enk, p. j. - terence as an adapter of greek comedies (art, 1947)

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    Terence as an Adapter of Greek Comedies

    Author(s): P. J. EnkSource: Mnemosyne, Third Series, Vol. 13, Fasc. 2 (1947), pp. 81-93Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4427087 .

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    TERENCE AS AN ADAPTER OF GREEK COMEDIESBY

    P. J. ENK

    As I am aware that opinion on Terence's comedies has becomegreatly unsettled as a result of the latest researches by Jachmann,Kuiper and others, whose views have been widely contested, I willmake an attempt to draw a new picture of Terence. What I haveto say about him may be summed up as follows: Terence is thecreator of that form of modern comedy which has been styled highcomedy. For this reason his significance with regard to the historyof modern literature cannot be valued too highly. But even meas-ured by an absolute standard, Terence, like Moli?re, belongs to thegreatest comedy writers of all times, by which, of course, I donot imply that he is on a level with the French humourist. Moli?reis richer in humour and thought; he is more versatile. Let me beginwith a comparison between Plautus and Terence. Plautus is a Grand-Master of laughter. Paul Faider rightly called him "un des grandsclassiques de la ga?t? humaine" !). The London classicist F. ?.Wright expresses this even more emphatically. 'Taken all in all",he says, "there is no playwright in any language ancient or modern,save Aristophanes, who for sheer humour can be matched withhim" 2). And, indeed, whoever demands of a comedy writer, thathe shall make us shake with laughter, will have to admit that in thisrespect Plautus surpasses the English humourists of the period ofElizabeth, and the Restoration playwrights Wicherley, Vanbrughand Congreve, indeed even Sheridan and Moli?re; nor, in thisdomain, can his equal be found in German or Dutch literature.

    Yet it must not be forgotten that the genre to which Plautus'comedies belong is not of the highest order. The best and mostexquisite essay that has ever been written on the nature of comedy

    1) Le Mus?e Belge XXI (1927), p. 75.2) Three Roman Poets, Plautus, Catullus, Ovid, Their Lives, Times andWorks, London 1938, p. 89.Mnemosyne XIII

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    82 TERENCE AS AN ADAPTER OF GREEK COMEDIESflowed, not from the pen of a philologist, but from that of a crea-tive artist. I refer to the study, dating from 1877, of the famousnovelist and poet George Meredith, entitled "An Essay on the Ideaof Comedy". According to Meredith there have been only a fewgreat comic poets, and they were philosophers with a profoundinsight into life, namely: Menander, Terence, Moli?re and Con-greve. The laughter of true comedy, which Meredith called 'HighComedy', as opposed to Romantic Comedy, is more a smile thana laugh: it is a mental laugh. Judged by this standard Terence,like Moli?re, is superior to Plautus.

    After this short introduction, I will attempt to demonstrate byan example Terence's lasting significance as a writer of comedy.It is universally known that Terence's comedies are adaptationsof Greek plays by Menander of Athens, and Apollodorus ofCarystus.

    Formerly it was supposed that in adapting Greek plays forthe Roman stage Terence did not take an independent line. Atpresent some critics have a very different opinion about this.My Amsterdam colleague Professor W. E. J. Kuiper *) goes furthestin this respect; in his opinion Terence's independence in adaptinghis models is considerable. As to myself, I would briefly formulatemy view of Terence's adaptation of the Greek originals asfollows:

    Terence has improved on Menander's technique by the followingmodifications:l.By changing monologues into lively dialogues (e.g. Menander's'Andria' commenced with a monologue of the Senex, for whichT. substituted a dialogue of the Senex with his freedman 2).2. By the abolition of personal intercourse between actor and

    audience by which 'according to a quotation from Leo' he "in-

    1) Grieksche Origineelen en Latijnsche Navolgingen. Zes Komedies vanMenander bij Terentius en Plautus. Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Aka-demie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam. Afdeeling Letterkunde. NieuweReeks, Deel XXXVIII, No. 2, Amsterdam 1936; Two Comedies by Apollo-dorus of Carystus. Terence's H-ecyra and Phormio. Lugduni Batavorum.E. J. Brill 1938.2) See Jachmann, Pauly-Wissowa, Zweite Reihe, 9ter Halbbnd, Teren-tius, p. 632.

