Classics 351
March 15, 2022

Adelphoe, Scene 6 on an illustrated manuscript of Terence

Terence’s Adelphoe: 160 BCE, performed at funeral games for Aemilius Paullus (victor at Battle of Pydna,168 BCE); wake of new wave of Hellenism in Rome; source play is Menander’s Adelphoi

• a comedy of tensions/oppositions:
  city ~ country
  progressivism ~ tradition
  youth (sons) ~ age (fathers)
  nature (biology) ~ nurture (adoption)
  authority ~ affection
  fathers ~ masters
  sons ~ slaves
  slaves ~ masters
  duty (marriage) ~ lack of responsibility (freedom)
  rich ~ poor
  

• Adelphoe a male-dominated world (2 sets of brothers + Hegio): powerless women = Sostrata, Canthara, Pamphila (486-487) under Hegio's guardianship, the unnamed harp-player/prostitute (her outcome?, 845-849); the rape (Hegio: "Nighttime, lust, wine, youth—all the usual contributing factors— / That part's excusable", 470-471; cf. Micio to Aeschinus, 686-687 & Eunuchus), Canthara to Sostrata, "If she had to get raped, it's best that a young man like him was involved" (296)
  
  
• Prologue: Terence's usual metadramatic disputes with his critic(s); addition of scene from Diphilus
  
  Adelphoe 6-14
  There’s a comedy by Diphilus entitled Synapothnescontes.
  Plautus did a Latin version of it called Commorientes.
  In the Greek original, a young man snatches a prostitute
  From a pimp at the beginning of the play.
  Plautus decided not to touch that scene, so our playwright picked it up
  And translated it into his Adelphoe word for word.
  This is the play we’re about to perform fresh today.
  You can decide whether this is a case of theft
  Or just amounts to rescuing a scene that had been carelessly abandoned.
  
  ["contamination," plagiarism + claim of “elite individuals” (16) collaborating with Terence > literary patronage]
  

• the older brothers: Demea (pater durus) vs. Micio (pater mitis)
  
  
  **PERFORMANCE of Adelphoe, Scene 1, lines 26-81: Culhane**
  
  
  Adelphoe 26-81 (Micio on his relationship with adopted son Aeschinus)
  Storax! Aeschinus didn’t come back from dinner last night!
  And not one of the slaves who were supposed to escort him home did either.
  What people say is definitely true: if you fail to come home
  When you’re supposed to, you’re better off if every last thing
  Your angry wife can conceive of about your absence is true.
  But it’s not the same where devoted parents are concerned:
  The wife just imagines that you’re hot for someone,
  Or that someone’s hot for you, or you’re out drinking
  And having the time of your life while she’s suffering miserably at home.
  Parents? The things I imagine when my son doesn't come home
  Just about worry me to death! Has he caught pneumonia?
  Did he fall down somewhere and break something?
  Really! The very idea that a person could ever conceive of
  Taking something into his heart nore precious than his own self!
  And he isn't even my own son, he's my brother's!
  My brother and I have been polar opposites since we were kids.
  I’ve had an easy and leisurely life here in the city,
  And—what some people consider paradise—
  I’ve never been married. My brother? Just the opposite.
  He lives in the country, he works hard, he scrimps and he saves,
  He has a wife and they had two sons.
  I adopted the older of the two, this Aeschinus I was just talking about.
  I’ve raised him since he was a child and loved him as my own.
  I take sheer joy in him, and he’s the most precious thing in my life.
  I also take pains to see that he feels the same way about me.
  I provide well for him, I look the other way, and I don’t impose
  My paternal authority all the time; I’ve actually trained my son
  To keep me in the loop about just the sorts of things
  Youngsters are always trying to hide from their fathers.
  To my thinking, a boy who’s been trained to con his father,            
  And dares to do it, has no qualms about snowing others.
  I believe we can discipline our children best by generosity,
  And by cultivating a sense of respect—not just fear.
  My brother disagrees with me on that and has no stomach whatsoever
  For my views: “What are you doing, Micio?           
  Why are you ruining the boy we both care so much for?
  Why’s he’s whoring about? Why’s he out drinking? Why give him
  So much spending money for that, and for a wardrobe? You’re such a fool!”
  He’s far too strict, and goes way beyond what’s reasonable.
  Now in my opinion, he’s making a big mistake in assuming           
  That authority based on intimidation has more weight
  Or lasts longer than when it’s rooted in friendliness.
  My thoughts on this matter?
  A person who only does his duty under duress
  Does so as long as believes someone’s watching;
  If he thinks he can get away with something, his true character resurfaces.
  The person you’ve won over with kindness is sincere,
  And wants to give back what he got, whether you’re there watching him or not.
  Proper paternal training results in a son who does what’s right on his own,
  And not just because someone else threatens him.           
  That’s the difference between a father and a master. If a father can’t do this,
  He should own up to the fact that he has no true authority over his children.
  But is this the very person I was talking about? It sure is!
  He looks pretty grumpy. My guess is that I’m in for his usual scolding.
  You’re looking well, Demea. 
  Good to see you.
  
