Terence's "Eunuchus:" Elements of the Marriage Ritual in the Rape Scene

Author(s): Katerina Philippides

Source: Mnemosyne, Fourth Series, Vol. 48, Fasc. 3 (Jun., 1995), pp. 272-284
Published by: BRILL
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 TERENCE'S EUNUCHUS: ELEMENTS OF THE
MARRIAGE RITUAL IN THE RAPE SCENE*

BY

KATERINA PHILIPPIDES

In Terence's Eunuchus1) the Athenian adolescent Chaerea

disguises himself as a eunuch, enters Thais' house, and then rapes
the virgin Pamphila. Chaerea performs the rape thinking that Pam-
phila is a servant girl. The affair, however, has a happy ending as
their marriage is finally arranged.
Modern scholars are almost unanimous in castigating Chaerea
for Pamphila's rape:they claim that his action is deliberate, callous
and wicked, and thus ought to have disturbed Terence's
audience2). Scholars have adopted such interpretations about

* I wish to
express my thanks to S.A. Frangoulidis for his valuable help and
encouragement in writing this paper.
1) The text of the Eunuchus is quoted from the edition of R. Kauer and W.M.
Lindsay (Oxford 1926).
2) G. Norwood, The Art of Terence (New York 1965 [1923]), 61-3, 69,
characterizes Chaerea's action as "detestable" and "licentious", and also
observes that the youth "does not weakly succumb to a sudden impulse of love,
but deliberately and skilfully gratifies a physical appetite"; still, he describes the
narration of the "story of outrage" as "regrettable". W.S. Anderson, Love Plots
in Menanderand his Roman Adapters, Ramus 13 (1984), 131, 134, note 9, maintains
that the adolescent was "utterly sober and deliberately underhand in his attack"
and that, despite the comedy's happy ending, the painful facts are quite percepti-
ble; furthermore, he believes that Chaerea's boastful narration of the rape to his
friend Antipho ought to have disturbed the play's ancient spectators. R.L.
Hunter, The New Comedyof Greece& Rome (Cambridge 1985), 94, reaches a similar
conclusion about the reaction of the modern readers. W.E. Forehand, Terence
(Boston 1985), 75, 79, also agrees with Anderson that the expected marriage,
which the conventions of New Comedy presuppose, is not sufficient to absolve
Chaerea completely, since the adolescent was "above all eager to satisfy his
immediate desires" and accomplished a "callous rape". S.M. Goldberg, Under-
standing Terence(Princeton 1986), 115, 121, assumes that Chaerea's disguise is a
"sordid masquerade" and symbolizes his "degradation", just as the rape, per-
formed with "deceit" and "violence", diminishes him. D. Konstan, Love in
Terence's Eunuch: The Origins of Erotic Subjectivity, AJP 107 (1986), 387, sees
Chaerea's action as an "outrageous interlude", a "transient impulse or aberra-
tion". G.E. Duckworth, The Nature of Roman Comedy(Princeton 1971 [1972]), 187,
and J.C.B. Lowe, The Eunuchus: Terenceand Menander, CQ 33 (1983), 437, charac-

? E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1995 Mnemosyne, Vol. XLVIII, Fase. 3

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 TERENCE'S EUNUCHUS: THE RAPE SCENE 273

Chaerea's action because they have probably seen the rape under
the influence of today's standards. What they fail to take into con-
sideration is that the ancient commentator of the play, Donatus,
succinctly indicates that Terence has incorporated elements of the
marriage ceremony in the rape scene. G. Williams3) is the sole
modern scholar who has taken Donatus' comments into account,
though epigrammatically: he observes that in the Eunuchus "an
analogy" is drawn "between the stages of a wedding and the seduc-
tion of the girl"4).
My purpose in this paper is first to show the validity of Donatus'
short remarks concerning the incorporation of the marriage
ceremony in the rape scene and secondly to draw attention to some
other passages of the play which imply this ritual, but have not been
noted by the ancient commentator. The tracing of all these
elements in passages of the Eunuchus leads to a better
understanding
of Chaerea's action: its violence
is significantly mitigated since the
rape becomes part of the ritual of the wedding ceremony. This
interpretation absolves Chaerea from having committed a "wicked
rape". I further intend to examine the rape as an important means
of helping Chaerea to reach maturity, and to indicate that the play
in general terms shows Chaerea's passage from adolescence to
manhood.
However, before I turn to examine the elements of the marriage
ritual, it will be useful to offer some narrative details with which the
rape scene will become understandable. The rape is not enacted on
stage, but its details are reported to the audience. Chaerea gives the
most extensive account of the event (575-606), of course expressing

