# Adelphoe

Adelphoe (also Adelphoi and Adelphi; from Greek ᾰ̓δελφοί, '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.

## Act I

* Uxor, si cesses, aut te amare cogitat aut tete amari aut potare atque animo obsequi, et tibi bene esse soli, sibi quom sit male.
** The wife, if you are late, thinks you are after another woman or another woman after you, or that you are at a drinking-party and making merry, enjoying yourself without her while she is miserable.
** 32 (tr. John Sargeaunt)
* Errat longe mea quidem sententia, qui imperium credat gravius esse aut stabilius vi quod fit quam illud quod amicitia adiungitur.
** In my opinion it’s a great mistake to suppose that the authority which is founded on force has more weight and stability than that which hangs by the link of friendliness.
** 65 (tr. John Sargeaunt)
* Hoc patriumst, potius consuefacere filium sua sponte recte facere quam alieno metu: hoc pater ac dominus interest.
** That's the spirit of a true father, to accustom his son to do right rather by his own inclination than by fear of another, and that’s the difference between the parent of sons and the owner of slaves.
** 74 (tr. John Sargeaunt)

## Act II

* Ego spem pretio non emo.
** Pay cash for expectations? Not I.
** 219 (tr. John Sargeaunt)

## Act III

* Inspicere tamquam in speculum in vitas omnium iubeo atque ex aliis sumere exemplum sibi.
** I tell him to look into all men’s ways of living as into a looking-glass, and draw from others a model for himself.
** 415 (tr. John Sargeaunt)
* Ut homost, ita morem geras.
** As a man’s made, so you should humour him.
** 431 (tr. John Sargeaunt)

## Act IV

* Omnes, quibus res sunt minus secundae, magis sunt nescio quo modo suspiciosi: ad contumeliam omnia accipiunt magis: propter suam inpotentiam se semper credunt ludier.
** When people are not so prosperous as they might be, they are always somehow more inclined to take offence, to imagine that a slight is intended. Their want of means always makes them think that you are toying with them.
** 605 (tr. John Sargeaunt)
* Virginem vitiasti quam te non ius fuerat tangere. iam id peccatum primum magnum, magnum, at humanum tamen: fecere alii saepe item boni.
** You have wronged a girl contrary to all law. That’s a great fault to start with, a great fault, but still not unnatural: honest men have often done it before you.
** 686 (tr. John Sargeaunt)
* Ita vitast hominum quasi quom ludas tesseris: si illud quod maxume opus est iactu non cadit, illud quod cecidit forte, id arte ut corrigas.
** Human life is like a game with dice; if you don’t get the throw you most want, you must show your skill in making the best of the throw which you do get.
** 739 (tr. John Sargeaunt)

## Act V

* Vetus verbum hoc quidemst, communia esse amicorum inter se omnia.
** It’s an old saying that friends have all things in common.
** 803 (tr. John Sargeaunt)
* Quod hinc accesserit, id de lucro putato esse omne.
** The addition from me should be reckoned a clear gain.
** 816 (tr. John Sargeaunt)
* Ad omnia alia aetate sapimus rectius; solum unum hoc vitium adfert senectus hominibus: adtentiores sumus ad rem omnes quam sat est.
** In all other respects we get wiser as we grow older: there is only this one flaw that old age brings on a man, we all think too much of money.
** 832 (tr. John Sargeaunt)

## Act VI

* Vitium commune omniumst, quod nimium ad rem in senecta attenti sumus.
** It’s a flaw common to us all that in old age we think too much of money.
** 953 (tr. John Sargeaunt)

## About

* Duos cum haberet Demea adulescentulos, dat Micioni fratri adoptandum Aeschinum, sed Ctesiphonem retinet. hune citharistriae lepore captum sub duro ac tristi patre frater celabat Aeschinus; famam rei, amorem in sese transferebat; denique fidicinam lenoni eripit. vitiaverat idem Aeschinus civem Atticam pauperculam fidemque dederat hanc sibi uxorem fore. Demea iurgare, graviter ferre; mox tamen ut veritas patefactast, ducit Aeschinus vitiatam, potitur Ctesipho citharistriam.
** Demea having two sons, Aeschinus and Ctesipho, allowed the one to be adopted by his brother Micio but kept the other. Demea was a grim and harsh father, and Ctesipho being captivated by the charms of a cithern-player was sheltered by his brother Aeschinus, who allowed rumour to ascribe the intrigue to himself. Further he carried off the girl from the slave-dealer whoownedher. Aeschinus had himself seduced an Athenian lady of scanty means and pledged himself to marry her. Demea angrily protested against the affair, but on the truth becoming known Aeschinus married the lady and Ctesipho was left in possession of the fiddle-girl.
** Summary (Periocha) by Gaius Sulpicius Apollinaris (tr. John Sargeaunt)

## Notes

* ↑ or: et

### Translations

* Nicholas Udall; John Higgins, Flovvres or eloquent phrases of the Latine speach, gathered ont [sic] of al the sixe comœdies of Terence (London: imprinted by Thomas Marshe, 1581)
* George Colman, The Comedies of Terence, Translated into Familiar Blank Verse (London: printed for T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt ..., W. Johnston ..., W. Flexney ..., R. Davis ..., T. Davies ..., 1765)
* Henry Thomas Riley, The Comedies of Terence, and the Fables of Phædrus (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1853)
* John Benson Rose, Comedies of Publius Terentius Afer (London: Dorrell and Son, 1870)
* John Sargeaunt, Terence II: Phormio · The Mother-in-Law · The Brothers, LCL 23 (London: William Heinemann; New York: The Macmillan Co., 1912)