8 - Terence, Plautus and the palliata

Summary

Turpilius

The dramatic activity of the comic playwright Sextus Turpilius is dated to the second half of the second century BC, according to the testimony of Hier. ad ann. Abr. 1914 Turpilius comicus senex admodum Sinuessae moritur. More specifically, some scholars place him well after Terence, whereas others believe that the two playwrights might have been contemporaries. Cf. also the testimony of Petrus Crinitus in his De poetis latinis: invenio apud veteres grammaticos hunc Turpilium summa benevolentia coniunctum fuisse Pub. Terentio et iisdem ludis utriusque fabulas aliquando actas.

It has been argued that Turpilius must be placed in the line of Terence. The main arguments for this opinion are the following:

1. Turpilius tends to use Greek titles.

2. He avoids Roman allusions.

3. He depends heavily on Menandrian originals.

4. His plots, like those of Terence, appear to have stressed the sentimental element more than is common in Plautine drama.

It has been shown, however, that Turpilius, mainly as far as characterisation, staging, metre and, up to a point, language are concerned, is much closer to the comic tradition as exemplified by authors such as Livius, Naevius, Caecilus etc., but above all Plautus, rather than Terence, who stands apart.

The present chapter offers the first thorough examination of the language and style of Turpilius' fragments. This will show that

1. Turpilius' language and style is close to the comic tradition (i.e. to the language of its main representatives, Plautus, Caecilius etc.), in opposition to Terence's language and style, which stands apart from the linguistic unity of comedy as a genre.

2. […]