Menaechmi , a Latin -language play, is often considered Plautus ' greatest play. The title is sometimes translated as The Brothers Menaechmus or The Two Menaechmuses .
47-405: 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 slave, the domineering wife, the doddering father-in-law and the quack doctor. As with most of Plautus ' plays, much of the dialogue was sung. The play is set in
94-480: A bracelet, saying that Erotium is asking him to have some gold added to it. Before going in, she cheekily requests him to buy her some gold earrings too. Menaechmus II goes off to find Messenio, throwing down his garland on the opposite side to confuse any pursuers. Peniculus and Menaechmus I's wife emerge from his house: Peniculus has told her about the cloak. He sees the garland on the ground. Just then Menaechmus I arrives. Menaechmus I now knocks on Erotium's door. She
141-468: A businessman who lives in Epidamnus, separating the twins. Their father dies of sorrow and their grandfather changes Sosicles' name to Menaechmus (i.e., Menaechmus of Syracuse). When the twins are grown to manhood, Menaechmus of Syracuse sets out in search of his brother. He arrives in Epidamnus, unaware that his twin brother is there also. Act 1: Here, the brother is first shown to be, with good cause,
188-490: A fitting return would include a dinner for himself and Peniculus. Erotium agrees, and the two men go to the Forum for preliminary drinks while the meal is being prepared. Act 2: Meanwhile, the twin from Syracuse has arrived with Messenio, his slave. The latter warns him of the depravity of Epidamnus, urging an end to the search for his missing brother since their money is nearly gone. His master gives his purse for safekeeping to
235-416: A garland on his head and the mantle over his arm; Erotium has told him to have it re-trimmed. He is chuckling over his luck—dinner, kisses and an expensive mantle—all for nothing, when the irate Peniculus, who has lost the Epidamnus twin in the Forum crowd, meets him and berates him for dining before he could arrive. Quite naturally treated as a stranger, Peniculus angrily rushes to tell the other twin's wife of
282-467: A great many cultural tensions that the Greeks expressed in the opposition they often drew between the lyre and aulos: freedom vs. servility and tyranny, leisured amateurs vs. professionals, moderation ( sophrosyne ) vs. excess, etc. Some of this is a result of 19th century AD "classical interpretation", i.e. Apollo versus Dionysus , or "Reason" (represented by the kithara) opposed to "Madness" (represented by
329-472: A scene in trochaic septenarii, which were apparently recited to the accompaniment of tibiae (a pair of reed pipes). Moore calls this the "ABC succession", where A = iambic senarii, B = other metres, C = trochaic septenarii. However, the ABC order is sometimes varied. If the A passages (iambic senarii) are taken as starting a section, and the C passages (trochaic septenarii) are taken as ending it, in this play
376-471: A street in Epidamnus , 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. Prologue: 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
423-402: A total stranger so. He adds that he didn't steal her mantle, that a lady gave it to him. This is too much for the wife, who calls her father from the house. The father, also assuming that he is the husband, tells him that he must be crazy. This idea seems an excellent means of escape for Menaechmus: he feigns insanity so violently that the father rushes off for a physician, the wife seeks safety in
470-617: Is at first welcoming, but when he asks for the cloak back and denies having taken the bracelet she grows angry and refuses to admit him. She goes inside, and Menaechmus I goes off to consult his friends. The old man hobbles back, saying he has summoned a doctor, who arrives shortly afterwards. Meanwhile Menaechmus I, declaring that he will be happy to steal Messenio's money if he is given the purse, goes into Erotium's house. As soon as he has gone, Menaechmus II arrives. When Messenio tells him he has just rescued him, Menaechmus II vehemently denies that he has just given Messenio his freedom. This play
517-418: Is in his baggage—and what dinner is she talking about? The dinner he ordered when he presented his wife's mantle, she replies. He first protests vainly that he hasn't any wife and has just arrived in the city, then begins to realize the possibilities of a dinner and a pretty girl. He sends Messenio to the inn, giving him orders to return for his master at sunset. Act 3: After the meal, he leaves his house with
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#1732779517707564-412: Is not thought that they go back to Plautus's time, since no manuscript contains them before the 15th century. Also, the acts themselves do not always match the structure of the plays, which is more clearly shown by the variation in metres. In Plautus's plays the usual pattern is to begin each section with iambic senarii (which were spoken without music), then a scene of music in various metres, and finally
