Brothers: Adelphoe

by Terence, Charles Mercier (Translator)

This is an English translation of Terence's Roman comedy that deals with questions of perennial "How best to raise children?" and "How to give self-disinterested moral advice?". Focus Classical Library provides close translations with notes and essays. Focus Classical Library provides close translations with notes and essays to provide access to understanding Roman culture. A video of performance of the play "The Terence Project, Vassar 1996" is available.

Genres: Classics, Plays, Drama, Theatre, Comedy, School, Fiction

100 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 161

About the author

Publius Terentius Afer (c. 195/185–159 BC), better known in English as Terence, was a playwright of the Roman Republic, of North African descent. His comedies were performed for the first time around 170–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought Terence to Rome as a slave, educated him and, later on, impressed by his abilities, freed him. Terence, apparently, died young, probably in Greece or on his way back to Rome. His six verse comedies, that were long regarded as models of pure Latin, form the basis of the modern comedy of manners.

One famous quotation by Terence reads: "Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto", or "I am a human being, I consider nothing that is human alien to me." This appeared in his play, Heauton Timorumenos.

Reviews

[deniz eilmore · Rating 1 out of 5]

i would actually boo if i saw this performed in ancient rome

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

ENGLISH: Two old brothers divide among themselves the education of the children of one of them, also brothers. Each uses a different teaching method: one is rigorous, the other complacent. Both fail. The son of the complacent makes pregnant a poor young neighbor girl and must marry her without a dowry. The other, with the help of his brother, kidnaps a harlot belonging to a slave seller. When he sees that his brother, the complacent, is praised by everyone, the rigorous old brother decides to imitate him and in a comic scene manages to turn the tables.

SPANISH: Dos hermanos viejos se reparten la educación de los hijos de uno de ellos, también hermanos. Cada uno emplea distinto método de enseñanza: uno es riguroso, el otro complaciente. Los dos fracasan. El hijo del complaciente deja encinta a una joven vecina pobre y debe casarse con ella sin dote. El otro, con ayuda de su hermano, rapta a una ramera que pertenece a un vendedor de esclavos. Al ver que su hermano, el complaciente, es alabado por todos, el riguroso decide imitarle y en una escena cómica consigue volver las tornas.

[Czarny Pies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whatever entertainment that exists in this ply form the second century B.C. must exist in the original Latin verse. The English prose translation is witless. The plot is pedestrian. The characters are superficial and the dialogues are lifeless.

One reads Terence then not for the intrinsic value of his works but to understand the evolution of theater in our culture. No matter how dreadful we might find him, he provided models that Shakespeare, Moliere and others used as comedy revived in the Renaissance.

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comedy of manners. Parents should be neither too strict nor too lax.

[Lilithya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of two brothers that are raised separately and very differently. One is raised in a strict manner while the other is raised liberally even permissively.

As tipical as most Roman commedies, they both mess up and considering this partícular one, they even commit crimes.

I sometimes wondered how two teenagers could mess it up so badly, but it was really entertaining and it ends in a happy, unreal way proper of Roman commedies.

[Emma Ann]

Reread for comps. Not my favorite Roman comedy.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Adelphoe (The Brothers) reworks a comedy of the same title by Menander. Terence compares two different ways of bringing up boys in 998 lines. The strict traditional way is represented by Demea and his son Ctesiphon; the more permissive way is represented by Demea's brother, Micio, and how he raises Demea's other son, Aeschinus. Even though Terence is reworking an older Greek comedy, he is more interested in portraying a type (young man in love, traditional father, noble prostitute) than in fleshing out an individual character. Terence's Latin is also stylistically smooth and almost idealistic. He does not try to reproduce the language of the masses, and his Latin is always contrasted with that of Plautus. (G. Norwood wrote a book on Plautus and Terence). This characteristic of Terence's Latin makes him relatively uncomplicated to read in the original.

This Latin edition of Adelphoe is truly first rate. There is a comprehensive introduction on Terence and Roman comedy, and a very good section on meter and scansion. I especially appreciated this review because this is my weakest aspect in Latin, and the reason I like to stick with prose. After the Latin text, there is a detailed, line by line commentary, which illuminates not only difficult grammar, but the context of the play as well. One of the appendices gives a metrical analysis of part of the play, which is also very helpful.

[Je · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non è stata una delle mie commedie preferite del teatro romano perché ho trovato l'azione troppo confusa. L'azione coinvolge ben due coppie di fratelli, Micione e Demea e i figli di quest'ultimo Eschino e Ctesifone. Sostanzialmente la divergenza nasce intorno alla quantità di libertà e liberalità che dovrebbe essere concessa ai figli, infatti Micione crede in uno stile di vita più rilassato mentre Demea incarna la figura del patres familia. Però sebbene cresciuti con due modelli così diversi i figli non si rivelano poi così diversi, infatti entrambi creano non pochi problemi ai padri.

[Melissa Jacobson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty much one of the most boring plays to read. It was so melodramatic and I felt like it was trying far too hard to tell a moral story that it lost focus. Certainly not one of my favorites.

[Momina · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better Roman comedies.

