Stichus is a comedic Latin play by the early Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus.
[1] In Athens, the two daughters of wealthy Antipho, Panegyris and Pamphila,[2] are married to the brothers Epignomus and Pamphilippus.
Due to mismanagement of their property, the two husbands became merchants to make money, and by the start of the play they have been away for more than two years.
Part of the amusement of the comedy is in the attempts of the ever-hungry parasite Gelasimus to get an invitation to dinner; but he is continually rebuffed, first by the slaves Crocotium and Pinacium, then by Panegyris, and finally by both husbands.
If A = iambic senarii, B = other metres, and C = trochaic septenarii, the scheme is as follows:[4] Unusually, the play starts with a polymetric song rather than the usual iambic senarii, and similarly ends with a polymetric song, instead of the expected trochaic septenarii.