Mostellaria home Plautus (Dramata)

MOSTELLARIA

Author: Plautus
Date: unknown
Model: unknown
Adaptations:

Lynn Mitchell wrote A stage edition of the “Mostellaria” (Haunted House) of Titus Maccius Plautus in 1935 (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico)
Stephen Sondheim uses the recognition scene in his A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Texts and Commentaries

Latin text on-line at the Perseus Project (Leo 1895)
Lindsay, W.M. 1904-1905. T. Macci Plauti Comoediae. 2 vols. Clarendon: Oxford.
Nixon, Paul. 1916-38. Plautus. 5 vols. Loeb Classical Library 163. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 3:287-415.
Sturtevant, Edgar H. 1925. Mostellaria. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Sonnenschein, E.A. 1927. Mostellaria. 2d ed. Oxford: Clarendon.
Ernout, Alfred. 1932. Plaute. 7 vols. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. 5:7-91.
Collart, Jean. 1970. Mostellaria. Paris: Presses universitaires de France.
Merrill, Frank R. 1972. Mostellaria. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

English Translations Available

Riley, Henry Thomas. 1912. The Comedies of Plautus. 2 vols. London: G. Bell and Sons. 2:459-511.

translation on-line at the Perseus Project

Nixon, Paul. 1916-38. Plautus. 5 vols. Loeb Classical Library 163. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 3:287-415.
Basset, E.L. and L.W. Jarcho. Rev. by. Charles T. Murphy. 1942. The Complete Roman Drama, ed. George Duckworth. 2 vols. New York: Random House. 1:617-73.
Watling, E. F. 1964. Plautus: The Rope and Other Plays. New York: Penguin. 21-84.
Bovie, Palmer. 1970. Five Roman Comedies, ed. Palmer Bovie. New York: E.P. Dutton. Reprint in Plautus: The Comedies, eds. David R. Slavitt and Palmer Bovie. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1995. 3:305-400.
Segal, Erich. 1996. Plautus: Four Comedies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 131-86.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

THEUROPIDES - a merchant of Athens
SIMO - an aged Athenian, his neighbor
PHILOLACHES - son of Theuropides
CALLIDAMATES - a young Athenian, friend of Philolaches
TRANIO - servant of Philolaches
GRUMIO - servant of Theuropides
PHANISCUS - servant of Callidamates
ANOTHER SERVANT of Callidamates
A BANKER
A BOY
PHILEMATIUM - a music-girl, mistress of Philolaches
SCAPHA - her attendant
DELPHIUM - mistress of Callidamates

Act and Scene	Lines	Characters	Action
I.i	1-84	Grumio Tranio	Grumio and Tranio are bickering. Grumio accuses Tranio of debauchery, corruption, and the ruin of his master’s estate and son. Grumio asks the gods to bring Theuropides home.
I.ii	85-156	Philolaches	Philolaches gives a soliloquy in which he compares himself to a well-built house that has fallen into disrepair through its owner’s neglect.
I.iii	157-313	Philolaches Philematium Scapha	Philolaches secretly listens to Philematium talk to Scapha as she primps in the street. They discuss her love for Philolaches and her beauty. He emerges, dismisses Scapha, and goes to his house with Philematium. They spot Callidamates in the street.
I.iv	314-348	Delphium Callidamates Philolaches Philematium	Delphium is helping a drunken Callidamates down the street. Philolaches calls them into his house, where Callidamates promptly falls asleep and the rest commence drinking and partying.
II.i	349-430	Tranio Philolaches Delphium Callidamates	Tranio comes running back to the house from the harbor with the news that Philolaches’ father has returned. They fret that they are undone. Tranio orders all inside and claims to have a plan to keep Theuropides from entering the house.
II.ii	431-532	Theuropides Tranio	Theuropides finds his house dark and shut up and asks Tranio what is going on. Tranio convinces him that the house is haunted and Theuropides runs off.
III.i	533-689	A Banker Tranio Theuropides	A banker comes to collect the money Philolaches borrowed to buy Philematium. Theuropides has also come back, saying the man he bought his house from denies Trantio’s story. When he asks why his son owes money, Tranio says Philolaches has bought a Simo’s house, which Theuropides asks to see.
III.ii	690-860	Simo Tranio Theuropides	Simo is leaving his house for a walk and Tranio explains that his master has come home and would like to view Simo’s home as a model for an addition to his own. Theuropides is pleased from the outside with the house he thinks his son has purchased. He and Tranio go within alone.
IV.i	861-884	Phaniscus	Phaniscus gives a speech looking down on slaves who don’t fear punishment.
IV.ii	885-903	Phaniscus Another Servant of Callidamates	Phaniscus and another servant are going to fetch Callidamates from Philolaches’ house, verbally abusing each other along the way.
IV.iii	904-933	Tranio Theuropides	Theuropides expresses delight at his son’s supposed purchase and a slight distrust in Tranio. He sends Tranio to fetch Philolaches.
IV.iv	934-993	Phaniscus Theuropides Another Servant of Callidamates	Theuropides encounters Phaniscus at the house’s door. Phaniscus says that there has been a drinking party at the house, and explains all the partying that has been going on at the house. He also explains the purchase of Philematium.
IV.v	994-1040	Theuropides Simo	Theuropides again encounters Simo and confirms that the story of the purchase of the house was a lie.
V.i	1041-1121	Trano Theuropides	Tranio knows he can’t keep up his deception and is about to confess when Theuropides confronts him about what Simo has told him.
V.ii	1122-1182	Callidamates Theuropides, Tranio	Callidamates greets Theuropides. Theuropides argues that Tranio has corrupted his son. Callidamates says everything is his fault and expresses Philolaches’ and his shame. He asks for Tranio’s forgiveness also. Theuropides forgives all and asks for the audience’s applause.