Titus Maccius Plautus war einer der ersten und produktivsten Komödiendichter im alten Rom.
„Lieber will ich mit Geist geschmückt sein als mit vielem Gold.“
Poenulus (Der junge Punier), 301, I.ii / Adelphasium
Original lat.: "Bono med(me) esse ingenio ornatam quam auro multo mavolo."
Asinaria (Die Eselskomödie), 495, II.iv / der Kaufmann (meist zitiert als "Der Mensch ist des Menschen Wolf.")
(Original lat.: "lupus est homo homini, non homo, quom(cum) qualis sit non novit.") - meist zitiert als "Homo homini(s) lupus"
„Geld: eine herrliche Mitgift. Am besten ohne Frau.“
Epidicus (Der Sklave Epidicus), 180, II.i / Apoecides und Periphanes
Original lat.: AP. "Pulcra edepol dos pecuniast(pecunia est)." PER. "Quae quidem pol non maritast(marita est)."
Truculentus (Der Grobian), I.i / Diniarchus
Original lat.: "summa summarum."
„Bei Trübsal ist Gleichmut die beste Würze.“
Rudens (Das Schiffstau), 402, II.ii / Trachalio
Original lat.: "animus aequus optimum est aerumnae condimentum."
„Einem Schlechten Gutes tun ist ebenso gefährlich wie einem Guten Schlechtes tun.“
Poenulus (Der junge Punier), 633f, III.iii / Der Advokat
Original lat.: "Malo bene facere tantundemst(tantundem est) periculum quantum bono male facere."
„Kein Gast ist so willkommen im Hause seines Freundes, dass er nicht nach drei Tagen zur Last wird.“
Miles Gloriosus (Der ruhmreiche Soldat), 741f, III.i / Pleusicles
Original lat.: "hospes nullus tam in amici hospitium devorti potest, quin, ubi triduom continuom fuerit, iam odiosus siet."
„Nichts ist willkommener als ein Freund zur rechten Zeit.“
Epidicus (Der Sklave Epidicus), 425, III.iii / Periphanes
Original lat.: "Nihil homini amicost(amico est) opportuno amicius."
„Öl und Arbeit habe ich vergeudet.“
Poenulus (Der junge Punier), 332, I.ii / die Magd (gemeint ist: "Alles war für die Katz")
„Trinkt, lebt wie die Griechen, esst, fresst euch voll, schlachtet das Mastvieh!“
Mostellaria (Die Gespensterkomödie), 64f, I.i / Grumio
Original lat.: "bibite, pergraecamini, este, ecfercite vos, saginam caedite."
„Der Name und seine Bedeutung sind allein schon jeden Preis wert, den du willst.“
Persa (Der Perser), 625, IV.iv / Toxilus
Original lat.: "Nomen atque omen quantivis iam est preti.")
(Grundlage des Sprichwortes: "Nomen est Omen."
„Du hast die Nadel(spitze) getroffen.“
Rudens (Das Schiffstau), 1306, V.ii / Labrax, der Kuppler
Original lat.: "Tetigisti acu.")
(Sprichwörtlich in der Form: "Du hast den Nagel auf den Kopf getroffen."
Mercator (Der Kaufmann), 984, V.iv / Eutychus
Original lat.: "itidem ut tempus anni, aetatem aliam aliud factum condecet."
„Willst du etwas los sein, leih es einem guten Freund!“
Asinaria (Die Eselskomödie), 445, II.iv / Leon.
Original lat.: "Si velis da *, commoda homini amico."
“You cannot eat your cake and have it too, unless you think your money is immortal. The fool too late, his substance eaten up, reckons the cost. (translator Thornton)”
Non tibi illud apparere, si sumas, potest, nisi tu immortale rere esse argentum tibi. Sero atque stulte, prius quod cautum oportuit, postquam comedit rem, post rationem putat.
Trinummus, Act II, scene 4, lines 12
Trinummus (The Three Coins)
“He gains wisdom in a happy way, who gains it by another’s experience.”
Feliciter is sapit, qui alieno periculo sapit.
Mercator, Act IV, scene 7, line 40
Mercator (The Merchant)
“He’s a friend indeed who proves himself a friend in need.”
