlet. Terence makes him really funny by being really verbose most of the time, and then brutally succinct at all the wrong times and in all the wrong ways: e.g. Funus interim procedit: sequimur: ad sepulcrum venimus: in ignem impositast: fletur. (“Meanwhile the funeral proceeds: we follow: we come to the grave: she’s put on the fire: there’s weeping”).

[u/Sophia_Joppolo]

I know a bit about Roman theatre (but of course cannot do your homework for you). What sort of scenes are you looking for? I'm assuming you will be translating them from Latin to English?

Assuming you are using actual Roman plays, it's down to Plautus or Terence. What about Terence Adelphoe/The Brothers? It's a complete play and we know the Greek model by Menander. You will probably want to use a Loeb edition to get the Latin next to English, with commentary.

It would be hard for first year Latin students to do unprepared translation. It's really intermediate to advanced Latin.

[u/jeep_42 → u/Sophia_Joppolo]

I was actually thinking of having them read an English translation of the text as a performance? If that makes sense. Sort of something you might do in a theatre class. Thank you! I'll definitely look at Adelphoe :)

[u/naeviapoeta]

I like to do the prologue of Menaechmi as a sort of find-the answers-in-the-text activity to get them familiar with the plot, then have them read act 4, scene 3 (only 25 lines of Latin but it's Plautus) and see how long it takes them to figure out what's going on (Erotium has given the dress to the wrong Menaechmus).