Titus Maccius Plautus, Curculio [The Weevil]

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The Date

We lack specific external information regarding the date of Curculio; no evidence is available about the festival at which the play was first brought on stage, either. The date of the play, however, may be estimated with high probability because it is entwined with the date of Trinummus: the name of Curculio, the leading character in the play, is reported in Trinummus 1016; there, the play’s slave Stasimus, who, contrary to the etymology of his name (“he who may stay still / behind”), enters the stage as a servus currens, is called “a trainee of Curculio” ([huic] Curculiost exercitor: is hun hominem cursuram docet, “Curculio is his trainer: he has been …

4407 words

Citation: Papaioannou, Sophia. "Curculio". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 September 2011 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33492, accessed 11 November 2024.]

33492 Curculio 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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