terize it in turn as "misdeed" and "escapade". Finally, L. Pearson Smith in a

most recent article, Audience Response to Rape: Chaereain Terence'sEunuchus, Helios
21.1 (1994), 24, 27, 30, 31, vehemently argues against Chaerea: she holds that his
behaviour "is inexcusable" and the rape is "repulsive" and "deliberate"; thus,
she assumes that "a more reflective portion of the audience could view Chaerea
in a negative light" and that "one left the theater with more concern about
individual suffering than joy".
3) Some Aspects of Roman Marriage Ceremoniesand Ideals, JHS 48 (1958), 21.
4) It must be noted that while Hunter (above, note 2), 94 has also taken into
consideration Donatus' comments, he characteristically ignores references to the
marriage ritual. Instead he uses other remarks with which, according to his own
view, Donatus seeks to "explain or mitigate" Chaerea's action because he "was
worried" by it.

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274 KATERINA PHILIPPIDES

his own point of view. A maid, Pythias, and her lady, the courtesan
Thais, describe Pamphila's condition during the rape as well as its
aftermath (645-6, 659, 820, 829). These two women speak on
behalf of the girl, who remains silent throughout the play.
In his long speech Chaerea ecstaticly narrates to his friend
Antipho the events which took place in Thais' house. In order to
be with the maid Pamphila (the girl is really a free citizen, as is
proved at the end of the play), Chaerea entered the courtesan's
house wearing the clothes of a eunuch who was sent to Thais as a
present. Soon after, Thais along with some maids left the house to
attend a supper. The slave girls who remained within the house
went to prepare Pamphila's bath. So the adolescent andthe girl
stayed alone in the room and stared at a painting depicting the
union of Danae with Jupiter. Pamphila left to take her bath and
when she cameback, the other maids
put her to bed. Then, because
the girls had to go to take their own baths, they handed Chaerea
a fan to air Pamphila and suggested that he should bathe after-
wards. Chaerea exploiting the opportunity, bolted the door and
raped Pamphila.
According to Pythias' later information, Pamphila's condition
was pitiable, because Chaerea had torn her clothes and hair; the
girl weeped and remained silent. Thais also attests to Pamphila's
bad condition in another scene of the play.
In Chaerea's narrative Donatus has indicated elements of the
wedding ceremony, but does not trace such features in Pythias' and
Thais' accounts of the rape or in other passages of the play.
Specifically, he makes two comments in line 581 (paucae [ancillae]
quae circum illam [Pamphilam] essent). In the first, Donatus probably
refers to Pamphila's nuptial bath: relictae nonnullae ut lavari possit ea
virgo, quae sub vitii huius occasione nuptura est. His second comment,
however, is extremely important. He suggests that Terence com-
posed the rape scene in such a way that it should be understood in
terms of a legitimate wedding: hoc enim totum sic induca poeta, ut non
abhorreat a legitimis nuptiis, in ea praesertim quae uxor futura est. Stili, in
line 592 he observes that the verb accersitur might relate to a bride
and brings in a related passage from Terence's Adelphoi. In addi-
tion, in line 593 he suggests that the verb collocarunt is a technical
term from the marriage ritual: vide an aliquid des?i a legitimis nuptiis;

