At our work, not long ago a dispute arose, or rather not even a dispute, but a conversation with elements of discussion.
What is the difference between a eunuch and a castrato?
For example, this is what I thought: castrato means the testicles (testicles) have been removed, eunuch means the penis has been removed.
They explain to me: both this and that are the same thing. Remove the testicles and the man will lose all his virility. Hormones will appear out of nowhere. Therefore, he will not get up. I decided to read it on the internet. Wikipedia says that a eunuch and a castrato are the same thing. then I read:

It is necessary to distinguish castration from vasectomy - ligation of the vas deferens, as a result of which the ability to give birth is lost, but the hormonal levels do not change, and penectomy - removal of the penis , which only leads to the inability to complete sexual intercourse

And then it’s still not clear, what did they cut off for the eunuchs? All together or just the penis.?

Eunuch (Greek) - castrato, in particular a castrated servant, destined for service in the harems of the East. The custom of entrusting the supervision of wives to eunuchs arose in Asia Minor, where, however, the original cause of emasculation was probably religious fanaticism, especially in the Syrian-Asia Minor cults of Attis and Cybele. According to Herodotus, in the East it was customary to castrate prisoners. E. are also mentioned in ancient Greece and Rome, but their castration took place in the East. According to legend, Periander, the tyrant of Corinth, sent 300 Corkyrean boys to Aliates, king of Lydia, for castration. Placed in the opportunity to act in the east. rulers, both directly and through their beloved wives and concubines, E. often acquired strong influence on the course of state affairs. The history of the entire East is full of stories about the intrigues of E., about their power at court. Byzantium, whose court life was formed under the influence of the East, inherited Europe along with it (see Eutropius). Mohammedanism, which allowed polygamy and caused the increased spread of harems, increased the need for E. In the Sultan's harem, the main E. - kizlyar-agasi (chief of girls) - has other E. under his command. In the intrigues of the seraglio, they play a prominent role; in Persia E. is sometimes entrusted with important government positions. Greed, stinginess, cruelty are their distinctive features. E. come in black and white; only the first are completely devoid of genital organs. Türkiye usually receives E. from Egypt; half of E. dies in a barbaric operation carried out with the crudest instruments. The philosopher Faforinus, Aristonicus, the Ptolemaic commander, the famous Narses under Justinian, and the vizier Ali under Suleiman II are known in history from Egypt. The Mosaic Law positively prohibited castration and closed the entrance to the Tabernacle to those castrated; Even castrated animals could not be sacrificed. The Church does not allow those who have been castrated to the rank of bishop. On castration under the influence of religious fanaticism, see Cybele and Skoptsy; about castration for the purpose of training singers, see Castrate.

Castration of a mule.

photo from here
Continuing the topic, I found an interesting article

Eunuch – translated from Greek as “guardian of the bed.” This is the name given to a man who has undergone castration (castration). The earliest information about castrated men comes to us from ancient Assyria. Here, back in the 19th century BC, kings appointed eunuchs as servants in their harems. In later times, the way of life in the countries of the Muslim world, in China, Byzantium, and beyond, was unthinkable without eunuchs. How did men become eunuchs?

China

The first information about eunuchs in the service of the Chinese emperor appears in 1050 BC. The emperor himself and representatives of the highest aristocracy had huge harems. Eunuchs were required to serve them. One of the most common ways to obtain these invaluable personnel was to punish the courtier by cutting off the genital organ. The execution was called “gunsin” - palace punishment. In addition, captives were castrated. The Empire constantly waged wars, so there was no shortage of them. And finally, poor parents with many children sold their sons to become palace eunuchs, believing that in this way they would relieve the child from poverty. And often they were right. Many eunuchs had excellent court careers and occupied key positions in the state. The eunuch naval commander Zheng He became one of the most famous personalities of the Celestial Empire and became a national hero.

How castration took place in China was described by the English traveler and scientist K. Saint in 1877: “The operation is performed as follows. The lower abdomen and upper thighs are tightly bandaged to prevent excessive bleeding. Then the body parts to be removed are washed three times with hot pepper water and cut off at the very base with a small curved knife resembling a sickle. