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How did Roman writers Plautus and Terence spread the influence of Greek New Comedy?
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Greek literature
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Plautus and Terence spread the influence of Greek New Comedy by adapting its conventional plots and stock characters into the Roman genre known as fabula palliata, or "play in Greek dress."1
While both dramatists utilized Greek models, their methods of dissemination differed:
- Plautus transformed the Greek originals into lively, Romanized works. He incorporated Roman customs, Italian place-names, and colloquial Latin puns, often blending farce, slapstick, and musical elements. His creative adaptations, which sometimes combined scenes from two Greek plays (contaminatio), made the genre feel like an original Roman creation, ensuring its lasting impact on Western drama.123
- Terence remained closer to the spirit and structure of his Greek sources, particularly Menander. His style was more polished, focusing on psychological depth, refined language, and ingenious plot construction. Because nearly all of Menanderās original work was lost, Terenceās plays became the primary vehicle through which the nuances of Greek New Comedy were preserved and studied by later generations.124
Through these adaptations, the fabulae palliatae served as the vital link that transmitted the traditions of Greek comedy to European theatre from the Renaissance onward.13