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 Terence's eunuchus: the rape scene 275

nam et ipsum verbum < collocarunt > proprium est et ascribitur pronubis.
Finally, in lines 595-6 (dum lavamus;lubi nos laverimus, si voles, lavato)
he underlines the repeated use of the verb lavo.
This verb also
appears in some other lines Donatus does not
note: haec adornant ut lavet (582); accersitur lavatum (592); lavit (593);
abeunt lavatum (600). The emphatic use of lavo shows that the bath
is not accidental, but on the contrary is significant to the plot of the
play. The marriage ritual presupposes the bathing of the future
couple. We find evidence for this custom in a passage from
Euripides' Phoenissae (347-9), where Jocasta laments because her
son Polynices and his bride did not wash in the river Ismenos before
their wedding5). One explanation for the nuptial bath is that water
symbolizes fertility, hence those to be married used to take a bath
in the water of a river or a spring nearby, making a wish to produce
children6). Another legitimate explanation is that the marriage
ritual requires water for purification7). Harpocration also provides
evidence for the nuptial bath under
???t??f???? ?a? ???t??f??e??. In
addition Pollux (Onom. 3.43) registers the phrase ???f??? ???t??8).
Finally, bathing appears in Apuleius, in the story of Cupid and
Psyche. Before Psyche spends her first night with Cupid she hears
a voice in her husband's palace suggesting that she should take a
rest, and then a bath:
Prohinc cubiculo te refer, et lectulo lassitudinem
refove, et ex arbitrio lavacrum pete (Met. 5.2); Psyche accepts the recom-
mendation: pnus somno et mox lavacro fatigationem sui diluii (5.3). Later
in the night, Cupid makes Psyche his wife. It becomes clear from

5) ??????a?a d' ?s????? ???de???

???t??f???? ????a?, ??a d? ???a?a?
p???? ?s????? sa? es?d?? ???fa?.
6) This explanation is offered by the scholiast in line 347 of the Phoenissae:
????esa? d? o? ???f??? t? pa?a??? ?p????es?a? ?p? t??? ????????? p?ta???? ?a?
pe??^a??es?a? ?a??????te? ?d?? t?? p?ta??? ?a? p???? s????????? pa?d?p???a?
e????e??? ?pe? ???p???? t? ?d?? ?a? ???????.
7) See R. Parker, Miasma: Pollution and Purificationin Early GreekReligion (Oxford
1990 [1983]), 226.
8) C. Reinsberg, Ehe, Het?rentumund Knabenliebeim antiken Griechenland,Modern
Greek transi. Georgovasilis & Pfreimter (Athens 1993), 73-9, discusses the
passages of the ancient Greek grammatology (with the exception of Pollux) which
relate to the nuptial bath; in addition, she describes the archaeological evidence
of ???t??f???? as well as of other worship pots on which the bridegroom's bath or
the ritual custom of the carrying of water for the bride's bath is represented.

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276 KATERINA PHILIPPIDES

the above referred passages, that the bathing motif is an essential

element of the marriage ceremony, and moreover precedes the sex-
ual act. In the Eunuchus, too, bathing occurs before the rape.
The second ritual custom Donatus points out, appears in the con-
text when the other slave girls put Pamphila to bed: earn in lecto Mae
collocarunt(593). An
analogous picture emerges from a marriage
hymn by Catullus, in which the poet addresses the matrons asking
them to put the young bride to bed: feminae ... collocatepuellulam (61.
180-2)9). This custom is also found in Plutarch's description of a
Spartan marriage (Lyk. 15.4-6), according to which, a woman
called ???fe?t??a cuts the bride's hair off, dresses her in a man's
clothing and finally puts her, ?at?????e?, on a mattress of straw10).
The last ceremonial element incorporated in the rape scene as
Chaerea narrates it, is the bolting of the door: pessulum ostio obdo
(603). Donatus explains this action as necessary only to prevent
help for the girl: scilicet ut amoveret et arceretque auxilium virginis. How-
ever, the verbal analogy that appears in the following passages from
two marriage hymns confirms that this element is part of the par-
ticular ritual; Catullus (61.224-8) asks maidens to close the door of
the bedroom, claudite ostia, virgines, so that the young couple, con-
iuges, can enjoy love, mu?ere assiduo valentem I exercete iuventam.
Theocritus (18.5-6) sings of the time Menelaus got married to
Helen and locked her, ?ate??^?at?, in the room.
I shall now trace the incorporation of more ritual elements in the
brief information Pythias and Thais provide Pamphila's con-
about
dition. Thetearing of Pamphila's hair, ipsam capillo conscidit (646),
and her weeping, virgo ipsa lacrumat (659), id lacrumat (829), recall
a ritual which is described for instance in Euripides' Hippolytus

