denote: LeGrand] The celebrity of French criticism is somewhat redeemed
by LeGrand in his monumental work entitled _Daos Tableau de la comedie
grecque pendant la periode dite nouvelle_ (Annales de l'Universite de
Lyon, 1910), in the conclusion to the chapter on 'Intentions didactiques
et valeur morale' (Part III, Chap. I, page 583): "Tout compte fait, au
point de vue moral, la {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH TONOS~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} dut etre inoffensive (en son temps)." This is
the culmination of a calm, dispassionate discussion and analysis of the
extant remains of New Comedy and _Palliatae_.

Even Ritschl fails to escape the taint of degrading Plautus to the status
of a petty moralizer[29]. In particular, he lauds the _Aul_ unreservedly
as a _chef d'oeuvre_ of character delineation and pronounces it
immeasurably superior to Moliere's imitation, "L'Avare."[30] This whole
critique, while interesting, falls into the prevailing trend of imputing
to Plautus far too high a plane of dramatic artistry.[31]

[Sidenote: Langen] Indeed, Langen has already scored Ritschl on this very
point in remarking[32] that Ritschl's condemnation of an alleged defect in
the _Cas_[33] implies much too favorable an estimate of Plautus' artistic
worth, as the defects cited are represented as something isolated and
remarkable, whereas they are characteristic of Plautine comedy. Langen
still displays clear-headed judgment when he says of the _Miles_[34]:
"Wenn die Farben so stark aufgetragen werden, hort jede Feinhet der
Charakterzeichnung auf und bereinem Dichter, der sich dies gestattet, darf
man bezuglich der Charakterschilderungen nicht zu viele Anspruche machen.
Es ist sehr wahrscheinlich dass Plautus mit Rucksicht auf den Geschmack
_eines_ Publikums die Zuge des Originals sehr vergrobert hat."

But Langen fails to follow this splendid lead. Without taking advantage of
the license that he himself offers the poet, he severely condemns[35], the
scene in which Periplecomenus shouts out to Philocomasium so loudly that
the soldier's household could not conceivably help hearing, whereas he is
supposed to be conveying secret information.[36] If carried out in a
broadly farcical spirit, the scene becomes potentially amusing.

[Sidenote: Mommsen] Mommsen in his _History_[37], in the course of an
interesting discussion on _palliatae_ and their Greek originals, has a far
saner point of view. He says of the authors o