The Braggart Soldier

The braggart soldier of the title, the name Pyrgopolynices literally means “capturer of towers and cities.” Ironically, Pyrgopolynices has not performed any of the feats that he brags about. In the first scene, his parasite, Artotrogus, lauds Pyrgopolynices by recounting the obviously exaggerated tales of the soldier’s supposed exploits. IBut in an aside to the audience, Artotrogus admits that every story is a lie, and that he only repeats and embellishes the yarns so that Pyrgopolynices will keep feeding him.

As the play continues, Pyrgopolynices’s absurd narcissism makes him an easy target for Palaestrio’s trickery. Because Pyrgopolynices sincerely believes that every womaen is mad with desire for him, Palaestrio easily convinces him that his neighbor’s beautiful “wife” Acroteleutium is dying to be with him. Palaestrio persuades the soldier to give his wealth to Philocomasium because she is obviously beside herself with grief when the soldier “rejects” her. The soldier’s excessive pride makes him simply to manipulate, as he is quickly distracted by over-the-top praise.

At the end of the play, when Periplectomenus and his slaves attack Pyrgopolynices, the soldier shows his cowardice by immediately begging for mercy. Pyrgopolynices’s pride is villainous, because it leads him to kidnap Philocomasium and act lecherously toward the women who he imagines to loves him.