611-597: Is part of the Lost Sounds Orchestra, alongside other ancient instruments which ASTRA have recreated the sounds of, including the epigonion , the salpinx , the barbiton and the syrinx . The aulos was also featured in the 2009 movie Agora , wherein a character performs a solo in an amphitheatre. It is also visible in the 2007 movie 300 . Modern evolutions of the aulos exist in Southeastern Europe . In southern Albania , specifically,
658-437: Is sometimes used by analogy with rhapsode and citharode ( citharede ) to refer to an aulos -player, who may also be called an aulist ; however, aulode more commonly refers to a singer who sang the accompaniment to a piece played on the aulos. There were several kinds of aulos , single or double. The most common variety was a reed instrument. Archeological finds, surviving iconography and other evidence indicate that it
705-557: The Great Highland Bagpipe , the aulos has been used for martial music , but it is more frequently depicted in other social settings. A normal flute would produce insufficient volume to be of any use in military application, where a double-reed could be heard over larger distances, and over the clamour of marching whilst wearing armour. It was the standard accompaniment of the passionate elegiac poetry . It also accompanied physical activities such as wrestling matches,
752-561: The Peloponnesian War . Individual trading with the local Illyrians was forbidden at Epidamnos: all traffic was through the authorized city agent or poletes . In the fourth century BC the city-state was part of the kingdoms of Cassander and Pyrrhus . The general vicinity of Epidamnos was called Epidamnia . In 229 BC, when the Romans seized the city the "-damnus" part of the name was inauspicious to Latin ears (it resembles
799-461: The Great 's aulete Timotheus discusses fame with his pupil Harmonides. Timotheus advises him to impress the experts within his profession rather than seek popular approval in big public venues. If leading musicians admire him, popular approval will follow. However, Lucian reports that Harmonides died from excessive blowing during practicing. In myth, Marsyas the satyr was supposed to have invented
846-504: The Latin word damnum , meaning 'damage' or 'loss'), and its name, as it was refounded, became Dyrrhachium. Pausanias (6.x.8) says "the modern Roman city is not the ancient one, being at a short distance from it. The modern city is called Dyrrhachium from its founder." The name Dyrrachion is found on coins of the fifth century BC; in the Roman period Dyrrachium was more common. However,
893-405: The aulos). In the temple to Apollo at Delphi, there was also a shrine to Dionysus, and his Maenads are shown on drinking cups playing the aulos, but Dionysus is sometimes shown holding a kithara or lyre. So a modern interpretation can be a little more complicated than just simple duality. This opposition is mostly an Athenian one. It might be surmised that things were different at Thebes , which
940-404: The aulos, or else picked it up after Athena had thrown it away because it caused her cheeks to puff out and ruined her beauty. In any case, he challenged Apollo to a musical contest, where the winner would be able to "do whatever he wanted" to the loser—Marsyas's expectation, typical of a satyr, was that this would be sexual in nature. But Apollo and his lyre beat Marsyas and his aulos. And since
987-487: The blockage; the aulete had a fundamental role in ensuring the integrity of the phalanx. In this particular scene, the phalanx approaching from the left is unprepared and momentarily outnumbered four to five. More soldiers can be seen running up to assist them from behind. Even though the front four are lacking a fifth soldier, they have the advantage because the aulete is there to bring the formation back together. An amphora from c. 540 –530 BC depicts Herakles in
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#17327795177071034-584: The broad jump, the discus throw and to mark the rowing cadence on triremes , as well as sacrifices and dramas. Plato associates it with the ecstatic cults of Dionysus and the Korybantes , banning it from his Republic but permitting it in his Laws . Players of the aulos used a tool known as the Phorbeia or the Capistrum . It was a device that consisted of two straps. One was placed on top of
1081-455: The business of Venus, Erotium replies coyly. Messenio whispers to his master that the lady undoubtedly is a schemer for his money, and asks her if she knows his master. He is Menaechmus, of course, replies Erotium. This amazes the twin, but Messenio explains that spies of the city's thieves probably have learned his name. Erotium, tiring of what she considers foolery, tells Menaechmus to come in to dinner and bring Peniculus. Peniculus, he answers,
1128-557: The city maintained a semi-autonomy and was turned into a Roman colony. Dyrrachium was the landing place for Roman passengers crossing the Ionian Sea from Brundisium , which made it a fairly busy way-station. Here commenced the Via Egnatia , the Roman military road to Thessalonica that connected Roman Illyria with Macedonia and Thrace . The city itself was part of Macedonia , more specifically Epirus Nova . In 48 BC Pompey