  
• Micio's concern (monologue at end of Scene 2): "What he said isn't exactly on the mark—but it's not totally off either ..." (141)
  
  
  **GROUPS**
  
  
  
• Demea: the butt of the joke (e.g., sent on two wild goose chases by Syrus), but transformed (and validated?)?
  
  Adelphoe 855-881 (Demea's reversal monologue)
  No one has ever plotted out his life’s plan so successfully that he never faces
  New challenges and discoveries brought about by circumstances, the passing of time, 
  Or experience itself. Inevitably, you discover you don’t know what you thought you did,
  And the principles we first formed don’t hold up in the face of everyday practice.
  That’s where I am. As I approach my life’s homestretch,
  I have decided to renounce the frugal life I’ve lived up to this very moment.                        
  Why? The realities of human life have taught me to place nonchalance
  And leniency above all else. To see the wisdom in this, just compare my brother and me.
  For him, life is a leisurely and endless stream of parties.
  He’s generous, easy-going, never offensive and has a smile for everybody.
  His prime responsibility is to himself, he spends money on himself,
  And everyone respects and likes him. Me? I’m the typical farmer:
  Boorish, gloomy, cheap, fierce, stubborn—and married. And what misery that has been!
  The birth of my sons? More stress. Phew! I wore myself down wanting to earn
  As much as I could for them, and ground my life away in search of more stuff.
  And now at the end of my life what are the fruits of all my labors?
  Their contempt! Meanwhile, my polar opposite enjoys the benefits of fatherhood
  Without lifting a finger. They adore him, they avoid me. They confide in him,
  They worship him and his company, while I’m left all alone.
  They want him to live forever, but are looking forward to my death.
  It took all my energy to raise them, but he’s won them over at minimal cost to himself.           
  I get all the misery, he experiences all the joy! All right then, I’m up for a little experiment.
  I’ll be the anti-me, and see if I can talk a smooth game and act generously like him.
  He’s challenged me after all.
  I want to be loved and respected by my children as much as he does.
  If the path to that is generosity and indulgence, don’t count me out!           
  Bankruptcy? That’s of least concern to the person who’s oldest.
  
  
• the final settlement: Micio's expenses (marriage w/o dowry, combined households, plot of land, Syrus's manumission) and?
  
  
• a clear "winner" in the end?
  
  Adelphoe 985-997 (closure)
  Demea
                                                                                      I’ll tell you.
  It was to show that the reason the boys consider you to be so approachable
  And jovial is not because your life is truly just and good at the core,
  But only because you agree with whatever they want, spoil them,
  And lavish money on them, Micio. Now if my way of living is so repulsive to you,
  Aeschinus, just because I don’t indulge you in whatever you do, regardless of
  Whether it’s right or wrong—I’m through here. Buy, squander, do whatever you want!
  But when you’re not seeing things clearly because of your age,
  Or pulled along too much by your desires and too little by your brains,
  If you want me to grab hold of you and straighten you out or provide some support
  When it’s needed, I’ll be there for you.
  Aeschinus
  We admit it, father:
  You know what's best. But what about my brother? What happens to him?
  Demea
  I'll let him keep her, but this is the last time.