Character sketch of Euclio, from The Pot Of Gold

 

Plautus’s Pot of Gold carries an amazing characterization along with the plot. The play revolves around the central character of Euclio. Euclio is a miserly, old man, whose greed and avarice for wealth has turned him aggressive. It seems that Euclio has inherited all the mentioned traits from his fathers and forefathers. None of them had earlier taken care of the house deity Lar Familiaris. However, Euclio’s daughter proved put to be extraordinary as she remembered to worship the God with offerings. Satisfied with her, the Deity revealed the location of the pot of gold to Euclio, so that it can be used in Phaedria’s marriage. However, we know that money is capable of turning anybody blind. Euclio becomes greedy for the treasure and hides it in the hearth of his empty house. He confines himself to the house, guarding the pot of gold. His greed makes him suspect each and every person that he comes in contact with. He even accuses his trustworthy housemaid Staphyla of leaking information about the pot of gold to his neighbours. He believes that they are robbers disguised as his neighbours, who want to lay their hands on his treasure. Euclio’s obsession makes him live a very chaotic life, where there is no trace of peace and satisfaction. The pot of gold becomes the reason of his sleepless nights, as he has to wake up every night to check on the hidden pot of gold. Thus, we can say that the pot of gold is the reason behind Euclio’s stingy and antagonistic nature.

         Euclio’s rapacious nature can be very easily observed throughout the play. At the beginning of the play, Euclio decides to go to the town meeting, where the chairman is distributing financial aid to the poor. Even though, euclio is not ‘poor’ by the sense that he owns an entire pot filled with gold; he visits the meeting so that no one can suspect him of hiding something valuable within his empty walls. His avarice makes him yearn for more wealth, by every passing day. When Euclio leaves the house, he makes it sure to check on the pot of gold and pushes Staphyla out of the house while doing so. It is clearly evident that Euclio has completely lost his morals being blinded by the lust for wealth.

    When Megadorus asks Phaedria’s hands from her father Euclio, he makes it sure to mention that he is too poor to provide dowry in his daughter’s wedding. Megadorus agrees his condition and decides to pay for the entire wedding by himself and hence sends a few cooks and stewards to Euclio’s house to cook the feast. However, old Euclio mistakes the cooks to be robbers and beats them black and blue. Euclio’s stingy nature has blinded him of the senses, as he fails to recognise the good deeds of Megadorus and instead accuses him of aiming on his ‘wealth’. He believes that Megadorus only wants to marry his daughter Phaedria so that he can get his hands on Euclio’s hidden pot of gold. He even thinks that it is Staphyla who might have revealed about the pot of gold to Megadorus. The cooks are very much surprised at the stingy behaviour of the poor old fellow and wonder what is the thing that Euclio is afraid of being robbed.

      Euclio is an utter miser and it has been proven through various scenes of the play. Strobilus while demonstrating Euclio’s misery tells that if he loses a grain of salt, he thinks that he is robbed. He also tells that Euclio ties a balloon on his mouth when he goes to sleep, so that he doesn’t lose his wind while sleeping. Through such things, we can say that Euclio’s misery knows no bound.

     In order to save his pot of gold being robbed on the hands of his neighbours, Euclio carries the pot to the Shrine of Good Faith, and hides it there. However, Lyconides’s slave overhears his secret by eavesdropping and manages to steal his pot of gold without the knowledge of Euclio. When euclio learns about his stolen pot of gold, the sky falls apart and he breaks down. Euclio’s obsession with the pot of gold has turned him so egocentric that the thought of having a heavily pregnant daughter in his house has not crossed his mind even for once.

      Lyconides confesses before Euclio about his sin of seducing and impregnating Phaedria under the influence of alcohol, but the self-absorbed Euclio thinks that Lyconides is apologising for stealing his  pot of gold and cancels the wedding. But when Lyconides’s slave returns the pot of gold to Euclio in exchange of his freedom, Euclio’s happiness experiences no boundary and he rewards the slave with one coin from the pot. This is an important scene of the play as here we can experience a massive character development of Euclio. Euclio realises that he has become a miserable man after he has come in contact of the pot of gold. He accepts that the pot of gold has done no good to him, but taken away his sleep and security. He realises how he lost happiness and self-satisfaction due to his avarice. Therefore, he gifts the entire pot of gold to Lyconides, and accepts his proposal to marry Phaedria. It is seen that Euclio corrects his mistake in the end and turns out to be a good person who was misguided by his blind obsession of wealth and greed.