Amphitruo

E843388

Amphitruo is a Latin comedic play by Plautus that humorously blends mythology and farce, centering on Jupiter’s impersonation of the Theban general Amphitryon to seduce his wife Alcmena.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Amphitruo canonical 2

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Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Latin play
comedy
theatrical work
author Plautus
basedOn Greek myth of Amphitryon and Alcmena
centralTheme adultery
deception
divine impersonation
identity confusion
containsPrologueBy Mercury
dramaticForm fabula palliata
dramaticStructure divided into acts and scenes in modern editions
featuresCharacter Alcmena
linked to: Alcmene

Amphitryon
Jupiter
Mercury
Sosia
genre comedy
farce
mythological comedy
hasDoubleOfHusband Jupiter disguised as Amphitryon
hasDoubleOfServant Mercury disguised as Sosia
hasServantCharacter Sosia
hasTheme comic treatment of war heroism
marital fidelity tested by divine intervention
power imbalance between gods and mortals
includesDeity Jupiter
Mercury
influenced Heinrich von Kleist's "Amphitryon"
Molière's "Amphitryon"
later European treatments of the Amphitryon myth
literaryMovement Roman comedy
literaryPeriod Roman Republic
literaryTradition Roman adaptation of Greek New Comedy elements
mainFemaleProtagonist Alcmena
linked to: Alcmene
mainMaleMortalProtagonist Amphitryon
notableFor comic treatment of Olympian gods
early example of tragicomedy in Latin literature
mixing tragedy and comedy elements
originalLanguage Latin
plotDevice double characters
mistaken identity
plotSummary Jupiter impersonates Amphitryon to seduce his wife Alcmena
settingPlace Thebes
survivesAs complete Latin text
timeOfComposition 3rd–2nd century BCE
workOf Titus Maccius Plautus
linked to: Plautus

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Plautus notableWork Amphitruo
The Comedy of Errors basedOn Amphitruo