... evidence of this "is confined to about a dozen fragments"1 of Menander's work. The opening scenes of both Terence's play and Menander's are very similar, with the introduction of Micio as being an individual character, as Martin points out, rather than a stock comedic stereotype; the openings also reveal a little about the background of what is happening; and finally, they both offer the opportunity for Micio to discuss the relative theories of Micio and his brother on the raising of sons. Another similarity found between Terence and Menander is the usage of the iambic trimeter (or iambi servarius) which accounts for over 50% of Terence's metre, and most of Menander's. Thus, we can clearly see that Menander had a great deal of influence upon Terence's version of the Adelphoe, but there are marked differences between the works too. One of the main differences is that "by contrast with Menander's ...

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