9) L.M. Tromaras, P. Terentius Afer: Eunuchus: ??sa????, ?e??e??, S????a

(Sal?nica 1991), comments in line 593 that the description is solemn as happens
in the marriage ceremony, referring to Donatus' scholium; he also cites the verses
of Catullus' poem and holds that collocaruntis synonymous with in matrimoniumdare.
However, Tromaras does not attempt to make a new interpretation of the scene
(he characteristically ignores all Donatus' other remarks about the marriage ritual)
neither at the specific annotation of the verse, nor before, at his summary of act
III, scene V, in which he only states that the rape is symptomatic.
10) ??????? d? d?' a?p???? ... t?? V ??pas?e?sa? ? ???fe?t??a ?a????e??
pa?a?a???sa, t?? ??? ?ef<???? ?? ??? pe????efe?, ??at?? d' ??d?e?? ?a? ?p?d??as??
??s?e??sasa, xaz?xXtvtv ?p? st???da ????? ??e? f?t??.

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 Terence's eunuchus: the rape scene 277

(1425-7), where maidens before their wedding ceremony, ???a? ?a?

a???e? ????? p????, cut their hair, ???a? ?e????ta?, and offer it in
lamentation, p???? ????sta da?????, to Hippolytus. The cutting of
the hair and the tears of the young girls symbolize the "loss of
innocence" in their transition from virginity to marriage11).
Hippolytus contains an aetiological myth from an already existent
Greek ritual. This ritual at Troezen is also reported by Pausanias
(2. 32,1) but in reference only to the cutting of the hair12). The
same author records (1. 43,4) an analogous event at Megara13).
According to Herodotus (4. 34) a similar event took place at Delos,
too14). Finally, the cutting of the hair appears in the passage from
Plutarch referred to above. In the Eunuchus the tearing of Pam-
phila's hair also belongs to the ritual associated with the prepara-
tion of the virgins for marriage. In order to use this element
Terence employs the verb conscidere which means 'cut to pieces'
(OLD, s.v. conscindo
2) and therefore, corresponds to the Greek
equivalent ?e????a? which suggests the ritual cutting of the hair.
Yet, the tearing of Pamphila's hair is not actualized before the rape
but during it.
On the other hand, Sappho (Fr. 114 L.-P.) employs the motif of
the nuptiallament for the loss of virginity15), while in Catullus the
same motif is suggested through the use of the verbflere (61.79-82)
and the phrases falsis ... lacrimulis, non ... vera gemunt (66.15-8). In
the Eunuchus the lamentmotif is used in Pamphila's weeping, with
the difference that it does not precede the sexual act but comes after
the rape. Therefore, the ritual of preparation for marriage is incor-
porated into the rape scene in a way that is determined by the par-

11) See ?.E. Goff, The Noose of Words: Readings of Desire, Violenceand Language
in Euripides' Hippolytus (Cambridge 1990), 114, 120.
12) e??st? pa?????? p???a??? ?p??e??eta? o? (:??pp???t?) p?? ?????, ?e??a????
d? ??????e? ?? t?? ?a?? f????sa.
13) ?a??st??e d? ta?? ???a?? ???? ... p??sf??e?? p?? ????? ?a? ?p???es?a? t??
t?????, ?a?a ?a? ... a? ???at??e? p?t? ?pe?e????t? a? ??????.
14) ?? ???? ?e????ta? ?a? a? ???a? ?a? ?? pa?de? ... a? ??? p?? ????? p???a???
?p?ta????e?a?...?Reinsberg (above, note 8), 72-3, discusses this passage and
refers to the other passages from Euripides and Pausanias suggesting that the
sacrifice of the hair symbolizes the end of childhood.
15) pa??e??a, pa??e??a, p?? ?e ??p??s' ?<p>?????.

