The Heautontimoroumenos, the Phormion, the Adelphi.

Héautontimoruménos , a comedy with the extravagant title – “The Executioner of Oneself” –, depicts a father who, disapproving of his son Clinia’s love for a poor girl, forces him to join the army. Deserting, he takes refuge with his friend Clitiphon, who loves a courtesan. Their respective fathers no longer know how to choose between severity and indulgence… In The Phormion , Antiphon decides, in his father’s absence, to marry Phanium. When the parents of the young married couple learn the news, they try to annul the marriage at all costs… The Adelphi draws a parallel between the effects of two opposing educations: one old-fashioned, severe and harsh; the other liberal and tolerant. From these similar situations, Terence draws three colorful comedies of manners. In which we will see that family disputes in Antiquity are never very far from our own.