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    TERENCE AS AN ADAPTER OF GREEK COMEDIES 83creased the possibilities of comedy to serve as a basis for thehumourous stage-plays of all nations" (Gesch. der Rom. Lite-ratur, p. 249).

    3. By omitting the informative monologue of a deity (e.g. in theAndria where, previous to v. 228, the deity will probably haveappeared).

    4. By doing away with marriages between half brothers and halfsisters, which in Rome were looked upon as incest.

    5. By abolishing the old-fashioned scenes of recognition, whichwere, in the long run, tedious.6. By introducing into his plays the element of dramatic suspense,

    which makes Terence a modern playwright.7. By introducing new characters in his plays e.g. the parts of a

    soldier and of a parasite in Menander's Eunuch.In addition he improved on his great predecessor Plautus:

    firstly, by preserving the careful characterisation of his Atticoriginals and, if possible, enhancing it by adding small traits.secondly, by a harmonious and well-considered construction ofhis plays, and by the skill with which, in adapting a Greek comedy,he makes use of a scene from another play.thirdly, by avoiding allusions to Roman conditions, which, as amatter of course, were inconsistent with the Greek environmentfourthly, by reproducing the urbane speech of the upper classes.Jachmann, too, stresses this as follows: "This means under thethen existing conditions of the Latin literary language, a newcreation and a linguistic achievement" *).

    I will now make some observations on the maturest and finestplay of the poet?the Adelphoe i.e. The Brothers', which wasacted in the year 160 B.C.

    In the prologue introducing the play, Terence himself pointsout that the spectators must not expect to hear a summary ofthe play. "The old gentlemen", he says "who will first appear,will tell you part of the play; the rest they will make clear to youby their action." It immediately strikes one as being characteristicof Terence, that in none of the six plays does he make use of aprologue in the same way as Euripides and Plautus, nor does

    1) Pauly-Wiss. Zweite Reihe, 9ter Halbbnd col. 625.

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    84 TERENCE AS AN ADAPTER OF GREEK COMEDIEShe, as is the case with Menander, make a god reveal a secret at theend of the first act. The question is, whether Menander didnot use a prologue in his Adelphoe. The American scholar Pro-fessor Tenney Frank *) believed that Menander's play openedwith a prologue in which the audience were informed that Micio'sadopted son Aeschinus abducted the slave-girl Bacchis, not forhimself, but for Ctesipho, the ideal son of Demea. Professor Kuiperholds an enterely different view; but before I touch on this question,I must draw your attention to a very important alteration Terencemade in Menander's play, and which, on the evidence of Terence'sown statement, cannot be doubted. For, at the beginning of thesecond act, he substituted for a part of Menander's play a scenederived from another Greek play "Comrades in Death" by Diphilus.This excellent scene where many persons appear on the stage, isfull of action. It does not relate but demonstrates. The questionis: what did Menander's second act look like? According to Pro-fessor Kuiper the first act ended with an exposition by a deity.Thereupon Aeschinus took the abducted girl to Micio's house. Thechorus, composed of the friends of Aeschinus, with whom he hadhad supper, accompanied him. In the rear followed Ctesipho. Thenthe second act began with a short monologue by Ctesipho (254 ff.).If in a Greek comedy a god appears, he has, as a rule, a secretto reveal. In Terence's Adelphoe, Ctesipho's love was a cither-player who was the slave of a pander. Was she the same inMenander's play? We read in Terence (v. 275) that Ctesipho, outof grief that he could not get possession of the cither-player, hadalmost left the country. An ancient commentator2) on Terenceremarks, "Menander says that he had wished to die". "For a girlof loose morals", says Kuiper, "one does not commit suicide"3).Kuiper then asks "Who is her mother, and who the father?", andanswers 4) : The mother is Sostrata and the father Demea, whohad violated her, years before, in consequence of which she gavebirth to twins. A certain Simulus was induced by a dowry to marry

    1) Life and Literature in the Roman Republic, p. 116.2) Cf. Donati Commentum (ed. P. Wessner II) p. 62 Menander moriilium ?olaisse fingit, Terentius profugere.3) Grieksche Origineelen en Latijnsche Navolgingen, p. 129.4) 1.1.p. 144-146.

