Adelphoe story
Adelphoe (also Adelphoi and Adelphi – The Brothers) is a play by Roman playwright Terence, adapted partly from plays by Menander and Diphilus. It was first performed in 160 BC at the funeral games of Aemilius Paulus. Exploring the best form of child-rearing, the play inspired Molière's The School for Husbands.
21 total · 2 choice · 5 major · 14 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| father and son | choice | Much was made of Micio having given his adoptive son, Aeschinus, a lenient upbringing. Likewise for Demea having given his son, Ctesipho, a strict upbringing. |
| human parenting | choice | The story concerned an argument between Demea and Micio regarding how one best goes about raising a son. Demea proved his point in the end that it is best to provide children with a strict upbringing. Micio spoke about a father's duty (p342). Syrus spoke of how Micio spoiled Micho's adoptive son, Aeschinus (p357). |
| brother and brother | major | The plot revolved around each of the two brothers Micio (an easy going man) and Demea (a strict authoritarian) trying to prove to the other that their own way of parenting was best. Aeschinus saved his brother Ctesipho from scandal by pretending it was he who'd been romantically involved with a lowly slave girl, and not Ctesipho as was actually the case. |
| fatherly disappointment in a son | major | The story concerned Demea accusing his brother, Micio, of having spoiled Demea's own son, Ctesipho, whom Micio had been entrusted to raise. Demea in particular expressed disappointment over Ctesipho's part in the abduction (p355). |
| human characters in contrast | major | The easy going Micio was contrasted with his strict, authoritarian brother Demea. |
| master and slave | major | Demea interacted with his slave Dromo. Micio interacted with his slave Syrus. Sostrata and her slave Geta. Demea granted Micio's slave Syrus his freedom to Micio's surprise (p356). |
| uncle and nephew | major | Micio and Aeschinus. Micio and Ctesipho. |
| anger | minor | Micio instructed Demea to control his temper after Demea exclaimed that Micio had corrupted both their sons (p377). |
| carrot vs. stick | minor | Micio explained that "a man won by kindness... stays the same whether he's with you or not", while a man won by "the threat of punishment alone" will "fall back to his old ways" once they have the chance (p342). |
| creative writing | minor | In the prologue the author explained some hows and whys of his writing in an attempt to put down various critics. |