1175-433: The despair of his jealous wife. He is seen leaving his house, berating his spouse as a shrew and a harpy, promising that she shall have good cause for her jealousy. He confides to Peniculus, a professional parasite, that he has stolen his wife's mantle and is going to give it to Erotium, a prostitute who lives next door. The two go to Erotium's door, and the husband presents the mantle with many blandishments. He suggests that
1222-425: The furious wife, told by Peniculus of her man's trick, rushes out of her house just in time to meet her husband returning from the Forum, expecting Erotium's banquet. She tells him to return the mantle or stay out of her house, and the husband goes to Erotium to get it, resolving to buy his sweetheart a better one. He is stupefied when she declares him a liar and a cheat, and tells him that she has already given him both
1269-401: The head and another was placed on the back of the head and stretched from ear to ear to support the cheeks. It was used by ancient musicians to play the aulos by allowing them to create noise through circular breathing and steady the instrument. It may have also been used to prevent the reeds of the instrument from falling down the throat of the player. Another potential use for the phrobeia
1316-403: The house, and Menaechmus goes off to resume his hunt for Messenio. Act 5: As the father comes back with a doctor, the real husband returns. He flies into a rage when his wife and father-in-law add to his troubles by implying that he is quite mad. His anger convinces the doctor of his insanity, and he summons slaves to bind him and take him to an asylum. Just then, Messenio appears, and, thinking
1363-458: The instrument was usually double-reeded, and its sound—described as "penetrating, insisting and exciting"—was more akin to that of modern woodwind instruments such as oboes or bagpipes with a chanter and (modulated) drone . An aulete ( αὐλητής , aulētēs ) was the musician who performed on an aulos . The ancient Roman equivalent was the tibicen (plural tibicines ), from the Latin tibia, "pipe, aulos ." The neologism aulode
1410-402: The internal government of Epidamnos, which was run as a tight oligarchy that appointed a ruling magistrate; tradesmen and craftsmen were excluded from power, until internal strife produced a more democratic government. The exiled oligarchs appealed to Corcyra while the democrats enlisted the help of Corinth, initiating a struggle between the two mother cities described by Thucydides as a cause of
1457-466: The mantle and her bracelet. So the Epidamnus twin finds the doors of both his wife and mistress slammed in his puzzled face, and goes off to get the counsel of his friends. The Syracuse Menaechmus returns, the mantle still over his arm, in search of Messenio, who has left the inn. His brother's wife sees him, and assuming him to be her husband, demands that he confess his shame. He asks her of what he should be ashamed—and, furthermore, why she should address
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1504-399: The order of the metrical sections is as follows: Alternatively, following Moore, the sections could be taken as following the two brothers in turn as follows: In first section there are two "B" passages, the first polymetric and the second in mixed iambo-trochaic metres. Timothy Moore points out that each time Menaechmus I enters the stage, he is accompanied by music; but throughout almost
1551-682: The process of completing his tenth labor . Auletes can be seen playing in a procession going around on the neck of the amphora. The sounds of the aulos are being digitally recreated by the Ancient Instruments Sound/Timbre Reconstruction Application (ASTRA) project which uses physical modeling synthesis to simulate the aulos sounds. Due to the complexity of this process the ASTRA project uses grid computing to model sounds on hundreds of computers throughout Europe simultaneously. The aulos
1598-552: The pure lord of Delphi 's mind worked in different ways from Marsyas's, he celebrated his victory by stringing his opponent up from a tree and flaying him alive. Marsyas's blood and the tears of the Muses formed the river Marsyas in Asia Minor. This tale was a warning against committing the sin of " hubris ", or overweening pride, in that Marsyas thought he might win against a god. Strange and brutal as it is, this myth reflects
1645-583: The purse. The husband goes to Erotium's house in further search of the mantle. The Syracuse twin returns, in his quest of Messenio, at the moment when the servant hurries back with his purse. His master upbraids him for having been gone so long, but the slave protests that he has just saved his owner from ruffians and has been set free. The master is pondering this new muddle when his twin appears from Erotium's house. The two brothers rub their eyes in bewilderment on seeing each other, but explanations quickly bring recognition. They embrace. The happy master truly sets
