Eunuch

Eunuch (Gr. eunouchos, 'one who has charge of a bed;' eunē, 'a bed') is, etymologically, a man intrusted with the charge of women's apartments in the East; but the word means always a person who has been castrated, in order to serve in the harem. The barbarous custom of castrating men is usually an accompaniment of polygamy, and seems to have been earliest practised in Africa; but it established itself, along with Asiatic vices, in the Roman empire. At the Byzantine court the eunuchs often played an important rôle, and became so prominent in affairs of state that the word eunuch came practically to be the name of a great state-officer, the chamberlain. The Italian word castrato is that usually employed for a man who has as a youth suffered castration to prevent his voice from breaking. Such persons preserve the pure, clear, high timbre of the boy's voice, and add the grown man's long power; and in spite of the canonical law and more than one papal bull, came to be highly prized in Italy for singing in churches, in the opera, and at concerts, and till of late were common. In the 18th century it was estimated that 4000 boys were yearly castrated for musical purposes. The castrati were at one time not unknown in France, Germany, and England, as connected with the Italian opera. Many—such as Farinelli (q.v.) and Caffarelli—were really great singers. See CASTRATION.