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    TERENCE AS AN ADAPTER OF GREEK COMEDIES 85Sostrata in spite of her expecting a child from a man unknownto her. But?Mr. Kuiper continues?when she gave birth to twins,Simulus insisted that one of the girls should be abandoned. Alongwith the child, she placed a ring which she had pushed from thefinger of her violator. When she saw the ring that Aeschinus hadgiven to her daughter Pamphila, it reminded her of a similar one,which she had put with the abandoned child; therefore she askedAeschinus how he came by this ring. The answer was that he hadreceived it from his father. As soon as she saw Micio, Sostrataasked him the same question and was answered that the ring wasan heirloom. Kuiper then comes to the conclusion that, years be-fore, Demea had been the violator of Sostrata. In my opinion itis more reasonable to assume that Micio, the lively bachelor, hadviolated Sostrata years previously, each being unknown to theother. If this were really the case, Terence must have hadan objection to a cither-player, like Bacchis, marrying Ctesipho.He considered it better to leave Bacchis what she seemed to be,a hetaera; and therefore, the discovery that this slave-girl wasin fact a citizeness of Attica, was abandoned. In consequence theexposition by a god could also be given up. Still, there is some-thing to be said against this hypothesis. Micio is sixty-five yearsold (v. 938), Demea a little older?let us say sixty-eight. Bacchisis a young slave-girl, I assume about seventeen, which is certainlynot too young for Greek customs. Therefore this child must havebeen procreated by Micio when he was forty-eight. That's noobjection, one might say. At that age a love-affair or a liaison ispossible, but we must not forget that, if my hypothesis is correct,Sostrata did not know the father of Bacchis. So we must presumea violation. Now it is an indisputable fact that with Menander andthe Latin comedy-writers, such violations are never committed bymiddle-aged but only by young men. I believe, however, that I candemonstrate the probability of Terence having advanced the ageof the two brothers. From v. 465 where Hegio asks Demea:Nostrum amicum noras Simulum j aequalem? it appears that So-strata's husband was of about the same age as Demea. Sostrata'sdaughter Pamphila, the wife of Aeschinus, will not have beenmore than twenty years of age. So Sostrata was about forty, and

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    86 TERENCE AS AN ADAPTER OF GREEK COMEDIESSimulus if he had been alive would have been about forty-four.Thus we know Demea's age, and Micio, who was a little younger,will have been about forty-two. It is therefore not at all improba-ble that Micio was the father and Sostrata the mother of Bacchis.When Demea (938) exclaims: Ego ... anum decrepitam ducam?,we must remember that this passage according to Donatus is thework of Terence himself. In Menander this passage did not occur.

    Now it becomes also clear to us why Micio at the end ofMenander's play consented without hesitation to a marriage withSostrata.

    Superficially this fine play deals with the love adventures ofAeschinus and Ctesipho, but in reality the problem set before usby the poet is the nature of the relations between father and son.

    Just as the Hecyra this play is written to the end in perfect style.The character-drawing is carefully treated to the smallest detail.The characters are not mere types, but individual beings. Sostratais a simple woman, with self-respect, who knows how to act at acritical moment. Even Canthara is not a marionette, not a waxfigure, but by a few skilful touches has been made an old andfaithful servant who stands up for her mistress and rebukesAeschinus in a dignified but sharp manner. Hegio is finely outlined.He does not belong to the circle of Demea and Micio but is a steplower on the social ladder. So when he addresses Demea concerningthe conduct of Aeschinus he chooses his words with the greatestcare (v. 461) "Your eldest son Aeschinus whom your brother hasadopted, has not behaved as may be expected of a young man ofgood family". He censures and praises in the same breath. WhenDemea (498) gives a somewhat evasive answer, Hegio's tonethough he remains polite, is firmer and more severe. "But, Demea,please consider this; precisely because you are both in a positionto do it, because you have so much influence, are so wealthy, andbelong to the highest in the town, it is your duty to act accordingto right and justice, if you wish to keep your good name." Hegiobegs Micio to go with him to Sostrata and to explain to her themisunderstanding concerning Aeschinus. Micio is willing to do soif Hegio thinks it necessary. "Yes" says Hegio "You wil cheer her upwho is now pining away with grief and misery". Sed si aliter

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    TERENCE AS AN ADAPTER OF GREEK COMEDIES 87putas, he adds modestly, egomet narrabo quae mihi dixti and thenhe speaks those words showing such deep knowledge of humannature:605 omnes quibus res sunt minus secundae, mage sunt nescioquo

    [modosuspiciosi; ad contumeliam omnia accipiunt magis;propter suam inpotentiam se semper credunt claudier.