1692-557: The sister dressed as a boy. Epidamnus The city of Epidamnos ( Ancient Greek : Επίδαμνος ), later the Roman Dyrrachium ( Δυρράχιον ; modern Durrës , Albania ), was founded in 627 BC in Illyria by Greeks from Corinth and Corcyra (modern Corfu ). Etymologically, Epidamnos may be related to or derived from Proto-Albanian *dami (cub). Aristotle 's Politics several times draws for examples on
1739-455: The slave free, and the brothers decide that the first Menaechmus shall go to live with his twin in Syracuse. Messenio announces an auction in the morning of the husband's goods, everything to go to the block—even the wife, if there be a buyer. Plautus's plays are traditionally divided into five acts; these are referred to below for convenience, since many editions make use of them. However, it
1786-480: The slave who continues his warning against the cunning people of Epidamnus "who think nothing of accosting a stranger" and bilking him of his money, when Erotium steps out of her house and endearingly accosts the Syracuse Menaechmus, thinking him to be his brother. She asks why he hesitates to enter when dinner is ready, and the confused twin asks her, quite formally, what business he has with her. Why,
1833-420: The stolen mantle. The Syracuse brother, further baffled because the unknown Peniculus addressed him by his name, is pinching his ear to make sure that he is awake when Erotium's maid comes out and hands him a bracelet to be taken to a goldsmith for repair. He suspects that something is amiss, and hurries off to the inn to tell Messenio of the happy shower of valuables that has been raining upon him. Act 4: Now
1880-424: The struggling husband his master, overpowers the slave. As a reward he asks for his own freedom. The husband tells Messenio that he doesn't know him, but by all means to consider himself freed; then he begins to suspect he may really be a bit crazy when Messenio tells him that he will return shortly to give him the money he has been safeguarding. Husband Menaechmus is not too addled, however, to profess his ownership of
1927-438: The whole play each entrance of Menaechmus II coincides with iambic senarii, which were unaccompanied. This no doubt helped the audience to distinguish one brother from the other, if they were identically dressed. Peniculus returns, having lost track of Menaechmus I in the forum. He is dismayed to see Menaechmus II exiting Erotium's house, wearing the garland customarily put on at a banquet. A maid comes out and hands Menaechmus II
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1974-455: Was double-reeded , like the modern oboe , but with a larger mouthpiece, like the surviving Armenian duduk . A single pipe without a reed was called the monaulos ( μόναυλος , from μόνος "single"). A single pipe held horizontally, as the modern flute, was the plagiaulos (πλαγίαυλος, from πλάγιος "sideways"). A pipe with a bag to allow for continuous sound (a bagpipe ) was the askaulos (ἀσκαυλός from ἀσκός askos " wineskin "). Like
2021-454: Was a center of aulos-playing. At Sparta —which had no Bacchic or Korybantic cults to serve as contrast—the aulos was actually associated with Apollo, and accompanied the hoplites into battle. The battle scene on the Chigi vase shows an aulos player setting a lyrical rhythm for the hoplite phalanx to advance to. This accompaniment reduced the possibility of an opening in the formation of
2068-631: Was based at Dyrrachium and beat off an attack by Julius Caesar . In AD 345 the city was levelled by an earthquake and rebuilt on its old foundations. In the 4th century AD, Dyrrachium was made the capital of the Roman province of Epirus nova . Thus its Archbishopric became the Metropolitan of all dioceses in the province. In the early 9th century, the province was reorganized as the Theme of Dyrrachium by Emperor Nikephoros I The name "Epidamnus"
2115-445: Was holding the lips in place, taking some strain off of the lip muscles. Although aristocrats with sufficient leisure sometimes practiced aulos-playing as they did the lyre , after the later fifth century the aulos became chiefly associated with professional musicians, often slaves. Nevertheless, such musicians could achieve fame. The Romano-Greek writer Lucian discusses aulos playing in his dialogue Harmonides , in which Alexander
2162-490: Was still used by the Byzantines, as for example in the 13th-century Synopsis Chronike , referring to contemporary events. Aulos An aulos (plural auloi ; Ancient Greek : αὐλός , plural αὐλοί ) or tibia ( Latin ) was a wind instrument in ancient Greece , often depicted in art and also attested by archaeology . Though the word aulos is often translated as "flute" or as " double flute ",
2209-559: Was the major source for William Shakespeare 's The Comedy of Errors . Shakespeare's work was in turn adapted for the musical theatre by Rodgers and Hart in The Boys from Syracuse and as the 1954 opera Double-Trouble by Richard Mohaupt (Libretto: Roger Maren ). 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,
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