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278 KATERINA PHILIPPIDES

ticular plot structure of the play. So, the tearing of the hair as well
as the lament represent the girl's reaction to the rape16).
It is very interesting that elements of the marriage ritual are not
only incorporated into the rape scene and into Pythias' and Thais'
accounts, but Terence has used them earlier, before the description
of the rape itself. In this way he prepares his audience for what is
about to follow. These elements appear in the verses that Chaerea
and his slave Parmeno exchange extolling Pamphila's beauty.
When Parmeno learns that she is just sixteen years old, he
characterizes her as flos ipse. Chaerea is seeking to conquer this
flower withthe help of his slave: hanc tu mihi ... fac tradas ... dum
potiar (319-20). Such similes occur three times in Catullus. In the
first case (61. 56-61) the bride is presented as a 'blooming girl',
floridam ... puellulam, whom Hymenaeus leads into the bridegroom's
arms, in manus. In the second (61. 184-8), the bride with her
'blooming face', ore floridulo nitens, as a white camomile, alba par-
thenice velut, or a saffron poppy, luteumve papaver, is expecting the
bridegroom, marite ... in thalamo tibi est. In the third case (62.39, 46)
the girl resembles a flower, ut flos ... sic virgo, as long as she is a
virgin, but loses the chaste blossom with marriage, cum castum amisit
polluto corporeflorem. In the third simile Catullus' source is a Sapphic
poem (fr. 105c L.-P.); in it the bride resembles a purple hyacinth
on which men tread17).

16) Implicit elements of sacrifice can perhaps also be seen in the rape scene.
The parallelism between marriage and sacrifice in general is quite legitimate, if
we bear in mind that the bride loses her virginity, abandons the carefree life in
her parents' house, and moves to an unknown and more responsible situation. In
the rape scene of the Eunuchus the specific elements which perhaps refer to a
sacrifice ritual, are the following. Pamphila as well as the other slave girls, as I
have already mentioned, take a bath; it is noticeable that it is the other slave girls
who prepare the bath for her. In addition, during the rape Pamphila's hair is torn.
Similarly those who take part in a sacrifice wash their hands, cut off a few hairs
from the animal victim, and sprinkle it with water; see e.g., H.P. Foley, Ritual
Irony: Poetry and Sacrifice in Euripides (Ithaca 1985), 85. We must also notice that
the sacrificial victim should be pure (Foley, 73) and Pamphila was virgin. How-
ever, these similarities are not adequate to prove an intentional incorporation of
elements of sacrifice parallel to those of the marriage ceremony. Such a coexistence
of the two rituals occurs for instance in Euripides' Iphigenia in Aulis (Foley,
65-105).
17) ??a? t?? ???????? ?? ??es? p?????e? ??d?e?
p?ss? ?ataste????s?, ???a? d? te p??f???? ?????...

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 Terence's eunuchus: the rape scene 279

Theundeniable incorporation of elements of the marriage ritual

in the plot of the Eunuchus and their probable recognition by the
ancient audience have immediate bearings on the nature of
Chaerea's action. They minimize to a considerable degree the
violation as well as the detestable feelings about it, since the rape
takes place within the marriage frame. Besides, as S.G. Ashmore18)
correctly notes, in Chaerea's account of the rape the "absence of
all coarseness of speech" can be noticed. Furthermore, the
audience is aware that the play will end with marriage between the
rapist and his victim?so, in the Eunuchus' finale Chaerea and Pam-
phila are engaged: seis sponsam mihi (1037)?because this is expected
by the thematics of both Greek New Comedy and Roman comedy,
which is modelled on the former. In other words there is an abstract
framework formed
by the conventions of the genre, which deter-
mines on the one hand the audience's understanding of the events,
and on the other the author's choices in composing his play. In
addition, since the rape does not belong to the Vorgeschichte of this
particular comedy, but occurs during it?the Eunuchus is the only
play in which a rape constitutes an event of the plot19)?it is
legitimate for the poet to mitigate violence by incorporating
elements of the
wedding ceremony, and, therefore, indirectly
stressing the inevitable happy ending. Terence, in his attempt to
prepare the audience for the imminent marriage also incorporates
such features in the simile
about Pamphila discussed above20).
Allowing, however, for the required happy ending we must keep
in mind that the Eunuchus is not a tragedy, where Chaerea's action
would be presented as detestable or blameworthy, but a comedy,
in which violent events are inappropriate, and if they happen, must
be moderated. Besides, a comic reversal of the situation is
employed when Chaerea is disguised as a eunuch, i.e. as a man
incapable of accomplishing the sexual act. Terence had a number

18) See his annotated edition of the Eunuchus (New York 1908), 139
19) See Hunter (above, note 2), 95; see also Goldberg (above, note 2), 115.
20) A suggestion by P. Fabia can be related to this preparation technique.
Fabia holds?in P. TerentiAfri Eunuchus (Paris 1895), 7?that Terence introduces
Pamphila's brother, Chr?mes, exactly at the moment the rape occurs, so that the
matter of the revealing of the girl's identity will take place simultaneously with the
rape and thus, an improvement of the situation is possible.

