Abstract: Through the study of various comic prologues composed in France in the sixteenth century, this article seeks to reveal the elements of continuity between neo-Latin theatre and the first French comedies. The Latin prologues are primarily inspired by Plautus, but they also become the site of an offensive discourse which offers reflections on genre. French authors adopt this model while giving it a more polemic dimension. They do not entirely abandon the ludic aspect, however.