[lina darling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took me two days because I was packing but the philosophical understanding of raising a Roman man is impertinent in the book. In terms of a Roman comedy, we see the comical assertion in how a playful upbringing taught by Micio takes Demea all over the city in distress of his son’s actions. However, his strict attitude toward rape, youthful arrogance and stupidity evokes a certain understanding of Roman virtues. A phenomenal moralistic read, as a history and classics student.

[Jaylen]

Read this for class.

It was fine. There was an interesting discussion about brothers and fathers, and considering the names of the characters (one being the city, the other the country), there may be something to be said about the brothers attitudes to parenting with their names and reflective geographies in mind?

[David Karacsony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Végtelenül szabadszájú, igazi szaftos római komédia meztelenséggel, megcsalással, fondorlattal és túlfűtött szexualitással. Természetesen a félreértések vígjátéka mozgatja a cselekményt, az erkölcsös és erkölcstelen testvér harca bontakozik ki előttünk.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly as humorous as the plays we have from Plautus, but certainly meaningful. James Zetzel calls it a 'problem play,' i.e., it deals with the "problem of social strata," "the problem of the generational gap," "the problem of new wealth," "the problem of conflicting internal ideologies." All certainly relevant.

[Leyla · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't that bad, but I'm sick of these commedie latine. I'll beg my teacher to change topic. Next one is Divina Commedia, though. Maybe I'll stick with Romans a little bit more :D

[Kalina Nissen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

[Sydney Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh, not my favorite

[Katsuro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad at all.

[Giorgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'ho letto per scuola, è molto carino. Terenzio è palesemente il mio spirito guida.

[Hazzaisreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Accusato di plagio, di contaminazione, di essere un prestanome eppure a mio parere le commedie che Terenzio partorisce sono ben superiori a quelle di Plauto. L'azione è intrigante e coinvolgente, piena di quelli che in inglese chiameremmo "twist and turns" (tuttavia ho trovato che in alcuni casi fosse un po' confusionaria e non ho completamente capito come Demea sia venuto a conoscenza della verità). Apprezzo che nonostante la commedia di Terenzio non avesse un intento morale gli insegnamenti che si possono trarre sono molteplici e molto moderni: permettere ai figli di sbagliare, avere il bene come obiettivo, cercare di non farsi ingannare. Inoltre adoro il fatto che Terenzio si allontani dalle macchiette plautine e crei storie e personaggi più originali. L'unica critica è che questo testo non ha suscitato il riso come credevo, ho seguito l'azione più incuriosita da ciò che sarebbe successo in seguito piuttosto che in modo divertito. Nonostante questo Terenzio rimane un maestro e modello

[Alfredo · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems to me that Terence is to comedy what Euripides is to tragedy. For some reason, both genres seem to get increasingly philosophical as they evolve, but just after reaching the apex of philosophical reflection, they collapse. It's as if both genre themselves resisted abstract conceptuality and lengthy disquisitions. Or maybe not so much the genres, but their audiences.

Terence's Brothers deals mainly with how a father should raise his children. The plot initially comes off as simplistic: two fathers, one charismatic and lenient, the other strict and stingy. Fortune smiles clearly upon the first one and favours his every decision. But the last act will reveal that his brother might have been unjustly ridiculed. Terence restricts himself to balancing the scales. After the reversal of fortune, neither of the brothers come off as the clear winner.

[Santiago González · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probablemente sea la mejor comedia de Terencio pero tampoco ha llegado a mis expectativas, el mensaje moral está claro en la obra, la dinámica de los personajes está bien para reflejar eso, me da la sensación como que las mejores comedias plautinas o aristofánicas (incluso menandreas, siendo ellas diferentes entre sí, claro) pueden tener algo parecido a esto y un plus que Terencio no tiene, sea en comicidad, genio, u otros. Tampoco quiero que no se me entienda, la comedia no está mal, no se hace aburrida y Terencio es uno de los autores más influyentes de la historia de la literatura, con lo que la recomiendo junto con su breve obra.

[Emmanuel Wallart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Une pièce d'une modernité incroyable. Une profondeur dans la description des sentiments humains rarement atteinte. il s'agit de la querelle de deux pères (frères), sur l'éducation qu'il faut donner à ses enfants.
Le texte latin est parfois un peu difficile mais cela vaut le coup de faire l'effort de le lire.

[Brooke Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for Introduction to Roman Life & Literature at UWM with instructor Professor E. Cova.
We read two Plautus plays before “The Brothers” so by contrast I did not find Terence to be very funny. And I’m gonna say it, I don’t think he wrote his plays! I think he had one of his rich friends write it or one of his rich friends hired a ghostwriter.

[Molly Burke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably 3.5 stars. Kinda all over the place. Again I read a different version of this play, the 60 ish page one. Could get it down in one sitting but it was not really monumental or stood out in any way. Perhaps at the time it was monumental, idrk. Decent morals and universal application I suppose.

[Ally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this play quickly for my classics class. Interesting premise, ancient comedy, the works.

[kami · Rating 2 out of 5]

dimidiatus Menander

[Gracie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant drama, especially characterisation, and this edition has lots of awesome notes

[Alice Burgio · Rating 4 out of 5]

mi sento letteralmente come Micione (è il mio personaggio preferito).

[nes, nedis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terenzio... 😫😫😫