more trouble than it's worth. Euclio isn't a bad man by any means, but his obsession with hanging on to his grandfather's pot of gold has turned him into a suspicious, paranoid man incapable of trusting anyone.

It's also made him neglect his responsibilities as a father. He's so preoccupied with preventing his gold from being stolen that he remains oblivious to his daughter Phaedria's pregnancy. Euclio's still blissfully unaware of Phaedria's condition when Megadorus asks him for his daughter's hand in marriage. Once again, wealth has blinded Euclio to what's happening under his very nose. However, Euclio eventually comes to realize that gold isn't everything, thus proving that he's a fundamentally decent man who was temporarily dazzled by wealth, as most people are at some point in their lives.

Euclio’s prevailing trait is avarice. He cares little for the condition of his daughter, Phaedria, as demonstrated by the casual and offhand way in which he consents to her marriage with Megadorus. He is far more concerned for the treasure awarded to him by his household deity, being apparently ungrateful as to Phaedria’s role in helping him obtain it. He becomes deeply suspicious of the other characters in the play, whom he suspects of desiring his pot of gold. His violent response on discovering that Strobilus had been following him indicates that he will stop at nothing to preserve his wealth, though his foolish nature is then indicated by his hiding the gold in a location that the servant easily accesses. Initially outraged at the loss of his gold, Euclio is so happy to receive it once more from Lyconides that he awards it as a wedding gift to his daughter.

Euclio is above all a character who is defined by his greed and avaricious nature. It is clear from the very opening scene, when he beats Staphyla, his old slave who is very loyal to him, that his greed is possessing him, and, above all, the pot of gold that he is so delighted about having, is beginning to own him rather than the other way round. Note, for example, what he says in an aside whilst beating Staphyla:

Oh, but how horribly scared I am she'll come some sly dodge on me when I'm not expecting it, and smell out the place where the gold is hidden. She has eyes in the very back of her head, the hellcat. Now I'll just go see if the gold is where I hid it. Dear,dear, it worries the life out of me!

In particular, the last phrase, "it worries the life out of me!", could be used to show the major theme of this play: the dangers of greed and the way that possession of wealth does not necessarily come as a blessing to its recipients. Euclio's greed is shown to affect every single part of his thoughts, as when Megadorus generously proposed marriage to his daughter, he automatically suspects that Megadorus must have found out about his wealth and wants to marry his daughter in order to get it. Even when he has agreed to the marriage, and he finds his house full of people getting ready for the wedding, he is so obsessed with his gold that he automatically assumes they are looking for his hidden pot of gold. Euclio is therefore a sadly comic character who takes his love of the pot of gold to extreme lengths, showing the negatives of greed.