Menander, Samia

"This introductory companion offers a critical analysis of Menander's Samia for non-specialists. Matthew Wright brings the play to life by explaining how it achieves its comic effects and how it fits within the broader context of fourth-century Greek drama and society. He offers a scene-by-scene reading of the play, combining close attention to detail with broader consideration of major themes, in an approach designed to bring out the humour and nuance of each individual moment on stage, while also illuminating Menander's comic art. Menander's Samia is one of the best-preserved examples of fourth-century Greek comedy. Celebrated within antiquity but subsequently lost for many years, it miraculously came back to light, in almost complete form, as a result of Egyptian papyrus finds during the twentieth century. The play dramatizes a tangled story of mistakes, mishaps and misapprehensions leading up to the marriage of Moschion and Plangon. The young lovers' story is tied up with that of various other characters, including Moschion's father Demeas, Plangon's father Nikeratos, and above all Demeas' mistress Chrysis (the eponymous 'Woman from Samos'). For most of the play the characters are at odds with one another owing to accidental delusions or deliberate deceptions, and it seems as if the marriage will be cancelled or indefinitely postponed; but ultimately everyone's problems are solved and the play ends happily"--