Menaechmi
Encyclopedia
Menaechmi, a Latin
-language play, is often considered Plautus
' greatest play. The title is sometimes translated as The Brothers Menaechmus or The Two Menaechmuses.
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
's plays, much of the dialogue was sung. Paul L. MacKendrick, Herbert M. Howe, Classics in Translation, Volume II,1959, "http://books.google.com/books?id=p_d5q28mY-YC&lpg=PA13&ots=04lWmBwmZy&dq=Plautus%20plays%20sung&pg=PA13#v=onepage&q=Plautus%20plays%20sung&f=false" May 11, 2011
Sosicles, who has been renamed Menaechmus by his grandfather in memory of his long-lost brother, spends many years traveling in search for Menaechmus. Eventually, Sosicles is ready to give up hope and return home; however, prior to returning, he decides to make one last stop at Epidamnus. Because of their identical looks and names, the two Menaechmi are often mistaken for each other, causing Sosicles to view the people of Epidamnus as rude and peculiar and getting Menaechmus into trouble with his wife and friends.
At the end of the play, Menaechmus and Sosicles finally meet and realize that they are twins, with much help from Sosicles's slave Messenio. Messenio is then granted freedom for his aid.
's The Comedy of Errors
, which was subsequently adapted for the musical theatre by Rodgers and Hart
in The Boys from Syracuse
. A similar line of influence was Carlo Goldoni
's 1747 play I due gemelli veneziani ("The two Venetian twins
") (also adapted as The Venetian Twins
in 1979). Shakespeare's Twelfth Night
also features mistaken twins, the sister dressed as a boy.
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
-language play, is often considered Plautus
Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus , commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus...
' greatest play. The title is sometimes translated as The Brothers Menaechmus or The Two Menaechmuses.
The Menaechmi is a comedy about mistaken identity, involving a set of twins, Menaechmus of Epidamnus and Menaechmus of Syracuse
Syracuse, Italy
Syracuse is a historic city in Sicily, the capital of the province of Syracuse. The city is notable for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture, and as the birthplace of the preeminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. This 2,700-year-old city played a key role in...
. It incorporates various Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
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
Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus , commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus...
's plays, much of the dialogue was sung. Paul L. MacKendrick, Herbert M. Howe, Classics in Translation, Volume II,1959, "http://books.google.com/books?id=p_d5q28mY-YC&lpg=PA13&ots=04lWmBwmZy&dq=Plautus%20plays%20sung&pg=PA13#v=onepage&q=Plautus%20plays%20sung&f=false" May 11, 2011
Plot
Moschus has twin sons, Menaechmus and Sosicles. Moschus decides to take only one of the twins, Menaechmus, with him on a business trip, while the twins are still young. During the trip, Menaechmus is abducted and adopted by a businessman who lives in Epidamnus, separating the twins. Their father dies of sorrow.Sosicles, who has been renamed Menaechmus by his grandfather in memory of his long-lost brother, spends many years traveling in search for Menaechmus. Eventually, Sosicles is ready to give up hope and return home; however, prior to returning, he decides to make one last stop at Epidamnus. Because of their identical looks and names, the two Menaechmi are often mistaken for each other, causing Sosicles to view the people of Epidamnus as rude and peculiar and getting Menaechmus into trouble with his wife and friends.
At the end of the play, Menaechmus and Sosicles finally meet and realize that they are twins, with much help from Sosicles's slave Messenio. Messenio is then granted freedom for his aid.
Adaptations and influences
This play was the major source for William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...
, which was subsequently adapted for the musical theatre by Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership of composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist Lorenz Hart...
in The Boys from Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, based on William Shakespeare's play, The Comedy of Errors, as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemporary rhythms of the 1930s. The show was the first musical...
. A similar line of influence was Carlo Goldoni
Carlo Goldoni
Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni was an Italian playwright and librettist from the Republic of Venice. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Audiences have admired the plays of Goldoni for their ingenious mix of wit and honesty...
's 1747 play I due gemelli veneziani ("The two Venetian twins
The Venetian Twins
The Venetian Twins is a 1747 play by Carlo Goldoni, based on Plautus's Menaechmi. Recent productions include one at the Watermill Theatre and a 1993 production directed by Michael Bogdanov for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The play has also been adapted and staged as a 1979 Australian two-act...
") (also adapted as The Venetian Twins
The Venetian Twins (musical comedy)
The Venetian Twins is an Australian two-act musical comedy. It was translated and adapted from a commedia dell'arte play - I due gemelli veneziani by Carlo Goldoni -, and the lyrics were written, by Nick Enright; the music was composed and arranged by Terence Clarke. It premiered on 26 October 1979...
in 1979). Shakespeare's Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night, or What You Will
Twelfth Night; or, What You Will is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–02 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season...
also features mistaken twins, the sister dressed as a boy.
Translations
- William Warner, 1595 http://www.jstor.org/pss/2915243 and http://books.google.com/books?id=C1uXah12nHgC&pg=PA1266&lpg=PA1266&dq=William+Warner+translations&source=bl&ots=il3x30fn0C&sig=cgeygPOlapNXUm8WRgehmn0w0oo&hl=en&ei=EN7ATfT2DoT0tgP4m6HgBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=William%20Warner%20translations&f=false
- Henry Thomas Riley, 1912: Menaechmi (full text)
- Paul Nixon, 1916-38
- Edward C. Weist and Richard W. Hyde, 1942
- Palmer Bovie, 1962
- E. F. Watling, 1965
- Erich SegalErich SegalErich Wolf Segal was an American author, screenwriter, and educator. He was best-known for writing the novel Love Story , a best-seller, and writing the motion picture of the same name, which was a major hit....
, 1996 - Deena Berg and Douglass Parker, 1999
- David M. Christenson, 2010 http://www.pullins.com/Books/03195RomanComedy.htm