As the play begins we meet the slave Doto who is watching over her sleeping mistress Dynamene, a young widow of Ephesus, who is on day three of a hunger strike in the tomb of her husband Virilius. The two are determined to die and follow Virilius to the Underworld. Dynamene sees their mission as the ultimate act of self-sacrifice; Doto is along for the ride out of curiosity and devotion to her mistress. They are interrupted in their vigil by a young soldier, Tegeus, who is supposed to be guarding the bodies of dead prisoners hanging on trees outside the tomb. He marvels at what he sees as the ladies' noble and selfless gesture. He is also smitten by the widow's beauty.