y be better equipped for sound judgment. In the introduction to Dryden's
_Amphitryon_ he says: "Plautus ... left us a play on the subject of
Amphitryon which has _had the honour_ to be deemed worthy of imitation by
Moliere and Dryden. It cannot be expected that the plain, blunt and
inartificial style of so rude an age should bear any comparison with that
of the authors who enjoyed the highest advantages of the polished times to
which they were an ornament." There speaks the sophisticated and conscious
literary technician![42]

[Sidenote: LeGrand] The most comprehensive and judicious estimate of all
is certainly attained by LeGrand in _Daos_.[43] He appreciates clearly
that "la nouvelle comedie n'a pas ete, en toute circonstance stance, une
comedie distinguee. Elle n'a pas dedaigne constamment la farce et le gros
rire."[44] How much more then would this apply to _palliatae_!

We now believe that we have on hand a sufficiently large volume of
criticism to appreciate practically every phase of judgment to which
Plautus has been subjected.[45] The ancients overrated him stylistically,
but he was a man of their own people. Men such as Becker, Weise, Lorenz
and Langrehr have proceeded upon a distinctly exaggerated ideal of
Plautus' eminence as a master dramatic craftsman and literary artist and
therefore have amputated with the cry of "Spurious!" everything that
offends their ideal. Lessing is obsessed with too high an estimate of the
_Captivi_. Lamarre, Naudet and Ritschl commit the error of imputing to our
poet a moral purpose. Schlegel and Scott deprecate the crudity of his wit
without an adequate appreciation of its sturdy and primeval robustness.
Langen, Mommsen, Korting and LeGrand approach a keen estimate of his
inconsistencies and his single-minded purpose of entertainment, but
Korting accuses him of attempting to create an illusion of life while
aiming solely at provoking laughter.

From this heterogeneous mass of diversified criticism we glean the
prevailing idea that Plautus is lauded or condemned according to his
conformity or non-conformity to some preconceived standard of comedy
situate in the critic's mind, without a consideration of the poet's
original purpose. We must seriously propound the question as to how far a
grave injustice has been done him almost universally in criticising him
for what he does not pretend to be. Did Plautus himself suffer from any
illusion that his plays were constructed with cogent