In act one as Solinus the Duke of Ephesus, accompanied by a jailer and Egeon. Egeon is a merchant from Syracuse, a city that is a fierce rival of Ephesus. Recently both cities have passed laws that put any man from the rival city to death unless he is able to raise a ransom of one thousand marks, a sum that Egeon cannot afford. The Duke begs Egeon to tell him why he chose to come to Ephesus, knowing that the punishment is death. Egeon tells him that years ago he and his wife went to Epidamnum. While there, his wife bore twin sons. Another woman in the same inn also had twins, whom Egeon purchased to be servants for his two sons. After they left to return home, they were caught in a storm which resulted in a shipwreck.After a while the remaining twin inquired about his brother, and Egeon spent five years traveling the Greek islands searching for him before ending up in Ephesus. The Duke tells him that he cannot remove the death penalty, but advises Egeon to beg and plead for th!.
e thousand marks from everyone he knows in Ephesus. The jailer takes Egeon into custody. Meanwhile, Antipholus of Syracuse has arrived in Ephesus hoping to find his long lost brother. While waiting for a few moments, Dromio of Ephesus (his brother's servant) arrives and sees him. Antipholus demands to know what happened to the gold he gave Dromio for their hotel rooms. Dromio of Ephesus is quite confused and tells Antipholus to hurry home to dinner before his wife beats them both. Antipholus, convinced that Dromio has stolen his thousand marks, starts to beat him until Dromio runs away. .
In act two Adriana and Luciana begin to discuss the fact that Antipholus of Ephesus has not yet returned home. Dromio of Ephesus arrives and tells Adriana about his strange encounter with Antipholus. He recounts his conversation in a humorous manner, and then indicates that he was beaten. Adriana orders him to return and fetch his master.