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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 daughter, Phaedria, endears herself to the god. Euclio finds a pot of gold and he is a cheap old man who hides his gold from everyone. In the meantime Lyconides and Phaedria fell in love. Megadorus wants to settle down and he goes to Euclio and asks for his daughter’s hand.
LCL 60: 250-251
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The Aulularia is one of Plautus’ best-known plays. Its maincharacter is Euclio, a man who has been plunged into apersonal crisis by finding a pot of gold. Euclio is not a badperson, but he cannot cope with his fortune. Instead ofputting the money to good use, he is so afraid of losing itthat he spends all his time concealing his find, even fromhis daughter Phaedrium. He becomes paranoid and beginsto look at his neighbors as potential thieves.
Being so preoccupied with his gold, he fails to realizethat Phaedrium is also going through a personal crisis. Ayoung man, Lyconides, raped her when he was drunk. Shedid not recognize her assailant, but he knew who she was.Phaedrium kept her pregnancy secret from everyone exceptfor her old nurse. She is close to giving birth whenLyconides’ mother, Eunomia, manages to persuade herbrother Megadorus, a confirmed bachelor, to marry. Thewealthy Megadorus does not want the equally wealthy andelderly woman whom his sister has in mind, but prefers theyoung and poor Phaedrium.
Euclio is still unaware of his daughter’s situation whenMegadorus proposes his match. Suspicious that Megadorusjust wants his gold, Euclio agrees to give his daughterin marriage on condition that no dowry be given toMegadorus.
250Megadorus sends cooks to Euclio’s house to preparethe wedding banquet. This is why Euclio is looking for adifferent place to hide his gold. But Lyconides’ slave hasrealized what he is doing and manages to steal it. Euclio isin despair.
Meanwhile, Lyconides has understood that he cannotdelay any longer. He confesses his deed to his mother andsays that he wants to marry Phaedrium. Eunomia now persuadesMegadorus to give up his wedding plans. Lyconidesthen repeats his words to Euclio, who at first believes thatLyconides is admitting to stealing the gold. This misunderstandingresults in one of the funniest scenes of ancientcomedy. When Euclio finally sees what happened, he acceptsthe marriage, but asks Lyconides to help him to findthe gold again.
Lyconides’ slave meets his master, tells him that hestole Euclio’s gold, and demands his freedom. The endingof the play is lost. However, the ancient plot summariesand the fragments allow us to understand how the comedyended. Lyconides returns the gold to Euclio and frees hisslave. The marriage takes place, and Euclio, who has realizedthat the gold cannot make him happy, gives it to theyoung couple.
Even though this is one of Plautus’ most famous comedies,we do not know for certain who wrote the originaland when the Latin work was performed first. It is generallyassumed that the Aulularia is based on a play by Menander,but of course there are other possibilities as well.In the Latin play there are several references to the luxuriouslifestyle of women (ll. 167–69, ll. 478–535). It may wellbe the case that the Aulularia was written after the LexOppia was repealed in 195, a law that severely restricted
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