Mercator (Plautus)

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Mercator (Latin for "the merchant") is the title of a Latin comedy by the Roman comedy poet Titus Maccius Plautus . The work is based on a template called Emporos (Ἔμπορος) by the Greek comedy poet Philemon . Plautus rewrote this for the Roman public. Thus the play takes place in Athens and the actors have names of Greek origin, but the language of the comedy is Latin. The Mercator belongs to the genus of the fabula palliata .

actors

The following people appear in the Mercator with important speaking roles (sorted according to the order in which they appear):

  • Charinus, a young Athenian who by his trade mission Pasicompsa as his courtesan brought
  • Acanthio, Charinus' slave and his former tutor
  • Demipho, father of Charinus, who also falls in love with Pasicompsa
  • Lysimachus, neighbor of Demipho, who buys Pasicompsa for him and hides it in his house
  • Eutychus, son of Lysimachus and Charinus' friend, who tries to buy Pasicompsa this one
  • Pasicompsa, hetaera from Rhodes and friend of Charinus
  • Dorippa, wife of Lysimachus
  • Syra, Dorippa's old slave
  • Cook, is ordered by Demipho and Lysimachus to prepare a feast

There are also several silent roles in the play, such as the cook's assistants or money bearers and dressing slaves.

content

The piece begins with a monologue by Charinus, in which Charinus describes the history of the piece. It is learned that Charinus was sent on a trade trip by his father, on which he made a considerable profit. Charinus spends part of this on the voyage to buy the Hetaera Pasicompsa, which he left on his ship to hide from his father.

After the monologue, Charinus learns from his slave Acanthio that his father has discovered Demipho Pasicompsa. Acanthio gave Demipho the white lie that Charinus bought his mother's wife as a maid. After this dialogue Demipho comes on stage, who explains in a monologue that he has fallen in love with Pasicompsa. He reveals his love to his neighbor Lysimachus. In the following scene, Charinus and Demipho clash: Demipho tries to convince his son to sell Pasicompsa again so that he can secretly let his friend Lysimachus buy her for himself. In return, Charinus instructs his friend Eutychus to buy the woman for him.

Lysimachus succeeds in buying Pasicompsa and accommodates her in his house until permanent accommodation is found for her. He meets the excited Demipho, and the two agree to order a cook to celebrate. Meanwhile, Charinus learns from Eutychus that Pasicompsa has been bought by someone he does not know and, in his grief, decides to leave Athens forever. Eutychus goes in search of Pasicompsa to keep Charinus from his journey.

Then Lysimachus' wife Dorippa comes back from the country with her slave and discovers Pasicompsa in her house. She suspects her husband of infidelity, which is reinforced by the appearance of the cook. Eutychus returns exhausted from his unsuccessful search and meets Syra, who tells him that Pasicompsa is in the house. Eutychus disappears into the house to see for himself.

Charinus enters the stage ready to travel and wants to set off. Eutychus comes over and tries to stop him. Charinus goes mad in his grief and at first does not believe Eutychus that Pasicompsa is still there. He goes through an imaginary search for Pasicompsa through different countries, but finally comes to his senses and happily disappears with Eutychus in the house of Lysimachus. Then Demipho and Lysimachus enter. Eutychus steps out of the house again and ensures that Demipho abandons Pasicompsa and leaves her to Charinus. He also tells his father Lysimachus that his wife is no longer angry with him.

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