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280 KATERINA PHILIPPIDES

of choices in
presenting Pamphila's seduction: for example,
Chaerea could perform the rape without pretending to be a eunuch,
or he could be disguised as a girl. The choice of the eunuch disguise
provides an ironical aspect to the rape itself, since the male nature
of the rapist is neutralized. The audience knows of course that a
young man is concealed under the disguise, yet the figure of the
eunuch still functions comically, especially when other characters of
the play such as Pythias, Phaedria, and Dorias, are temporarily
unable to conceive how a creature like that was capable of making
love and causing such a disaster (658 ff.)20>,s). Nevertheless, as
both Suetonius (Vit. 5. 8) and Donatus confirm, the play was suc-
cessfully produced twice and Terence profited with enormous sums
of money. Specifically, Donatus writes: ... magno successu et pretio
stetit Eunuchus fabula, ... (Vita Ter. 10)?et acta est tanto successu,
plausu atque suffragio, ut rursus esset vendita et ageretur iterum
pro nova proque ea pretium, quod nulli ante ipsam fabulae con-
tigit, octo millibus sestertium, numerarent poetae (Eun. Praefl 1.
6). Thus, the suggestion that Chaerea's action or speech should be
repulsive to the audience to be groundless21).
seems
Furthermore, an extenuating circumstance for Chaerea's
behaviour is that he does not enter the courtesan's house with the
intention torape Pamphila, as most modern scholars wrongly
assert22). Yet,C.F. Saylor23) supports the "lack of consilium" in
Chaerea's action, accepting Donatus' notes for this particular mat-
ter. In his comment in line 584 the ancient scholiast has correctly
observed that the adolescent did not enter Thais' house in order to
rape the girl but to be close to her: non ad hoc venerat Chaerea, ut con-
tinuo vitiaret puellam3 sed ut videret, audiret, essetque una (Chaerea
delivers the line: viderem, audirem, essem una in 574). Just before this

20b,s) Of course, the whole argument about Chaerea's disguise (on both aspects,
sexual and ritual?see infra) is weakened by the fact that Terence's main source
is ???????? by Menander. However, from the point of view supported here, i.e.
Chaerea's action in this play and Roman audience's response, my argument still
holds.
21) Such a claim is supported by Anderson and mainly by Smith; see above,
note 2.
22) For instance, Norwood, Anderson, Forehand and Smith; see above, note 2.
23) The Theme of Planlessness in Terence'sEunuchus, TAPA 105 (1975), 305.

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 Terence's eunuchus: the rape scene 281

Donatus has explained Chaerea's action as a result of his gazing at

the picture, which depicts the union of Danae with Jupiter
disguised as golden rain: bene accedit repentepictura ad hortamenta aggre-
diendae virginis24). The analogous action of the disguised god who
plays the
principal role in a love game, ludum (587), not only
inspires Chaerea, but to a large extent legitimizes what the hero
does, a mere manikin, homuncio (591), as he calls himself in com-
parison with the all powerful Jupiter (590). Therefore, the presence
of the divine element through the painting sanctions the "mar-
riage" that takes Besides,
place. the union of Jupiter with Danae
is a mythological exemplum for Chaerea's defence25). Apart from
Chaerea, Pamphila also stares at the painting before the rape, virgo
in conclavi sedet suspectans tabulam quantam pictam (583-4). Her gazing
at the picture perhaps functions as a preparation of the virgin for
what is about to happen26).
Other points in favour of Chaerea are his
ignorance of Pam-
phila's identity, since he confesses that he took her for a fellow ser-
vant, conservam esse credidi (858), who works in a courtesan's house,
and also his eagerness to marry the girl with his father's consent,
if she is proved to be a free citizen, emoriar si non hanc uxorem duxero
(888) ... civis modo haec sit (890). Besides, Chaerea discloses to Thais
the read motive for his action: contumeliae non me fecisse causa, sed
amoris (877-8). It is, therefore, a mistake to judge Chaerea's charac-
ter only by the rape, and ignore his whole role in the comedy in
which the incident of the rape is performed within the context of the
wedding rituali.
However, there is another way to approach the particular mean-
ing of the rape in the Eunuchus. As I have already suggested, this
comedy must be seen within the tradition of its genre, as a comedy
in which one of the characters is an ephebus who falls in love with

