Incest and ridicule in the Poenulus of Plautus

Bibliographic Data

ID9328542
AuthorsGeorge Fredric Franko (Hollins University, corresponding author)
Year1995
Volume45
Issue1
Pages250-252
Publication date1995-05-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Classical Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0009-8388 • E-ISSN: 1471-6844
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0009838800041902
OpenAlexW2160525620
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited3

Readers of Plautus’ Poenulus are struck by the generally ‘sympathetic’ portrayal of the title character Hanno, a portrayal somewhat surprising to us since the play was produced shortly after the Second Punic War.1 Contrary to what we might expect, Hanno the Carthaginian is neither villain nor scapegoat, and he even exhibits the Roman virtue of pietas . 2 However, Hanno's portrayal is not wholly positive, for Plautus delineates his character principally by endowing him with the negative stereotypes of Punic physiognomy, dress, speech, and behaviour familiar to his Roman audience.3 Hanno's Punic ethnicity is not merely an incidental matter of fact, as it is with his relative Agorastocles, but an essential part of his characterization that serves to isolate him from all the other characters of the palliata . While some of Hanno's vices—deceit, licentiousness, and effeminacy—are not exclusive to Carthaginians and are shared by other Greek characters in the palliata , there is one vice peculiar to Hanno. In this paper I argue that Plautus ridicules Hanno through arecurrent insinuation of incest. The insinuation of incest has not, to my knowledge, been noted previously, but our text does imply it in three conspicuous places

Art · Character (mathematics · Epistemology · Ethnic group · Literature · Physiognomy · Scapegoat · Sociology · Theology · Virtue · Anthropology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Organic Chemistry Synthesis Methods · Philosophy

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