Nihil agit, qui diffidentem verbis solatus suis. Is est amicus, qui in re dubia te juvat, ubi re est opus.
Epidicus, Act I, sc. 2, line 9.
Epidicus
Kontext: The man that comforts a desponding friend with words alone, does nothing. He’s a friend indeed who proves himself a friend in need.
“In one hand he is carrying a stone, while he shows the bread with the other.”
Altera manu fert lapidem, panem ostentot altera
Alternate translation: And so he thinks to ‘tice me like a dog, by holding bread in one hand, and a stone, ready to knock my brains out, in the other.
Aulularia, Act II, sc. 2, line 18
Cf. Jesus, [Matthew, 7:9, KJV]: "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?"
Aulularia (The Pot of Gold)
“Nor do I hold that every kind of gain is always serviceable. Gain, I know, has render’d many great. But there are times when loss should be preferr’d to gain. (translator Thornton)”
Non ego omnino lucrum omne esse utile homini existimo. Scio ego, multos jam lucrum luculentos homines reddidit. Est etiam, ubi profecto damnum praestet facere, quam lucrum.
Captivi, Act II, scene 2, line 75.
Variant translation: There are occasions when it is undoubtedly better to incur loss than to make gain. (translation by Henry Thomas Riley)
Captivi (The Prisoners)
“These things are not for the best, nor as I think they ought to be; but still they are better than that which is downright bad. (translator Henry Thomas Riley)”
Non optuma haec sunt neque ut ego aequom censeo : verum meliora sunt quam quae deterruma.
Trinummus, Act II, sc. 2, line 111; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
Alternate translation : This is not the best thing possible, nor what I consider proper ; but it is better than the worst. (translator A. H. Evans)
Trinummus (The Three Coins)
“Practice yourself what you preach.”
[F]acias ipse quod faciamus nobis suades.
Asinaria, Act III, scene 3, line 54 (line 644 of full Latin text).
Variant translation: Do you then yourself do that which you would be suggesting to us to do. (translator Henry Thomas Riley, 1912)
Asinaria (The One With the Asses)
“Our best support and succor in distress is fortitude of mind.”
In re mala animo si bono utare, adjuvat.
Captivi, Act II, scene 1, line 8
Variant translation: The best assistance in distress is fortitude of soul. (translator unknown)
Captivi (The Prisoners)
“Man proposes, God disposes. (translated by Thornton)”
Sperat quidem animus : quo eveniat, diis in manu est
Bacchides Act I, scene 2, line 36.
Variant translation: The mind is hopeful : success is in God’s hands. (translator unknown)
Bacchides (The Bacchises)
“A word to the wise is enough.”
Dictum sapienti sat est.
Persa, Act IV, scene 7, line 19
Variant translation: A sentence is enough for a sensible man. (translator unknown)
More commonly found as Verbum sapienti (same meaning) and abbreviated to verb. sap. ; proverbially, “A word to the wise is sufficient”
Persa (The Persian)
“To blow and swallow at the same moment is not easy.”
Act III, sc. 2, line 104; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
Mostellaria (The Haunted House)
“You are seeking a knot in a bulrush.”
Menæchmi, Act II, sc. 1, line 22; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). A proverbial expression implying a desire to create doubts and difficulties where there really were none. It occurs in Terence, the "Andria", act v. sc. 4, 38; also in Ennius, "Saturæ", 46.
Menaechmi (The Brothers Menaechmus)
“That expression, "He means well," is useless unless he does well.”
Nequam illud verbum‘st, Bene vult, nisi qui bene facit.
Trinummus, Act II, sc. 4, line 37.
Trinummus (The Three Coins)
“If you are but content, you have enough to live upon with comfort.”
Si animus est aequus tibi, satis habes, qui bene vitam colas.
Aulularia, Act II, sc. 2, line 10
Aulularia (The Pot of Gold)
“Courage in danger is half the battle.”
Bonus animus in mala re, dimidium est mali.
Pseudolus, Act I, scene 5, line 37
Pseudolus
“It was not for nothing that the raven was just now croaking on my left hand.”
Aulularia, Act iv, sc. 3, 1; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). Referenced in "That raven on yon left-hand oak/(Curse on his ill-betiding croak!)/Bodes me no good", John Gay, 'Fables, Part I, The Farmer’s Wife and the Raven.
