Menaechmei

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Universi ty of Illinois Library

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T MACCI PLAUTI MENAECHMEI

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ΤΗE present edition of the Menaechmei formS a companion volume to the Aulularia and the Trinummus, and will in course of time be succeeded by other playA oi Plautus annotated in the Same mander. The Editor has conscienti Ousty examinod the labours of his predece8Sors, and hopes that both his critical notos and the exegetical commenta Will prove that he is suis- ciently acquainteit With the workA of former scholares in this sold of Latin litoraturo. It Ahould, hoWeVer, bo confessed that anything like completeness is notWithin the scope of the present Work, and that the principat consideration Which guidod tho Editor in his selection of the materiais to bo placod beiore his readeres has been the practical bearing oi an ObSerVntion upon the explanation Oi the text. The critical notes Ahould not be deemed superfluous; they contain many Valuabie materials and may, in the handa oi an ableteacher, become the basis of many useiul disquisitions calculated to Strongilien the reasoning pomers of his pupilS. Amongst former commentators, the greateSt amount

of prat se is duo to Lambinus. Many niceties Oi stylo and phraseology have been copiousty illustrat0d by

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IUPREFACE.

llima

In conclusion, the Editor begs to observo that thotoxt of this edition is sentirely his o , and Venturesto hopo that somo of his readings Will find favour With his follow-workers in the field os Plautine criticism.

Christinas, 1877.

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INTRODUCTION.

as applying to the Sicilian origin of tho plot, While itinerely donotos that the evenis in the play are in SomeWay connected With Sicily, or that tho preti minuries of the plot talio place in that istand. This suppositionWas further strengthened by the SomeWhat Vague eXPreS- Sion os Horace, Ep. H I, 58 dicitur) Plautus ad eaeemplar Siculi properare Epicharmi. But thia does nos meanthat Plautus ovor took a plot hom Epicharmus, but onlydraWA a parallel betWeen the easy and rapid development of the singio evenis of tho plot of a Plautine play and the plays of EpicharmUS. It is certain that Plautus dorived the plots of his plays Dom the rich Atores of the So-called Νεα Κωρουδια, and it is among the numerous poets and plays of that branch of Grook literaturo that wo shali have to look fortho original inventor of the plot of the present play. A

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It has been conjoctured that tho Greeli original horotho titie of Διδυμιοι, whicli mas also that of Severat other plays of the NeW Comedy mentioned by ancient authors. Such plays are attributed to Antiphanes, AnaXandrides, Alexius, Xenarchus and Euphron, and there is a Διδ1μαι mentioned among the plays of Menander. Though there are severat allusionS to Roman customa in tho Plautine playΗ-and, in faci, nos one i S Dee DomSueli admixtures-We need nos suppose that the plot of the Greela original Was in any Way altered by the Romanadapter. We do not kno N When Plautus Wroto his Menaechmei, and there is nos the Alightest foundation fortho supposition whicli attributes this comedy to thoearlier part of the poet'A literno career. The pnSSage relating to the hings of Syracuso is of too santastic a natureto justify the conclusion that the play Was acted during the reign of Hiero, though this has been maintained by severat ScholaΓS.