Roman Comedy

David Konstan is Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek at Wesleyan University.

A fresh, tightly written and reasoned analysis of plays by Plautus and Terence, directed chiefly to the social and ethical implications of the plots. Konstan's goal is not social history but an interpretation of the playwright's artistry in constructing the social world of each play. His innovative approach should improve our understanding of the complex use of social tensions in comedy.(The Key Reporter) There is a striking scholarly brilliance underlying David Konstan's work. It is classical scholarship at its very best: objective, thorough, comparative, knowledgeable, and in this case, innovative and thought provoking. In eight, well-written, closely-annotated chapters (plus an introduction and conclusion), Konstan examines how six plays by Plautus and two by Terence reflect... 'tension in values as the mainspring of the drama....'.(Theatre Studies) This is a very important book in the study of Roman comedy and, indeed, in the study of comedy and society generally.... Konstan's ideas are profound; some are controversial; all are worth considering.(The Classical Bulletin)