Stereotipi femminili nei frammenti di Laberio e riconoscibilità letteraria di un genere sub-teatrale: dal testo alle fonti

The purpose of my paper is to illustrate the different female typologies which feature in the theatre of the mime of the Late Roman Republic, and especially in the plays of the famous mimographer Decimus Laberius, as these are exemplified in his extant fragments. I discuss important aspects and stereotypical features of this realistic comic form and I demonstrate the artistic sophistication of this sub-theatrical genre, the literary force of which, often irreverent and unkind towards women, enables the audience to think, through the medium of laughter, about topical and socially relevant issues.