Adelphoe
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Adelphoe, also written Adelphoi and Adelphi (English: The brothers) is a play by Terence, a Roman playwright. It was first performed in 160 BC at the funeral of Aemilius Paulus.
Adelphoe aroused controversy since Terence added in it a scene from a play by Diphilus. Conservative writers, since then, objected to the declared freedom with which Terence used his models, which originated rumors that his plays were not his own work but were composed with the help of unnamed nobles. This charge is seemingly not plausible, but was left unanswered by Terence.
Terence's The Brothers is arguably the most interesting of his six surviving comedies, because of the intricacy of his characterization, the complex interplay of characters, and the unresolved debate on the best form of child-rearing.
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[edit] Plot Synopsis
Outside the city of Athens, the farmer Demea has trusted the upbringing of one of his sons Aeschinus to Micio, his bachelor brother city-dweller who lives the life of a man-about-town. Demea himself oversees the moral education of his other son Ctesipho. He keeps on the farm and brings Ctesipho up very strictly into a young manhood that is supposed to be a model of right living. Aeschinus, on the other hand, under the care of his lax and pleasure-loving uncle, has acquired a reputation for wildness. In following his hedonistic ways, he has betrayed (impregnated) an Athenian girl, Pamphila, of good but impoverished family. Being kindhearted by nature and somewhat in love with the girl, he has agreed to marry her but has not confessed his predicament to his uncle.
Meanwhile, Ctesipho, who because of his strict upbringing is all the wilder when he gets away from his father's supervision, has been captivated by the charms of a Music-Girl (slave) named Bacchis. He does everything he can to hide his love from his conservative father.
Aeschinus aids and abets his country brother in this affair even to letting it be thought that he is the one involved. Finally he even carries off the Music Girl from her master, the slave-dealer Sannio, and brings her to his uncle's house where his brother may enjoy her company with less risk of discovery.
Unfortunately, Pamphila’s mother, Sostrata, hears of Aeschinus’s actions with Bacchis and assumes he intends to break his promise to her daughter; her kinsmen report the whole affair to Demea. The countryman, who has come to town to look for Ctesipho, decides that he will go to Micio’s house to confront his son and reproach Micio for the way he is allowing Aeschinus to treat his erstwhile sweetheart. It is only through most amusing subterfuges of Syrus, Micio's trusted slave, that Demea is prevented from entering the house and discovering Ctesipho with his Music Girl.
In the end, Aeschinus is permitted to marry, as he has promised. Demea, convinced that honey catches more flies than vinegar, becomes as agreeable as his brother, Micio. On the theory that all work and no play is doubtless a mistake, he permits Ctesipho to take his Music Girl out to the farm. And, most unbelievably, Micio is persuaded to give up his carefree bachelor life and marry the mother of Aeschinus' wife. As usual in such comedies, Syrus, the trusted slave, contrives to be given his freedom together with the wherewithal to set himself up.
[edit] Theme
The play deals with a perennial domestic problem - how fathers should relate to teenage children - and raises the wider question of ends and means in education.
[edit] Structure/Style
- Terence's language is notably plain, without the lyricism, outrageous puns, coinages, plays on words, the out of control assonance and alliteration associated with the plays of Plautus or other Roman playwrights.
- The lack of flashiness, the author's seeming lack of interest in the problems and demands of the Roman theatre and its rowdy audience, are probably among the reasons why Terence's audiences occasionally ran out on him to see more exciting sideshows at the games (twice, in the case of Hecyra, another of Terence's plays).
