Asinaria
Encyclopedia
Asinaria is a comic play by the Latin playwright Titus Maccius Plautus, known as one of the great works of Roman comedy. It is famed for containing the phrase " Lupus est homo homini, non homo, quom qualis sit non novit."
("One man to another is a wolf, not a man, when he doesn't know what sort he is")
, near the homes of the old man Demaenetus and the procuress
Cleareta. Demaenetus is submissive to his wife, but wishes to help his son Argyrippus gain money to free his lover, Cleareta's hetaera
Philaenium. Demaenetus conspires with two of his slaves to cheat his wealthy wife of the money. The trick succeeds but a jealous lover reveals it to Artemona, who confronts her son and husband at a banquet held by Cleareta.
Homo homini lupus
Homo homini lupus est is a Latin phrase meaning "man is a wolf to [his fellow] man." First attested in Plautus' Asinaria , the phrase is sometimes translated as "man is man's wolf", which can be interpreted to mean that man preys upon man...
("One man to another is a wolf, not a man, when he doesn't know what sort he is")
Synopsis
The play takes place in AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, near the homes of the old man Demaenetus and the procuress
Procuring (prostitution)
Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. Examples of procuring include:*trafficking a prostitute into a country for the purpose of soliciting sex...
Cleareta. Demaenetus is submissive to his wife, but wishes to help his son Argyrippus gain money to free his lover, Cleareta's hetaera
Hetaera
In ancient Greece, hetaerae were courtesans, that is to say, highly educated, sophisticated companions...
Philaenium. Demaenetus conspires with two of his slaves to cheat his wealthy wife of the money. The trick succeeds but a jealous lover reveals it to Artemona, who confronts her son and husband at a banquet held by Cleareta.
Translations
- Thomas Henry Riley, 1912.
- Paul Nixon, 1916
- John Henderson, 2006
External links
- Asinaria Latin Full Text at The Latin LibraryThe Latin LibraryThe Latin Library is a website that collects public domain Latin texts. The texts have been drawn from different sources. Many were originally scanned and formatted from texts in the Public Domain. Others have been downloaded from various sites on the Internet . Most of the recent texts have been...
. - Asinaria English Translation on the Perseus ProjectPerseus ProjectThe Perseus Project is a digital library project of Tufts University that assembles digital collections of humanities resources. It is hosted by the Department of Classics. It has suffered at times from computer hardware problems, and its resources are occasionally unavailable...
. Translation by Thomas Henry Riley.