Menaechmi
Play by Plautus / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Menaechmi, a Latin-language play, is often considered Plautus' greatest play. The title is sometimes translated as The Brothers Menaechmus or The Two Menaechmuses.
Menaechmi | |
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Written by | Plautus |
Characters | Peniculus (Menaechmus's parasite) Menaechmus of Epidamnus Erotium (Menaechmus's mistress) Cylindrus (Erotium's cook) Sosicles/Menaechmus of (Syracuse) Messenio (slave) Erotium's servant Menaechmus's wife Father-in-law of Menaechmus a doctor Decio (wife's servant) |
Setting | a street in Epidamnus, before the houses of Menaechmus and Erotium |
The Menaechmi is a comedy about mistaken identity, involving a set of twins, Menaechmus of Epidamnus and Menaechmus of Syracuse. It incorporates various Roman stock characters including the parasite, the comic courtesan, the comic servant, the domineering wife, the doddering father-in-law and the quack doctor. As with most of Plautus' plays, much of the dialogue was sung.[1]
The play is set in a street in Epidamnus,[2] a city on the coast of what is now Albania. Facing the audience are two houses, that of Menaechmus I and that of Erotium, the prostitute he is courting.