The romantic comedy Heautontimorumenos (The Self-Tormentor), Terence’s third play written, was adapted from a Greek comedy of the same name by Menander and first performed in April 163 B.C.E. at the ludi Megalenses, the annual games for the Great Mother of the Gods.
As a typical love comedy, Heautontimorumenos uses the erotic tribulations of two young men as the pretext for a comical battle of wits between a strict old father, Chremes, and his wily slave, Syrus. The prologue reveals (6) that Terence expanded the single love plot (simplex argumentum) of his Greek model into a so-called double plot (duplex argumentum), probably adding another pair of lovers and linking their …
Citation: Knorr, Ortwin. "Heautontimorumenos". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 December 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13479, accessed 03 December 2022.]