Text and context in Heautontimorumenos by Terencio

Abstract

In the present article the Latin text Heautontimorumenos is analyzed from a pragmatic vision, in the context of the enunciation of the dramatic scene. Some postulates of literary Pragmatics and Semiology offer a basis for an analysis from the comedy’s text (rhetorical prologue, dialogue, dramatic action, intrigue, characterization) towards its context (education during Republican Rome). It was possible to confirm that Terencio’s work entails, at the semantic level, the importance of dialogue and the characterization of the characters; while at the pragmatic level the value of the educational polemic seemed intriguing, in a society comedy.
Key Words: Terence, literarian pragmatic, Heautontimorumenos, Rhetoric, education