Terence Criticism
Terence, or Publius Terentius Afer, remains a significant figure in Roman literature, renowned for his elegant language, sophisticated plots, and nuanced characterizations across his six comedies. Despite criticisms of heavily modeling his works on Greek predecessors, Terence has been celebrated for transcending these influences to develop a unique Roman theatrical expression. As emphasized by Gilbert Norwood, Terence evolved from traditional frameworks into enduring dramatic forms.
Biographically, Terence's life details are largely speculative, with most information derived from Suetonius, as preserved by Donatus. Born in Carthage, he was brought to Rome as a slave, then educated and emancipated by his owner, Terentius Lucanus. His integration into Scipio Aemilianus's circle, despite accusations of ghostwriting and plagiarism, positioned his works within a cultured elite, though they never achieved massive popular appeal.
His surviving plays, including Andria, Hecyra, and Adelphoe, showcase Terence's adept use of double plots and realistic, yet urbane, portrayals of Roman society. Departing from the coarse humor of predecessors, Terence's refined dialogue and character work illustrate a humane perspective, encapsulated in his credo "homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto." Notably, Dwora Gilula highlights his narrative method's complexity through dual plots.
While his contemporaneous reception was mixed, his Latin style was praised by figures such as Cicero and Caesar, the latter critiquing his comedic depth. Despite debates over originality, critics acknowledge Terence's transformation of Greek comedy into Roman settings. Historically vital, his works resurged in the Middle Ages and influenced Renaissance and eighteenth-century drama, appreciated today for their linguistic purity and dramatic innovations, as noted by Betty Radice.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Terence (Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism)
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Joseph Webbe (essay date 1629)
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An introduction to The First Comedy of Pub. Terentius, Called Andria
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Webbe lavishly praises Terence's style and language, advising that, if his readers wish to improve their conversational skills, they need only read Terence as a guide.
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An introduction to The First Comedy of Pub. Terentius, Called Andria
(summary)
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Lawrence Echard (essay date 1694)
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A preface to Prefaces to Terence's Comedies and Plautus's Comedies
(summary)
Echard was one of the most respected translators of the works of Terence. Here, he presents an overview of Terence's style and works, noting that his only real fault was a lack of comic vision.
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A preface to Prefaces to Terence's Comedies and Plautus's Comedies
(summary)
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The Comedies of Terence
(summary)
In the following excerpt, the anonymous reviewer points out that, although Terence suffered from a lack of recognition because his plays did not satisfy popular audiences in his time, he remains "a well of Latin undefiled."
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J. W. Mackail (essay date 1895)
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Comedy: Plautus and Terence
(summary)
Mackail comments on Terence's position in the history of Roman literature, noting that, while his style is not colorful, it exemplifies the best stylistic qualities of his era. He argues that the Terentian comedy is a turning-point in Roman literature, contrasting it with the works of Plautus and Ennius, and critiques the adoption of the Greek manner as an end in itself, leading to mediocrity in Latin literature.
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Comedy: Plautus and Terence
(summary)
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George Meredith (essay date 1897)
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On the Idea of Comedy and of the Uses of the Comic Spirit
(summary)
Meredith was a respected nineteenth-century British poet, novelist, and critic. His creative works, though they are considered to lack a philosophical framework, reflect the ideas of his age: they embody a profound belief in evolution and in the essential goodness of humanity. In the following excerpt, he briefly comments on Terence, focusing especially on his 'beautiful translucency of language.'
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On the Idea of Comedy and of the Uses of the Comic Spirit
(summary)
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Theodor Mommsen (essay date 1908)
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Literature and Art
(summary)
A German historian, writer, and politician, Mommsen is known for his authoritative work in several areas of Roman studies, particularly Roman law. His Römische Geschichte (1856; The History of Rome), acclaimed as a masterful synthesis, reflects Mommsen's conviction that history should be made intelligible and relevant to the reader. In the following excerpt, he presents a brief overview of Terence's contribution to Roman literature, emphasizing his elegant language and refined sense of style.
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Literature and Art
(summary)
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J. Wright Duff (essay date 1909)
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The Theatre and the Masters of Comedy
(summary)
In the following excerpt from the revised edition of the former work, he provides an overview of Terence's plays and style.
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The Theatre and the Masters of Comedy
(summary)
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Gilbert Norwood (essay date 1923)
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Conclusion
(summary)
In the following excerpt from his well-regarded monograph on Terence, he summarizes Terence's career, praising especially the playwright's humanist impulse and declaring him "the most Christian writer of pagan antiquity."
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Conclusion
(summary)
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Gilbert Norwood (essay date 1932)
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Plot-Structure in Terence
(summary)
In the following excerpt from his reconsideration of Terence, Norwood presents a detailed examination of the plot structure of Terence's comedies.
