The Pot of Gold. Author: Titus Maccius Plautus. 'The Pot of Gold' is a play where the main motives are greed, cheapness and gold. The theme is Euclio's cheapness and greed for gold. The play is easy to read and the author makes fun of people's characteristics. The 'Pot of Gold' by Plautus is a story about a pot of gold that was entrusted by Euclio's grandfather to his deity by burying it in the ground. The pot is kept hidden from all until Euclio's.
Plot Summary
Lars Familiaris, the household deity of Euclio, an old man with a marriageable daughter named Phaedria, begins the play with a prologue about how he allowed Euclio to discover a pot of gold buried in his house. Euclio is then shown almost maniacally guarding his gold from real and imagined threats. Unknown to Euclio, Phaedria is pregnant by a young man named Lyconides. Phaedria is never seen on stage, though at a key point in the play the audience hears her painful cries in labor.
The Pot Of Gold Plautus Sparknotes Of Mice And Men
Euclio is persuaded to marry his daughter to his rich neighbor, an elderly bachelor named Megadorus, who happens to be the uncle of Lyconides. This leads to much by-play involving preparations for the nuptials. Eventually Lyconides and his slave appear, and Lyconides confesses to Euclio his ravishing of Phaedria. Lyconides' slave manages to steal the now notorious pot of gold. Lyconides confronts his slave about the theft.
The Pot Of Gold Plautus Sparknotes Summary
At this point the manuscript breaks off. From surviving summaries of the play, we know that Euclio eventually recovers his pot of gold and gives it to Lyconides and Phaedria, who marry in a happy ending. In the Penguin Classics edition of the play, translator E.F. Watling actually wrote the ending as it might have originally been constructed, based on the summaries and a few surviving scraps of dialogue. Other writers down through the centuries have also written endings for the play, with somewhat varying results (one version was produced by Antonio Urceo in the late 15th century, another by Martinus Dorpius in the early 16th century, etc.).
