Ripristinare l'ordine, conservare il disordine : una prospettiva “saturnalizia” in Terenzio

Does Roman comedy present an upside-down world? Taking this question as a starting point, after a brief Plautine premise, a specific analysis of Terence’s Adelphoe is set forth: the aim is to understand some of the mechanisms underlying comic action and to identify possible coordinates for interpreting the dramatic development of this comedy. Indeed, the effectiveness of a comic “message” is structured, sometimes with unpredictable effectiveness, precisely in the boundaries between fiction and reality.