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Plot-Structure in Terence
(summary)
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Edith Hamilton (essay date 1932)
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The Comic Spirit in Plautus and Terence
(summary)
A German-born classical scholar, essayist, and translator, Hamilton is best known as an explicator of ancient cultures for the modern reader. Her studies include The Roman Way (1932) and Spokesmen for God: The Great Teachers of the Old Testament (1949). Below, she compares the style of Terence with that of his predecessor, Plautus. Plautus and Terence are the founders of our theatre. Their influence has been incalculable. The two main divisions of comedy under which all comic plays except Aristophanes' can be grouped, go back to the two Roman playwrights. Plautus is the source for one, Terence for the other. The fact is another and a vivid illustration of how little the material of literature matters, and how much the way the material is treated. Both dramatists deal with exactly the same sort of life and exactly the same sort of people. The characters in the plays of the one are duplicated in the plays of the other, and in both the background is the family life of the day, and yet Plautus' world of comedy is another place from Terence's world. The two men were completely unlike, so much so that it is difficult to conceive of either viewing a play of the other with any complacency. Plautus would have been bored by Terence, Terence offended by Plautus. Precisely the same material, but a totally different point of view, and the result, two distinct types of comedy.
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The Comic Spirit in Plautus and Terence
(summary)
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Benedetto Croce (essay date 1936)
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Terence
(summary)
An Italian educator, philosopher, and author, Croce developed a highly influential theory of literary creation and a concomitant critical method. In defining the impetus and execution of poetry, Croce conceives of the mind as capable of two distinct modes of thought, which he terms cognition and volition. Cognition mental activity is theoretical and speculative, while volition is the mind's practical application of ideas originating in the cognitive realm. Croce's literary theories had a profound impact on the criticism of the first half of the twentieth century, particularly in his emphasis on judging the totality of a work within a context created by its own existence as a separate, independent entity. In the following essay written in 1936, he addresses several of the charges traditionally levelled at Terence by critics, asserting that his comedies remain interesting and vital to the modern reader.
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Terence
(summary)
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Henry Ten Eyck Perry (essay date 1939)
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Roman Imitators: Plautus and Terence
(summary)
In the following excerpt, he examines the themes of Terence's plays in the context of Roman comedy, concluding that he refined the plots and characters that he borrowed from other playwrights to make them more serious and more humane.
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Roman Imitators: Plautus and Terence
(summary)
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George E. Duckworth (essay date 1952)
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Methods of Composition
(summary)
In the following excerpt from his highly-regarded study of Roman comedy, Duckworth explains the notion of contaminatio (imitation of earlier authors) as it applies to Terence.
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Methods of Composition
(summary)
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John Gassner (essay date 1954)
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Menander, Plautus, and Terence
(summary)
In the following excerpt from the revised edition of the former work, Gassner discusses Terence's place in the development of Roman theater, pointing out that "he not only knew his limitations but gloried in them."
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Menander, Plautus, and Terence
(summary)
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Robert Graves (essay date 1962)
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A foreword to The Comedies of Terence
(summary)
In the excerpt below, he briefly introduces the plays of Terence, pointing out that they call attention to some of the less positive aspects of classical civilization.
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A foreword to The Comedies of Terence
(summary)
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W. Beare (essay date 1964)
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Terence
(summary)
Beare's The Roman Stage, first published in 1950 and later revised, is a critically-acclaimed survey of Roman drama and its theatrical milieu. Here, he offers detailed examinations of The Girl from Andros and The Eunich and their Menandrian sources, concluding that a "deepening of sentiment … [is] Terence's chief claim to originality."
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Terence
(summary)
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Frank O. Copley (essay date 1967)
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An introduction to The Comedies of Terence
(summary)
Below, Copley discusses Terence's dramatic method and his treatment of several literary motifs in his comedies.
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An introduction to The Comedies of Terence
(summary)
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Douglass Parker (essay date 1974)
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An introduction to The Eunich
(summary)
In the following essay, Parker discusses influences on The Eunich, concluding that Terence's individuality is evident in the play's "reasoned confusion of viewpoints [and] contradiction of attitudes, that mark the best comedy."
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An introduction to The Eunich
(summary)
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R. H. Martin (essay date 1976)
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An introduction to Adelphoe by Terence
(summary)
Below, Martin supplies a summary of the development of Roman comedy to Terence's time, and then goes on to discuss the sources, themes, characters, and style of The Brothers.
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An introduction to Adelphoe by Terence
(summary)
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Betty Radice (essay date 1976)
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An introduction to Terence: The Comedies
(summary)
In the following excerpt, she presents an overview of Terence's career, discussing the nature of comedy as an art form, the challenges Terence faced in Rome, and his lasting influence on the history of western drama.
