Andria (“The Girl from Andros”) was the first play by the Latin comic playwright Terence (Publius Terentius Afer), put on in Rome at the Megalesian Games in April 166 BCE. The plot is as follows: a girl called Glycerium has come from the island of Andros to settle in Athens, where the play is set, and she is loved by an Athenian citizen boy called Pamphilus – in fact she is pregnant by him and gives birth off-stage in the course of the play. Pamphilus, however, is under much pressure from his father Simo to marry Philumena, the daughter of Simo’s wealthy friend Chremes; it had even been agreed by the fathers that they would marry, but Chremes has cancelled the arrangement on learning about Pamphilus’ affair with …

1814 words

Citation: Brown, Peter. "Andria". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 September 2012 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13481, accessed 31 October 2024.]

13481 Andria 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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