In Miles Gloriosus, for example, the courtesan Philocomasium plays her fictional twin sister, Dicea, as part of the slaveвЂ™s trickery. Setting the objectives in contextДҐDoubling and mirroring of characters is, of course, a default Plautine technique drawing on the earlier New Comedy tradition. 3 In this interdependence of meta-poetic initiatives it becomes clear that twin helps twin throughout the action, albeit unwittingly.Д¤The aim of this paper is twofold: to suggest (1) that Menaechmus IIвЂ™s largely unintentional yet repeated assumption of an alternative identity functions as a vehicle for his kidnapped brotherвЂ™s gradual separation from the society that has been exploiting him and (2) that this gradual withdrawal occurs throughout the play, rather than just at the end, after the recognitio. (.)ДЈScholars usually treat the meta-dramatic endeavors of Menaechmus II of Syracuse on two separate occasions as independent performances 2 however, their interdependence on the meta-dramatic initiatives of his Epidamnian sibling have largely escaped examination, as has their function as a tool for his gradual withdrawal from town, in compliance with the overall fabric of a play focusing on duality. 3 On Plautine metatheater and the role of servus fallax see the excellent discussion in Slater 2000.Maurice 2005, 50-54, comments on Menaechmus of SyracuseвЂ™s successful playacting and guile, par (.) At the same time, Menaechmus IIвЂ™s search for his twin, which is presented as a costly, futile undertaking upon his arrival in town, bears fruit through the evolution of meta-plays. This marks the culmination of a process whereby Menaechmus I, who has never truly integrated in Epidamnus, is actively cast out of the city. In the second instance, Menaechmus II unawares again impersonates his brother, who has supposedly been driven insane, and so effects the further separation of Menaechmus I from the polis: the latterвЂ™s father-in-law resorts to a doctor, who diagnoses the wrong twin as being out of his mind and orders his forced removal to a mental clinic. In the first instance Menaechmus II unwittingly usurps his brotherвЂ™s role as composer of an inset comedy and enjoys a feast in the company of Erotium the situation thus created helps distance Menaechmus I from his closest company. In acting out his new found role, Menaechmus II exposes the true character of the Epidamnians and eventually releases his twin from their clutches. This is facilitated by the arrival of Menaechus II, his identical twin, who has set out from Syracuse in search of him.Дў The play centres on how Menaechmus II comes to be taken for his brother in two incidents, the second of which in many respects repeats the first. 1 Almost simultaneously, conditions ripen for the termination of this life, with Menaechmus IвЂ™s alienation from his familial and social milieu, and his eventual removal from the polis, thus offering a truly happy ending typical of Plautine comedy. However, Menaechmus I is henpecked by his domineering wife and is systematically exploited by Peniculus, his clients and the greedy meretrix.

He is married to a matrona dotata and enjoys a life of almost daily feasting with a courtesan (Erotium) and a parasite (Peniculus). 1 Leach 1969, 36 points out that Menaechmus of Epidamnus is doubly bound: to his wife and to his mist (.)ДЎPlautusвЂ™ Menaechmi revolves around the young Menaechmus I, abducted as a child from Tarentum and now leading a seemingly normal life in Epidmamnus.Thus, Menaechmus IIвЂ™s quest for his twin, which seems to have been deferred when he first arrives in Epidamnus, is prepared for and effectively carried through via the evolution of meta-plots. As servus bonus, Messenio initially discourages Menaechmus II from comic merrymaking, thus impeding the reunion of the siblings, but later assists in forwarding the plot: he thwarts the EpidmaniansвЂ™ intention to seclude him and eventually facilitates the recognitio between the twins as well as their final decision to return to their native land. The process of withdrawal runs through the play, and is achieved in two stages in which Menaechmus II assumes his twin brotherвЂ™s meta-dramatic role: in the first play the newly arrived brother alienates the Epidamnian twin from his immediate social and family milieu and in the second he almost leads the Epidamnians to have his brother isolated within the community on account of the latterвЂ™s alleged insanity. This paper explores how Menaechmus II of Syracuse unintentionally succeeds in removing Menaechmus I, his Epidamnian twin, from a society which has been exploiting him.

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