24) Tromaras (above, note 9), 175, 181, also suggests that the painting
encourages Chaerea, so the latter attempts to imitate Jupiter; therefore, Tromaras
agrees with Saylor that the rape is circumstantial; see also Tromaras, Ibi ineratpie-
tura haec (Terent. Eunuch. 584-9), Hellenika 36 (1985), 269, 276.
25) K. B?chner, Das Theaterdes Terenz (Heidelberg 1974), 269.
26) Greek brides were "trained through ritual and other instruction from
girlhood to submit to what could often be a frightening transitional experience";
such a preparation ritual occurred for instance in Brauron (Foley [above, note 16],
86).

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282 KATERINA PHILIPPIDES

a girl, undergoes a series of adventures, and finally marries her. So,

at the beginning of the Eunuchus Chaerea appears as an adolescent
who passionately falls in love with Pamphila at first sight; later, in
the middle of the play, he rapes the girl and thus at the end he has
become a man. Since, therefore, comedy reflects social conditions
to a certain degree, it would be interesting to assess Chaerea's
action within the context of his transition from adolescence to
maturity.
P. Vidal-Naquet's observations about the adolescent's coming of
age in ancient Greek
society very are useful in Chaerea's case.
Vidal-Naquet27) suggests that the adolescent should pass two stages
in order to reach maturity: a) military training, and b) preparation
for marriage. In more detail, the fulfilment of the military obliga-
tions happened at the city-state boundaries, and this is the reason
why the ephebus was called pe??p????. On the other hand, the adoles-
cent's initiation into
marriage was dramatized through disguise in
feminine attire28). When the youth had accomplished his military
training and got married, he could then become a member of the
p????. As long as these two preconditions were not fulfilled, the
youth's relation with the city is uncertain: he belonged and, at the
same time, did not belong to it.

27) The Black Hunter, trans. A. Szegedy-Maszak (Baltimore 1986), 107, 114-7.
28) Such a disguise occurred for example in the ?s??f???a festival, which was
held at the beginning of October. This festival included a procession, the starting
point of which was Athens and the end, the temple of Athena Sciras at Phalerum.
The procession was led by two pa?de? a?f??a?e?? ('boys with both parents alive'),
dressed as girls and carrying ?s???? ('bunches of grapes'). The aetiological myth
which explains the institution of ?s??f???a describes Theseus' artifice for the
extermination of the Minotaur. As Plutarch states in his life of Theseus (23.2 ff.),
among the girls Theseus himself carried to Crete he hid two youths who were
dressed as girls and taught to talk and move as women: "????s? d? ?a? t?? t??
?s??f????? ???t?? T?s??? ?atast?sa?t??. ?? ?a? ?p?sa? a?t?? ??a?a?e?? ta?
?a???sa? t?te pa???????, ???a t?? s?????? ?ea??s??? d?? ????fa?e?? ?e? ?f???a? ?a?
?ea????, ??d??de?? de ta?? ???a?? ?a? p????????, ???t???? te ?e????? ?a? s??at??f?a??
?a? ta?? pe?? t?? ????? ?a? ?e??t?ta ?a? ????a? ????fa?? ?a? ??s??ses?? ?? est??
??a????a?ta ????d?, ?a? d?d??a?ta f???? ?a? s???a ?a? ??d?s?? ?? e?? ????sta
pa?????????????s?a? ?a? ??d?? fa??es?a? d?af????ta?, ???a?e?? e??t?? t?? pa??????
a?????? ?a? d?a?a?e?? apa?t??? ?pe? d' ?pa????e?, a?t?? te p??pe?sa? ?a? t???
?ea??s???? ??t?? ??pe???????? ?? ??? ??p????ta? t??? ?s???? f????te?.??. Van
Gennep, The Rites of Passage, trans. ?.?. Vizedom &G.L. Caffee (London 1960),
172, reports a bridegroom's disguise in a woman's clothes at the island of Cos.

