Source edition
Terence. Publii Terentii Comoediae Sex. Parry, Edward St. John, editor. London: Whittaker and Co.; George Bell, 1857.
Source data
Perseus Digital Library · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This ancient Roman comedy, set in Athens, depicts the complex romantic and marital entanglements of two young men. While their strict fathers are away on a journey, Antipho marries a poor orphan girl, and Phaedria falls in love with a harp-player. Upon the fathers' return, they are furious at these unauthorized relationships, prompting the witty parasite Phormio to step in and devise clever schemes to swindle money from them to help the youths. The plot takes an unexpected turn when it is revealed that Antipho's new wife is actually the secret daughter of Chremes, one of the fathers. Weaponizing this secret, Phormio exposes Chremes's bigamy to his wife, forcing the fathers into submission and ultimately securing happy resolutions for both young couples.