    608 quapropter te ipsum purgare ipsi coram placabilius est.CA11 those who do not prosper are of a more or less suspicious

    nature. They regard everything as an insult. Because they arepowerless, they always imagine they are slighted. For that reasona reconciliation is reached much more quickly if a man personallyclears away the suspicion against him.0

    The two slaves Syrus and Geta are also well-drawn. Syrus isvery humourous when he parodies Demea's homily with a lessonin practical cookery1). And in his negotiations with Sannio, too,he shows delicate wit. He exactly fits in with the surroundings ofthe broad-minded, but, after all, too liberal Micio and his adoptedson Aeschinus. Geta, on the other hand, is the only slave of a poorwidow, whose misfortunes fill him with pity, and with indignationtowards Aeschinus.

    The most profound psychological insight, however, must not beLooked for in these characters, but in the two pairs of brothers.At2) the beginning of the play Micio speaks of the differentsystems according to which Aeschinus and Ctesipho have beenbrought up; he has treated Aeschinus with indulgence, so thatthere may be no lack of confidence between them. Demea, on theother hand, has ruled Ctesipho by means of suppression and fear.This contrast is further developed in the conversation of the twofathers immediately afterwards. Now what are the results of thesemethods, diametrically opposed to each other? The play makes itclear that both have failed. With great skill and lucidity Terenceshows that both young men are spoilt ? but in different ways.

    1) Vs. 420-431.2) I follow here Norwood's exposition in the Art of Terence (p. 114)most ipsis verbis.

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    88 TERENCE AS AN ADAPTER OF GREEK COMEDIESCtesipho has developed into a timid, nervous youth, lacking initia-tive. He is terrified of Demea and for that reason allows Aeschinusto abduct the young cither-player for him. But nevertheless, he isan amiable young man. He thanks his brother with the greatestcordiality and warmth. When he hopes that his father will tirehimself to such an extent that he will be compelled to stay in bedfor three whole days (v. 519) and that thus he himself will beable to enjoy the company of his lady-love, he adds good-naturedlyquod cum salute eius fiat "but his health mustn't suffer".

    V. 539 at the sudden appearance of his father he is a victim tounmanly fear and despair:Ct. pater est? Sy. ipsus. Ct. Syr e quid agimus? Sy. fuge modo intro:

    [ego videro.Ct. Siquid rogabit, nusquam tu me, audistin? Sy. Pot in ut desinas?

    Such is the result of Demea's system of education. His son is acoward and does things of which his father would never approveand which indeed are wrong. In addition, he does it all behind hisfather's back. Aeschinus is in all possible respects his contrast.But in one respect he acts exactly as Ctesipho; he does not tell hisfather anything about his relations with Pamphila. Now this isexactly what would disappoint Micio most deeply, for in thelatter's monologue, he declared with pride (53) alii clanculumpatres quae faciunt, quae fert adulescentia / ea ne me celet con-suefeci filium.

    As one sees: Micio's liberal pedagogy has not been successful.The Sannio scenes shed a clear light on the characters of the twoyoung men1). Aeschinus shows himself, exactly as may be ex-pected from his bringing up, as a young man who means to gainhis ends at whatever cost. It is true, he has to deal with a pander,one of the most despised types of humanity that one can imagine,but Sannio had not wronged Aeschinus; yet the latter broke intothe house of the slave-dealer, gave him and his servants a soundthrashing and in broad daylight took the abducted slave-girl tothe house of his adopted father. As to the rest, Aeschinus is notunattractive. He is very fond of Pamphila and wishes for nothing

    1) Norwood, Th? Art of Terence, p. 116.

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    TERENCE AS AN ADAPTER OF GREEK COMEDIES 89better than to make her his wife. For Ctesipho, too, he is willingto do anything.

