Thinking about shame and shameless in Menander’s Samia

Abstract

In Rhetoric, Aristotle defines shame as "a certain regret or disturbance of mind in relation to weaknesses, present, past or future, likely to involve a loss of reputation" and shame as a "contempt or insensitivity to the same weaknesses ". Here, we try to capture some movements and languages ​​in Menander’s Samia and to reflect on the characters' concern with their own reputation in the face of modesty, shame and shamelessness, and of public and private looks and expectations.