Aulularia (The Pot of Gold)
“He who would eat the kernel, must crack the shell.”
Qui e nuce nucleum esse vult, frangat nucem.
Curculio, Act I, scene 1, line 55
Curculio (The Weevil)
“I love truth, and wish to have it always spoken to me : I hate a liar. (translated by Thornton)”
Ego verum amo, verum vol mihi dici : mendacem odi.
Mostellaria, Act I, scene 3, line 26
Mostellaria (The Haunted House)
“You miss the point? The lady that spares her lover spares herself too little.”
Asinaria, Act I, scene 3.
Asinaria (The One With the Asses)
“Nothing so wretched as a guilty conscience.”
Nihil est miserius, quam animus hominis conscius.
Act III, scene i, line 13.
Variant translation: Nothing is more wretched than the mind of a man conscious of guilt. (translator unknown)
Mostellaria (The Haunted House)
“The chap that endures hard knocks like a man enjoys a soft time later on.”
Asinaria, Act II, scene 2.
Asinaria (The One With the Asses)
“The valiant profit more
Their country, than the finest cleverest speakers.”
Truculentus, Act II, scene ii
Truculentus
“Each man reaps on his own farm.”
Act III, sc. 2, line 112; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
Mostellaria (The Haunted House)
“Fish and guests in three days are stale.”
Quasi piscis itidem est amator lenae: nequam est nisi recens.
Quelle: Asinaria (The One With the Asses), Act I, scene 3. http://books.google.com/books?id=fo0QAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Quasi+piscis+itidem+est+amator+lenae+nequam+est+nisi+recens%22&pg=PA63#v=onepage
“According as men thrive, their friends are true; if their affairs go to wreck, their friends sink with them. Fortune finds friends.”
Ut cuique homini res parata est, firmi amici sunt : si res labat, itidem amici collabascunt. Res amicos invenit.
Variant translation: According as men thrive, their friends are true; if fortune fails, friends likewise disappear. Prosperity finds friends. (translator unknown)
Stichus (The Parasite Rebuffed)
“For true it is, good oft befalls us when we least expect it. And true it is, that when we trust in hope, we’re often disappointed.”
Nam multa praeter spem, scio, multis bona evenisse. At ego etiam qui speraverint, spem decepisse multos.
Rudens, Act II, scene 3, line 69
Rudens (The Rope)
“Valour’s the best reward; ‘tis valour that surpasses all things else : our liberty, our safety, life, estate, our parents, children, country, are by this preserved, protected : valour everything comprises in itself; and every good awaits the man who is possess’d of valour. (translator Thornton)”
[V]irtus praemium est optimum ; virtus omnibus remus anteit profecto : libertas salus vita res et parentes, patria et prognati tutantur, servantur : virtus omnia in sese habet, omnia adsunt bona quem penest virtus.
Amphitryon, Act II, scene 2, line 16.
Variant translation: Courage is the very best gift of all; courage stands before everything, it does, it does! It is what maintains and preserves our liberty, safety, life, and our homes and parents, our country and children. Courage comprises all things: a man with courage has every blessing.
Amphitryon
“He whom the gods protect : the youth is dying whilst he is in health, and has his senses and his judgment sound.”
Quem di diligent, adolescens moritur, dum valet, sentit, sapit.
Bacchides Act IV, scene 7, line 18.
Variant translation: He whom the gods love dies young. (translator unknown)
Derived from Menander's The Double Deceiver; but only the Plautine version was known until the rediscovery of Menander in the 20th century; sometimes translated as "favor" instead of "love".
Bacchides (The Bacchises)
“Patience, then, is the best remedy against affliction.”
Animus aequus optimus est aerumnae condimentum.
Rudens, Act II, sc. v, line 71.
Variant translation: Patience is the best remedy for every trouble. (translation by Henry Thomas Riley)
Rudens (The Rope)
“Drink! live like the Greeks! eat! gorge!. (translator unknown)”
Bibite ! pergraecamini ! Este ! effercite vos !
Mostellaria, Act I, scene 1, lines 61-62
Mostellaria (The Haunted House)
