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EUNUCH (Gr. Evvoi3Xos)

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 891 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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EUNUCH (Gr. Evvoi3Xos) , an emasculated male. From remote antiquity among the Orientals, as also at a later See also:period in See also:Greece, eunuchs were employed to take See also:charge of the See also:women, or generally as chamberlains—whence the name Oi r? ‘')V ebvijv gXOVTES, i.e. those who have charge of the See also:bed-chamber. Their confidential position in the harems of princes frequently enabled them to exercise an important See also:influence over their royal masters, and even to raise themselves to stations of See also:great See also:trust and See also:power (see See also:HAREM). Hence the See also:term eunuch came to be applied in See also:Egypt to any See also:court officer, whether a castratus or not. The See also:common See also:idea that eunuchs are necessarily deficient in courage and in intellectual vigour is amply refuted by See also:history. We are told, for example, by See also:Herodotus that in See also:Persia they were especially prized for their fidelity; and they were frequently promoted to the highest offices. See also:Narses, the famous See also:general under Justinian, was a eunuch, as was also See also:Hermias, See also:governor of Atarnea in See also:Mysia, to whose See also:manes the great See also:Aristotle offered sacrifices, besides celebrating the praises of his See also:patron and friend in a poem (still extant) addressed to Virtue (see See also:Lucian's See also:dialogue entitled Eunuchus). The capacity of eunuchs for public affairs is strikingly illustrated by the histories of Persia, See also:India and See also:China; and considerable power was exercised by the eunuchs under the later See also:Roman emperors. The hideous See also:trade of castrating boys to be sold as eunuchs for Moslem harems has continued to See also:modern times, the See also:principal See also:district whence they are taken being See also:north-central See also:Africa (See also:Bagirmi, &c.). As the larger proportion of See also:children See also:die after the operation (generally See also:total removal) owing to unskilful See also:surgery, such as recover fetch at-least three or four times the See also:ordinary See also:price of slaves.

Even more vile, as being practised by a civilized See also:

European nation, was the See also:Italian practice of castrating boys to prevent the natural development of the See also:voice, in See also:order to See also:train them as adult See also:soprano singers, such as might formerly be heard in the Sistine See also:chapel. Though such See also:mutilation is a See also:crime punishable with severity, the See also:supply of " soprani " never failed so See also:long as their musical See also:powers were in demand in high quarters. Driven long ago from the Italian See also:stage by public See also:opinion, they remained the musical See also:glory and moral shame of the papal See also:choir till the See also:accession of See also:Pope See also:Leo XIII., one of whose first acts was to get rid of them. Mention must here also be made of the class of voluntary eunuchs, who have emasculated themselves, or caused the operation to be performed on them, for the avoidance of sexual See also:sin or temptation. This unnatural development of See also:asceticism appears in See also:early See also:Christian ages, its votaries acting on the texts Matt. xix. 12, v. 28-30. See also:Origen's See also:case is the most celebrated example, and by the 3rd See also:century there had arisen a See also:sect of eunuchs, of whom See also:Augustine says (De haeres. c. 37), " Valesii et seipsos castrant et hospites suos, hoc modo existimantes Deo se debere servire " (see See also:Neander, History of Chr. See also:Church, vol. ii. p. 462; See also:Bingham, Antiq. Chr.

Church, See also:

book iv. See also:chap. 3.) Such practices have been always opposed by the general See also:body of the Christian churches, but have not even now ceased. A See also:secret sect of the See also:kind exists in See also:Russia, whose practice of castration is expressed in their name of Skopzi. (E. B.

End of Article: EUNUCH (Gr. Evvoi3Xos)

Additional information and Comments

This was a wonderful experience for me to see this. It vindicated what I told people. This information is not available in the Ecyclopedia AFTER THE YEAR 1923 DUE TO PRESSURE OF THE VATICAN. THE RUSSIANS ARE STILL MENTIONED OF COURSE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. A.H. van Herp 11 VERNON AVE. GOROKAN NSW 2263 AUSTRALIA 0243921611 [email protected]
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