I begs Erotium to give back the dress she reacts by shutting him out of her house. His wife then accuses him of theft and shuts him out of his own house. I comes home after a bad day in court his fellow lawyers commiserate with him (Song #3). Scenes 11-13: As Peniculus and Matrona emerge from the house, Men. II with the dress at the start of this plot summary.) He departs, intending to sell both the bracelet and the dress, which Erotium has asked him to have redecorated.
II to take a bracelet (another gift to Erotium, stolen by Men. I’s house to tattle on him by telling Matrona about the theft of her dress. Furious that lunch has been eaten without him, Peniculus runs into Men. I in a crowd, returns and encounters Men. Scenes 8-10: Peniculus, upset at having lost Men.
Messenio takes the money-bag back to the inn where they are staying the sailors decide to tour Epidamnus. He entrusts his money-bag (marsuppium) to Messenio and enters Erotium’s house. Messenio warns his master not to accept Erotium’s invitation to lunch, but Men. She appears and sings a duet with Messenio (Song #2). They meet the cook returning from the market he goes inside to inform Erotium. II and his slave Messenio, accompanied by two sailors, arrive in Epidamnus, looking for long-lost Men. The photo spotlights Coquus as he confers with Erotium and her maid (Ancilla). He and Peniculus depart for the forum while Erotium sends her cook (Coquus) off to the market with instructions to buy food. I gives her the dress and orders lunch to be prepared for them. Scenes 3-4: At that moment Erotium comes outside Men. Noticing Peniculus, he shows him the dress that he has stolen from his wife to give to his girlfriend Erotium. I exits from his house, complaining about the nosiness of his wife, Matrona (Song #1).
#Plautus menaechmi text free#
Scenes 1-2: The parasite Peniculus (“Duster”) enters, hoping to get a free meal from his patron. Prologue: The prologue-speaker, whom we called Marsuppium (“Pouch”), supplies the audience with background information on Menaechmus I, a young lawyer living in Epidamnus, and on his twin brother, Menaechmus II (originally named Sosicles). The play would have been performed without intermission, as we too performed it. Plautus’ actors would all have been male and worn masks. While we generally remained faithful to the text, we took the liberty of adding a chorus of singing lawyers and creatively altering some of the roles. We turned the five lyrical sections of the Menaechmi into songs but relied on a piano, not an aulos, for accompaniment. Accompaniment would have been provided by an aulos, a double-reed instrument similar to an oboe. The play’s clever plot, which hinges on the confusion caused by mistaken identity, was borrowed by Shakespeare for his Comedy of Errors.Īll Greek and Roman drama is written in verse, some of it designed to be sung. Plautus’ source for the Menaechmi (“The Twins Named Menaechmus”) is unknown.