The Servvs Callidvs and Ritual Imagery in Plautus’ Epidicvs

Plautus marks, the title character of Epidicus as a special, over-the-top instance of the seruus callidus stock type by associating him throughout the play with various religious roles of increasing importance. Through claims made by both the character himself and others, Epidicus is progressively figured as sacrificial victim, sacrificer, embalmer, auspex, Agamemnon, and son of Vulcan. This “program of sacralization” is original to Plautus and unique to this play, and offers a much more developed extension of the kinds of religious imagery that characterize other powerful Plautine serai callidi. It exemplifies how Plautus uses ritual imagery and religious associations to reflect power relations between characters and the theatrical authority shown by the dominance of the seruus callidus over the play as a whole, and it emphasizes the significant and unparalleled extent of Epidicus’ role in reuniting the play’s long-separated citizen family

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