A lezione di Mostellaria con Giorgio Pasquali

According to many recollections of his students, university lectures were one of the most memorable aspects of Giorgio Pasquali’s (1885-1952) teaching. This contribution presents an extensive selection from the ill-known “dispense” (published lecture notes) of his course on Plautus’ Mostellaria, taught at the University of Florence in the academic year 1937-1938. The text of the “dispense”, which were neither revised nor approved by the lecturer, and in many places are the result of notes taken in a naive and haphazard manner, often reproduces verbatim extemporaneous statements and idioms characteristic of Pasquali’s teaching. These “dispense” feature important and interesting observations on Plautus and his tradition, on various textual problems, and on linguistic issues; there is no lack of attempts at actualization, value judgments on other colleagues and scholars, and expressions resulting from Pasquali’s well-known idiosyncrasies. This material is introduced and annotated with the main purpose of placing it in the context of Plautinian studies of the time, and of evaluating it in relation to the “official” scholarly production by Giorgio Pasquali.