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 Terence's eunuchus: the rape scene 283

Such is Chaerea's condition at the beginning of the Eunuchus.

The youth?about sixteen years old (693)?comes to Athens leav-
ing his military post in Piraeus. Parmeno wonders about the unex-
pected arrival of his young master: miror, quid ex Piraio abierit? nam
ibi custos publi?e est nunc (290). The reaction of Chaerea's father to
his son's entrance to the city is also characteristic: an in astu venit?
aliud ex alio malum! (987). Chaerea is therefore pe??p????; thus, an
explanation for his presence in Athens is brought to the fore when
Antipho specifies that his friend was in charge of the arrangements
for a dinner in the city (540-1). Ashmore29), examining Parmeno's
and the old man's surprise, explains that Chaerea was a guardian
of the frontier. post he had assumed
The was given to ephebes.
Besides, term ephebus, as the same scholar points out,
the technical
appears in the text of the play (824). Of course, the addresses to
Chaerea usually contain the terms adulescentulus (540, 686, 940,
943) or adulescentia (383) which are the Latin equivalents of the
Greek words.
Therefore, there is no doubt that Chaerea is ?f???? and
pe??p????. But it is not equally certain that he also passes the second
stage which Vidal-Naquet describes: the ritual disguise of the
adolescent as a girl. Of course, when Chaerea is dressed up as a
eunuch, he is in some way disguised as a woman, because Thais
and hermaids consider him to be sexually harmless and thus
suitable to guard Pamphila and be left ?done with her in the interiore
parte (579), i.e. the women's headquarters, the gynaeceum30). How-
ever, the elements which would allude to the incorporation of a
specific ritual here are not sufficient to prove such a claim. Yet, it
does not seem irrelevant to suggest that Terence might imply a
ritual, since the play shows Chaerea's passage from youth to
maturity. A.M.
Bowie31) characteristically says that
of the "rituals
passage involve
a youth on the verge of manhood, who experiences
a time and a space whose marginality is expressed through changes
of clothes, inversions of lifestyle and sexual role... The reward is
integration into a new place in the community".

29) Ashmore (above, note 18), 131.

30) Ashmore, 139.
31) Aristophanes:Myth, Ritual and Comedy (Cambridge 1993), 52.

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284 KATERINA PHILIPPIDES

Anyway, Chaerea who is undoubtedly a pe??p????, by commit-

ting the rape makes the most significant step towards maturity, and
thus to his entrance into the p????. It is noticeable that after the rape
the other characters of the play address him as a vir (660, 850) and
no longer as an adulescentulus. This change in address is systematic
and signifies Chaerea's new condition. Whenever Chaerea is
addressed as adulescentulus rape, this happens
after the either in
reference to the past, i.e. before the hero performs the rape (686,
824, 940), or for the purpose of irony (943). Besides, some indica-
tions of maturity also appear in Chaerea's behaviour: he is
interested in securing his relationship with Pamphila (613-4),
declares his wish to marry the girl (888), and consults his brother
Phaedria about the latter's affair with Thais (1068, 1081, 1083).
To sum up, the pe??p???? Chaerea is led towards maturity and
integrated into the city through his action. After all, he is represen-
tative of the adulescens of the genre, as he falls in love with a girl and
after a series of difficulties and complications finally weds her.
Thus, it is wrong to consider him as a "callous rapist" or assume
that his action would have disturbed Terence's audience, since
there are many elements which cancel out such claims. Of course,
the most important element is the incorporation of the marriage
ritual in Pamphila's simile, in Thais' brief informa-
and Pythias'
tion about the rape, and mainly in Chaerea's narration. In this

way, Chaerea's action is essentially mitigated and provides a tem-

porary substitute for the actual marriage, which is typically

arranged at the end of the play.

741 00 Rethymno, University of Crete

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