| Plutarch | Shakespeare |
|---|---|
| Therefore," said he, "they that gave counsel and persuaded, that the corn should be given out to the common people gratis, as they [p. 17] used to do in the cities of Greece, where the people had more absolute power, did but only nourish their disobedience, which would break out in the end, to the utter ruin and overthrow of the whole state. |
CORIOLANUS Whoever gave that counsel, to give forth The corn o' the storehouse gratis, as 'twas used Sometime in Greece,-- MENENIUS Well, well, no more of that. CORIOLANUS Though there the people had more absolute power, I say, they nourish'd disobedience, fed The ruin of the state. |
Plutarch has an attempt by the tribunes to have Coriolanus arrested but the ensuing riot between the tribunes and their supporters on the one hand and Coriolanus and the senators on the other continues till nightfall separates them. The next day the two sides agree in Coriolanus' absence that he should come and be tried for trying to assume supreme power and for having resisted arrest by the people's representatives. See the North translation, section 17.
According to Livy, Menenius died in the year Corioli was captured, two years before Coriolanus was banished.
Act 3 Scene 2
Menenius and Volumnia, Coriolanus' mother, persuade Coriolanus to appear and at least pretend to be sorry for the offence he caused, in the hope that he can still be elected.
Plutarch does not have this scene at all.
Act 3 Scene 3
At Coriolanus' hearing, the tribunes provoke him into losing his temper again and he is banished.
Plutarch places the attempt to seize Coriolanus and throw him off the Tarpeian rock at this point and the hearing breaks up into brawling again. Coriolanus agrees to appear on a charge of attempting to become king. When Coriolanus appears, however, Sicinius produces other charges which Coriolanus is unprepared for and is unable to answer. He is banished. See the North translation, section 18, section 19, and section 20.
For more on the historical background, see my two-part article on Coriolanus.
