The Pot of Gold is a comedy written by Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. It centers on Euclio, an old man who discovers a pot of gold buried in his house and resolves to hide it from anyone who might steal it. This becomes difficult for him to do after he promises the elderly merchant Megadorus his daughter Phaedria’s hand in marriage, and increasingly elaborate wedding arrangements are made at his house.

After promising Euclio that he won’t have to pay a single cent of dowry, Megadorus succeeds in getting Phaedria’s hand in marriage. He then arranges to have a wedding feast at Euclio’s house, bringing along the cooks Congrio and Anthrax for the special occasion. Alongside the cooks are a few attendants and the music girls, Phrygia and Eleusium. With the two lambs and other provisions Megadorus purchases from the market, Congrio and Anthrax start to prepare a feast for the wedding. Aside from lamb, they make dishes out of rooster, conger eels, and lamprey eels. When Euclio arrives at his house after purchasing frankincense and a wreath of flowers, however, he is shocked to find the sheer number of people bustling on his property. He immediately orders them to leave so that he may safely secure the pot of gold.

Megadorus is able to easily convince Euclio to hold the wedding arrangements at his house because the latter is a miser—he would rather Megadorus make all the decisions out of his pocket. Ultimately, the wedding preparations make for a comedic situation, as the hustle and bustle of such a supposedly joyous celebration is undercut with Euclio’s anxiety over his pot of gold.