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An introduction to Terence: The Comedies
(summary)
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F. H. Sandbach (essay date 1977)
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Terence
(summary)
In the following essay, he explores Terence's plays in the light of their Greek models, asserting that, while in some ways Terence did "enrich" Menander's comedies, his style has been "too equable, [lacking] the ebb and flow which gives life to the Greek poet's writing and enables him to mirror every kind of emotion."
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Terence
(summary)
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Sander M. Goldberg (essay date 1982-83)
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Terence and the Death of Comedy
(summary)
In the following essay, he explores Terence's role in the demise of Roman comedy, arguing that "Terence had made it too alien to be taken seriously at Rome."
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Terence and the Death of Comedy
(summary)
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David Konstan (essay date 1983)
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Phormio: Citizen Disorder
(summary)
In the following essay, Konstan probes the tension between private emotion and public social codes in Phormio, observing that this dual subject constitutes one of the main themes of the play.
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Phormio: Citizen Disorder
(summary)
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Walter E. Forehand (essay date 1985)
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Terence and His Influence
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Forehand first summarizes his conclusions about the style and themes of Terence's plays, then discusses Terence's influence on later drama.
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Terence and His Influence
(summary)
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A. J. Brothers (essay date 1988)
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An introduction to Terence: The Self-Tormentor
(summary)
Below, Brothers surveys characterization and plot devices in The Self-Tormentor, and also explores some of Terence's sources for the play.
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An introduction to Terence: The Self-Tormentor
(summary)
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Dwora Gilula (essay date 1991)
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Plots Are Not Stories: The So-Called 'Duality Method' of Terence
(summary)
In the essay below, Gilula examines Terence's use of dual plots and characters in the context of his The Girl from Andros.
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Plots Are Not Stories: The So-Called 'Duality Method' of Terence
(summary)
- Dana F. Sutton (essay date 1993)
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Joseph Webbe (essay date 1629)
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Terence (Drama Criticism)
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Overviews And General Studies
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The Double Plots of Terence
(summary)
In the essay below, Levin focuses on the two-level plot structure tracing parallel love affairs that is characteristic of several of Terence's plays.
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The Originality of Terence and His Greek Models
(summary)
In the following essay, Ludwig attempts a balanced assessment of the effects of Terence's adaptations and translations of Greek sources. He finds both dramatic gains and losses.
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The Double Plots of Terence
(summary)
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The Girl From Andros
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Thematic Unity in Terence's Andria
(summary)
In the essay below, McGarrity examines the father-son relationship between Simo and Pamphilus in The Girl from Andros.
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Thematic Unity in Terence's Andria
(summary)
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The Mother-In-Law
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Hecyra: Ironic Comedy
(summary)
In the excerpt below, Konstan contends that The Mother-in-Law interrogates the traditional Roman values of amor and pietas (love and filial duty) and in the process "challenges and confounds their customary meanings."
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The Plays of Terence
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Forehand provides an introduction to the plot, themes, and characters of The Mother-in-Law.
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Hecyra: Ironic Comedy
(summary)
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The Self-Tormentor
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An introduction to Terence: The Self-Tormentor
(summary)
In the excerpt below, Brothers provides an overview of The Self-Tormentor, discussing its relationship to its Greek source, its plot, and its characterization.
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The Character of Bacchis in Terence's Heautontimorumenos
(summary)
In the excerpt below, Knorr contends that the courtesan Bacchis in The Self-Tormentor "actually has a good core below the surface of a grabbing prostitute."
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An introduction to Terence: The Self-Tormentor
(summary)
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The Eunuch
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An introduction to The Eunuch
(summary)
In the essay below, Parker provides a survey of issues relating to The Eunuch, focusing especially on the influence of Plautus and Menander on Terence's work.
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Love in Terence's Eunuch: The Origins of Erotic Subjectivity
(summary)
In the essay below, Konstan analyzes the complex and contradictory views of love presented in The Eunuch, focusing particularly on the unresolved tension between love and commerce inherent in the situation of the courtesan Thais.
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An introduction to The Eunuch
(summary)
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The Brothers
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Micio and the Perils of Perfection
(summary)
In the following essay, Johnson delineates the defects in the character of Micio in The Brothers, flaws which prepare us for his fall at the play's conclusion.
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Success and Failure in the Adelphoe
(summary)
In the essay below, Greenberg compares the parenting theories of Micio and Demea in The Brothers. The Adelphoe of Terence presents an uncomfortable amalgam of the serious and the comic. In one of the most startling comic reversals in ancient comedy, the elder, sterner brother, Demea, achieves a final farcical triumph which is in strong and jarring contrast with the seemingly serious and approving treatment of Micio and Micio's theories on child raising throughout the preceding bulk of the play.
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Micio and the Perils of Perfection
(summary)
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Overviews And General Studies
- Further Reading