    The most difficult task for Terence, as Mr. Norwood i) rightlyremarks, must have been the drawing of Demea's character. Justbecause he is the opposite of the jovial, easy, cordial Micio, therewas the danger of the poet's making a mere bully of him. Thereis undoubtedly such a side to his character, but it is not the onlyside. When we read the play or see it acted, we are inclined tolaugh at Demea but we forget that in most of what he says, he is,in fact, perfectly right. Is he wrong, for instance, when he violentlydisapproves of the abduction planned by Aeschinus; or when itdispleases him that the audacious behaviour of Aeschinus is thetalk of the town and that everybody cries shame on him? Is themanner in which he admonishes Ctesipho to do what is right, notsensible and instructive, even if he is wittily ridiculed by Syrus?Did not Horace's sensible father act in exactly the same way (Sat.I 4. 105/123)? And when, at last, he hears that Pamphila has beenseduced by Aeschinus is not his anger perfectly comprehensible?Finally comes Demea's soliloquy with the well-known words: egovitam duram quam vixi usque adhuc J iam decurso spatio omitto 2).Does this mean that he considers his educational views to befalse? Not at all. He merely wishes to make plain that it is easyto make friends if one agrees with everybody, approves of andexcuses everything, and spends money lavishly. At the same timeDemea wishes to regain the affection of his sons. I repeat, theAdelphoe is not a farce but high comedy; the problem: how shallI bring up my sons, is never lost sight of. The final scene willbring the solution, but whoever imagines that one of the twocompeting systems will be advocated by the poet, is wrong. Thatthe solution is put into Demea's mouth, is no more than a demandof poetical justice. Demea's views were on a higher level thanthose of Micio, and yet we laughed at him for more than four acts;sternness and irascibility may easily become ridculous, and wefound Micio so charming, that we overlooked or sympathised withhis thoughtless indulgence. For this reason, Terence allows his

    1) The Art of Terence, p. 117.2) Vs. 859.

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    90 TERENCE AS AN ADAPTER OF GREEK COMEDIESown answer to the educational problem to be expressed by Demea,for Demea had always been the butt. Demea formulates his newidea as follows: he will no longer control his son by intimidation,but at the same time, he rejects blind indulgence. Though Demeawishes to show that the sympathy Micio enjoyed everywhere wasonly the result of adsentari, indulgere and lar girix), yet he realisesthat his method also stands in need of improvement.

    The Greek scholar Mr. Norwood 2) rightly observes "A splendidold man is this who, so late in life, can learn such a lesson, an-nounce his conversion without pettishness and retain with dignitythe mastery of the moral situation".

    The most finished character in the whole play, however, is Micio.Pich?n says with reason "Le plus charmant de tous les p?res c'estMicion". In the first place he knows human nature; when he wishesto make it clear to Demea that it is really not so bad that youngmen spend a great deal of money, he says (831) :

    o noster Demea,ad omnia alia aetate sapimus rectius:solum unum hoc vitium adfert senectus hominibus:adtentiores sumus ad rem omnes quam sat est;quod illos sat aetas acuet.

    cDear Demea, old age is in all respects wiser than youth, butthe years bring one fault along with them; we begin to attach toomuch value to money. The years will surely teach them somethingin regard to this.0

    After Demea's sharp criticism of Aeschinus, he acknowledgesthat Aeschinus' conduct fills him with anxiety but he does notadmit this to his brother in order to avoid exciting him; still, hekeeps his faith in the fundamental goodness of the two young men.He believes when they grow older they will become worthy men.When Demea points out that they both have a liaison, Micioanswers (820) : "Be patient. I understand you. I was just comingto that point. A man has certain fixed characteristics, Demea, fromwhich you can infer his whole nature; and so one can often say

    1) Vs. 988.2) The Art of Terence Oxford 1923, p. 120.

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    TERENCE AS AN ADAPTER OF GREEK COMEDIES 91when two persons do the same thing, that it may prove dangerousfor the one, but not for the other. Not because what they do isdifferent, but because the men who do it, are not the same. Well,I see in your sons traits from which I infer that some day bothwill become what we wish. They are sensible; they understand us.When necessary, they are respectful, they are fond of each other.It is, indeed, not difficult to discover a noble soul in them; theycan always be brought back to the right path" ? a theory whichit is not advisable to bring under the notice of youth, but a theorywhich, indeed, often proves to be true. In any case, here is a manspeaking, who possesses experience of life and has reflected on it.But Micio is most attractive in the scene in which he chaffs Aeschi-nus, in front of Sostrata's house-door, in order to teach hima lesson. It is a scene full of sentiment. If ever one has a right tospeak of high comedy, it is in this admirable scene. The closingwords x): Aeschine, audivi omnia/ et scio, nam te amo: quo magisquae agis curae sunt mihi ? come from the heart and move oneevery time one reads them. But however attractive Micio may be,we cannot exonerate him from too great indulgence and levity.And this is just the beauty of the play, ?> that neither of thebrothers is entirely in the right, but both mean well.

