Click on any scene below for a side-by-side translation from the original Shakespeare into modern English.
Act 1, Scene 1
So, a Poet, a Painter, a Jeweler, and a Merchant walk into a bar...Okay, actually, they go to Timon's house—but it might as well be a bar, given all the people who hang around there night after n...
Act 1, Scene 2
Everyone is invited to a banquet at Timon's house. There's music, laughter, and excellent food.Ventidius comes in and thanks Timon for getting him out of debt. Timon's all, "No problem, man. It's t...
Act 2, Scene 1
It turns out that Timon has borrowed large sums of money to support his extravagant lifestyle. We open Act 2 with a Senator thinking back on how much Timon owes him.The Senator quickly figures out...
Act 2, Scene 2
When Caphis shows up at Timon's house, he's not the only one ready to cash in. Isidore's and Varro's servants have also come to get Timon to pay his bills.Flavius is worried out of his mind. He kno...
Act 3, Scene 1
One of Timon's servants, Flaminius, shows up at Lucullus's house with an empty box.Lucullus sees the box and thinks, hey, it's present time.But when Flaminius explains that the box is empty, and Ti...
Act 3, Scene 2
Act 3, Scene 3
We're now at Sempronius's house, where Timon's servant is asking for money. Hmm… is it just us, or is there a pattern here?Sempronius is surprised that Timon's servant has come to him instead of...
Act 3, Scene 4
Back at Timon's house, the creditors' servants are getting a little annoyed. They don't know why Timon hasn't paid them yet, and they decide the prognosis isn't good.Titus, one of the servants, dec...
Act 3, Scene 5
Meanwhile, the senate has sentenced a man to death. He's charged with killing another man, so he must die.Alcibiades disagrees: we should pity people, he says.Plus, this isn't just any mu...
Act 3, Scene 6
We hope you brought your Sunday best, because the banquet is about to begin. The whole gang is there: Lucullus, Lucius, Sempronius, Ventidius, and the other lords and Senators show up at Timon's ho...
Act 4, Scene 1
You could say Timon is pretty angry at Athens. He stands outside the city walls and rants about how awful the people inside are.Timon's got a laundry list of bad wishes for the city. We'll warn you...
Act 4, Scene 2
Flavius and his fellow servants grieve together. They're all really bummed over what happened to their master.Many of the servants have a lot of nasty words for Timon's fair-weather friends.There's...
Act 4, Scene 3
Somewhere in the middle of the woods, Timon curses mankind.Timon has nothing left, so he searches for food in the woods. He starts digging and strikes gold. Literally: he finds gold in the ground.B...
Act 5, Scene 1
Word around the water cooler is that Timon still has his wealth and is lying low in the woods. The Poet and Painter have heard it, and they've come to find out if it's true.The Poet and Painter hav...
Act 5, Scene 2
Two more Senators stand around chitchatting about what will become of Athens. They want to know if Alcibiades's army is as strong as they think it is.And what's the deal with Timon? Did he accept t...
Act 5, Scene 3
A solider is searching for Timon in the woods and is having no luck. He knows he got the address right: over the valley and through the woods, right? Then the soldier comes across a fresh tomb...
Act 5, Scene 4
Alcibiades arrives at the city gates, trumpets blaring. He tells the Senators to surrender to him. In order to do so, they have to (1) give him all his and Timon's enemies; (2) atone for their...