Misoumenos

Misoumenos (Greek: Μισούμενος), translated as The Hated Man, is an Ancient Greek comedy by Menander (342/41 – 292/91 BC). Once considered lost, fragments of more than 400 verses of the play have been found. However, most of these are seriously damaged, making it difficult to reconstruct the plot of the play. Separate lines from the prologue also survived by being quoted by later writers. The surviving sources do not provide information regarding the time when the play was written and staged. At the same time, one of the fragments mentions royal power in Cyprus, which was abolished in 310/309 BC, so the action of the play takes place no later than this moment. Modern scholars date the play to approximately 300 BC. Misoumenos seems to have been very popular in late antiquity, judging from the numerous papyrus fragments that have been recovered. A scene from act 5 of the play is depicted in a mosaic in the House of Menander.