By G. M. Lyne

Description

Ideally suited for second-year Latin students, the material is also excellent for dramatic readings or classroom staging. Each play is introduced by an explanatory rubric in Latin and Plautine lines or paraphrases appear in the text, often in simplified versions.

Intended for rapid reading, this book contains eight short classroom plays of two to four pages each, along with notes and vocabulary.

A Teacher's Guide is available separately.

Special Features

Student Text

• 8 charming adapted Latin skits of 2–4 pages each
  
• Notes at back
  
• Simple plot illustrations
  
• Vocabulary

Teacher's Guide

• Full translation of all eight plays

Author Bios

G. M. Lyne’s other publications include Rogues’ Gallery: A Latin Prose Reader for Middle Forms. James G. Keenan is a professor in the Department of Classical Studies at Loyola University. His main areas of research are Papyrology, Roman Law, and Byzantine Egypt.

Comments and Reviews

The eight plays in this book will bring laughter and fun to any Latin classroom. The characters and incidents are based on Plautus' plays, and occasionally some of Plautus' original lines are interwoven. Suitable for a Second Year Latin class, the text is simplified grammatically so that students can focus more on enjoying the humor in the Latin and less on untangling the grammar. Moreover, the words are set in a more rigid meter than Plautus would employ, making it easier to read aloud or memorize lines.

Whether a class is just translating the plays, or performing them in Latin, or performing them in English for younger classes, Personae Comicae shows off the lighter side of Latin, which is often seen as all intellectual. Here, using colloquial Latin, Personae Comicae reaches and interacts with students in a way that Cicero cannot. As short skits, these eight plays are ideal for class performance, whether as a dramatic reading or performance by the students.

— Michelle Wu