Classics 20 - discovering Romans - Essay Example

as such a playwright who infused humor in comedy with several other literary techniques to enact and resolve such types of cultural conflicts as generational and social problems as portrayed in the discussion below. In his play entitled Brothers, Terence uses fictional characters as he attempts to analyze and represent that various types of cultural conflicts that existed in the society. The characters possess appropriate personalities a deliberate feature that Terence employs in order to justify the conflicts that existed during the early Roman society.

Demea one of the key characters is an Athenian man with two sons Aeschinus and Ctesipho. Demea is a strict father who strives to raise his children in a manner he considers upright. In an unprecedented shift, Demea separates his children at a tender age thereby giving one of his sons to his brother Micio while he remains with one of the sons, Ctesipho. While the playwright does not validate Demea’s decision to separate his children, the separation helps portray the various types of cultural conflicts that existed in the Roman society.

The early Roman society expected parents to raise their children. Such is a portrayal of responsibility. Parents therefore make decisions for their children as they grow. This way, children grow into adulthood as defined by their parents. By separating the two sons, Demea develops a scenario where his sons grow into two different adults with different personalities. The relationship between sons and fathers for example influences the nature of adults the sons become. As explained earlier, Demea is a stringent father and a strict disciplinarian.

His brother Micio is an easy going and liberal bachelor. His lifestyle therefore influences the relationship he creates with his nephew, Aeschinus. The separation of the boys at such tender age instigates the formation of difference personalities in the boys owing to the fact that they live the rest of their lives with two different men