    Superficial readers of the Adelphoe make it appear as if, afterall, Micio was right, and Demea wrong. They forget, however, twothings; in the first place Micio did not keep to the agreement whichhe himself (v. 129) in his conversation with Demea had formu-lated as follows:

    Verum, Demea,cur emus aequam ut er que partem: tu alter?m,ego item alterum.

    Moreover, Micio with all his eloquence cannot possibly refutewhat Demea says to him in v. 792 ? eccum adest communis cor-ruptela nostrum liberum.

    So we should certainly not think that Terence expresses his ownviews by the mouth of Micio. On the contrary, in the last act Demeais done justice to. When Micio is at last compelled by Demea to

    1) Vs. 679.

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    92 TERENCE AS AN ADAPTER OF GREEK COMEDIESmarry Sostrata, this is the well-deserved consequence of his ownindulgence. Demea succeeds because Micio's strength and courageto refuse requests, have long been undermined and weakened !),and this by his own methods. Thus the conflict between the twobrothers is settled in the result already mentioned: that true educa-tion consists in a harmonious combination of just severity, greatindulgence, and humanity. This is the content of a play that riseshigh above a farce, or a mere entertainment. We may expect thatadmiration for the work of Terence will continue to grow, if wecall to mind that the modern plays inspired by the Adelphoe in-variably end in the triumph of one of the two competing educa-tional systems, ? viz. Micio's: I refer to Moli?re 'L'?cole des ma-ris', Shadwell's 'Squire of A?satia' (1688), Cumberland's 'CholericMan' (1774) and Fieldings The Fathers' (1788).

    Now one may say: You praise Terence, but, in fact, the honouris due to Menander. Some years ago there would have been muchtruth in this remark. Now we know that the possibility exists ofTerence having made profound alterations in Menander's play asI have tried to demonstrate in the beginning of this essay. Themain point, however, is this: Menander's plays, as we know themfrom the Cairo papyrus of 1905, and from Plautus and Terence,are not 'pi?ces ? th?se'. If this is admitted, then it follows thatfrom the first to the last scene, Terence has adapted Menander'splay to such an extent that the ethical, educational aim is clearlyshown. The Roman audience will only have seen an entertainingcomedy in it, as for instance the Eunuch is; but just as little as theyrealised the excellence of the Hecyra ? at the performance of whichthey twice left the theatre ?, will they have understood the deepermeaning, the high standard of Terence's Adelphoe. This is notsurprising when we see how little understanding of this play Wil-helm Teuffel has shown in his 'Studien and Charakteristiken zurgriechischen und r?mischen Literaturgeschichte' 2) : "As Demea"he writes, ?is given his due, the play seems to fulfil a requirement ofjustice; in truth, however, it pays toll to nihilism, and proclaimsthe spiritual and moral exhaustion, the burnt-out emptiness of the

    1) Norwood, The Art of Terence, p. 130.2) Zweite ver?nderte Auflage, Leipzig 1889, p. 361.

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    TERENCE AS AN ADAPTER OF GREEK COMEDIES 93times in which it originates, ? their eternal incapability of takingsides, their absolute scepticism. The inference we wish to drawfrom the play, becomes suddenly problematic again, and what re-mains to us in the end is a feeling of emptiness ? is nothing".

    If my analysis of the characters appearing in the Adelphoe hasnot been useless, you will admit that Teuffel has not understoodTerence. For the Adelphoe ends in a positive result, a clearlyformulated thesis. It is as Mr. Norwood x) says "A profoundlyimportant theory of conduct expounded by means of light fun".

    To turn back to George Meredith whom I mentioned in the be-ginning of my causerie, it gives me great pleasure as a classicist, tofind that this fine artist, in speaking of what he values most highlyin the domain of humour, mentions the following plays: MolieresTartuffe', 'Misanthrope', 'L'?cole des Maris', 'L'?cole des Fem-mes' and also our play 'The Adelphoe': 'The Micio and Demea ofthe Adelphi, he says, with their opposing views of the propermanagement of youth, are still alive'.

    1) Plautus and Terence (Our Debt to Greece and Rome), George Harrap