Rudens

Acts

• Prologue

  A storm. A young girl and her companion are shipwrecked near a temple of Venus on the coast of Cyrene. A pimp has tried to abduct them by sea.

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• 1
  Act 1

  The old man Daemones lives nearby in exile. His slave Sceparnio spots the shipwreck survivors. The girls take sanctuary at the altar of Venus.

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• 2
  Act 2

  The pimp Labrax washes ashore and tries to drag the girls from the altar. Daemones' slaves fight him off. Palaestra and Ampelisca are protected by the temple.

  353 lines
• 3
  Act 3

  A fishing net hauls up a trunk from the shipwreck. It contains the recognition tokens that prove Palaestra's identity. The slave Gripus wants to keep the treasure.

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• 4
  Act 4

  Trachalio, the young lover's slave, recognises the tokens. Daemones opens the trunk and discovers — Palaestra is his own daughter, lost years ago.

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• 5
  Act 5

  Father and daughter reunited. The pimp is forced to free the second girl. The young man gets his bride. Gripus gets his reward. Virtue and the sea have triumphed.

  219 lines