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CULTURE: THE HEAVENLY SONG OF EUNUCHS *** =

(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, JANUARY 29 - There is an = important=20 part of humanity which seems to have disappeared and been = forgotten. These=20 are the eunuchs, men subjected to mutilation of the genitalia at=20 pre-puberty or puberty, but also in some cases as adults. The = issue, which=20 still remains a mystery to many, is the subject of an in-depth = study=20 carried out by Lucio Guerrato, director of the Anna Lindh = Foundation, who=20 last night discussed it during a conference held at the = Mediterraneo=20 foundation's office in Naples, titled 'The Heavenly Singing: = Angel-like=20 Powers and Voices, Mediterranean memories of Eunuchs and = Castrati'.=20 Guerrato, who used to be EU representative in Morocco and Algeria, = has=20 carried out research on the cultural exchange in the = Mediterranean,=20 collecting significant documentation about eunuchs and castrati. = ''The=20 vision of eunuchs is generally negative, they are described as=20 treacherous, weak, disgusting and stinking beings,'' he told = ANSAmed.=20 ''However, in many European, Asian and African societies eunuchs = played=20 the important role of supervisors of harems and in some ages they = acquired=20 power because they were considered to be loyal and be the only = ones who=20 their masters could trust.'' They were doomed to social isolation = and were=20 recognisable due to the physical consequences of castration: no = Adam's=20 apple, no hair, very tall. They were also characterised by the = lack of=20 growing of the larynx, the reason behind their vocal abilities. = Guerrato's=20 trip into the history of eunuchs reveals that the practice of = castration=20 dates back to 3,000 years ago, according to the first Hittite = evidence.=20 Xenophon wrote in Cyropaedia that the servants of were castrated.=20 Semiramis in the IX century B.C. was the first sovereign that = castrated=20 her servants, promoting them to her advisors. However, the golden = age of=20 eunuchs was certainly the Byzantine period, as the mosaics of = Ravenna=20 show. In the empire many eunuchs acquired power and were promoted = to the=20 most senior positions in the army, the administration and the = church,=20 despite the fact that castration was banned. The same was in the = Vatican=20 where since 1599 the castrati charmed the popes and clerics with = their=20 angelical voices. In Italy the castrates had great success in = theatre, not=20 only thanks to the vocal virtuosities and acrobatics, but also = thanks to=20 the ambiguous charm that attracted men and women. In 1922 oblivion = shrouded this part of humankind, the imperial palace of Beijing = was=20 closed, and the Huangmen (literally ''door of the palace'') = dispersed. In=20 the same year the last castrato singer of the Sistine Chapel, = Alessandro=20 Moreschi, died and with the arrival of Ataturk in the Anatolian = peninsula=20 disappeared the last eunuchs of the Ottoman emperor. Black eunuchs = from=20 Sub-Saharan Africa castrated by the Copts in Egypt, white = Circassian=20 eunuchs from Crimea brought in the Middle East by Jewish, Genoese = and=20 Venetian slave traders. But how did they live their situation? = Despite the=20 fact that many managed to win success, most of them complained = they could=20 not live a normal life. The testimony by Herodotus is significant = that=20 narrates how the eunuch of Artaxerxes invited at dinner the trader = who had=20 him castrated and forced him to be castrated by his children. But = there=20 were also those who chose to be castrated so as to become famous, = such as=20 singer Farinelli, known for his vocal virtuosities: he managed to = keep a=20 note for a whole minute. But the history of eunuchism does not end = here:=20 in the 1970s at least 80 castrates were registered in China, used = for=20 studies on the prostate. Moreover, in India, the subcaste of the = Hijras=20 welcomes ever more youths who, after castration, take refuge from = the=20 social alienation due to their sexual problems. (ANSAmed).=20

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