Publius Terentius Afer (Terence) Eunuchus 3.5

Henry Thomas Riley (Translator), George Colman (Translator)

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Eunuchus. Publius Terentius Afer (Terence). Henry Thomas Riley (Translator), George Colman (Translator). Ney York. 1874.

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Current edition Perseus

Eunuchus; or, The Eunuch (English) (Terence. The Comedies of Terence. Riley, Henry Thomas; Colman, George, translators. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1872.)

Editions (1)
Eunuchus Perseus (Terence. Publii Terentii Comoediae Sex. Parry, Edward St. John, editor. London: Whittaker and Co.; George Bell, 1857.) — 3.5 focus

Notes on the current edition

Eunuchus; or, The Eunuch

1. To meet my death: There is a passage in the Othello of Shakspeare extremely similar to this:
—If I were now to die,
I were now to be most happy; for, I fear,
My soul hath her content so absolute,
That not another comfort, like to this,
Succeeds in unknown fate.
(act II, scene i)
2. In the inner apartments: The Gynecaea, or women’s apartments, among the Greeks, always occupied the interior part of the house, which was most distant from the street, and there they were kept in great seclusion.
3. A few novices of girls: These noviciae were young slaves recently bought, and intended to be trained to the calling of a Courtesan.
4. At a certain painting: See the story of Jupiter and Danaë, the daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos , in the Metamorphoses of Ovid, B. iv., l. 610. Pictures of Venus and Adonis, and of Jupiter and Ganymede, are mentioned in the Menaechmi of Plautus; l. 144, and paintings on the walls are also mentioned in the Mostellaria of Plautus, l. 821, where Tranio tries to impose upon Theuropides by pretending to point out a picture of a crow between two vultures.
5. How Jove: Donatus remarks here that this was
a very proper piece of furniture for the house of a Courtesan, giving an example of loose and mercenary Love, calculated to excite wanton thoughts, and at the same time hinting to the young lover that he must make his way to the bosom of his mistress, like Jupiter to Danaë, in a shower of gold. Oh the avarice of harlots!
6. A poor creature of a mortal: Homuncio. He uses this word the better to contrast his abject nature as a poor mortal with the majesty of Jupiter. St. Augustin refers to this passage. The preceding line is said by Donatus to be a parody on a passage by Ennius.
7. Take this fan: As to the fans of the ancients, see the Trinummus of Plautus, l. 252, and the Note to the passage in Bohn’s Translation. See also the Amours of Ovid, B. iii., El. 2, l. 38.
8. Chattered aloud: This line bears a strong resemblance to two lines found in Anstey’s new Bath Guide:
And how the young ladies all set up their clacks,
All the while an old woman was rubbing their backs.
9. I slily looked askance: This way of looking aside, limis, is mentioned in the Miles Gloriosus of Plautus, where Milphidippa tells Acroteleutium to look at the Captain sideways, Aspicito limis, l. 1217; also in the Bacchides, l. 1131. Those familiar with the works of Hogarth will readily call to mind the picture of Bedlam in the Rake’s Progress, where the young woman is looking askance through her fan at the madman in his cell.
10. Through the fan: This shows that the fan was probably one made of thin boards, and not of feathers.
11. So short-lived: Colman has the following Note here:
Short indeed, considering the number of incidents, which, according to Chaerea’s relation, are crowded into it. All the time allowed for this adventure is the short space between the departure of Thais and Thraso and the entrance of Chaerea; so that all this variety of business of sleeping, bathing, ravishing, etc., is dispatched during the two soliloquies of Antipho and Chaerea, and the short Scene between Chremes and Pythias. The truth is, that a very close adherence to the unities often drives the Poet into as great absurdities as the perfect violation of them.
12. Part of line 608 in the Latin.
13. Part of line 608 in the Latin.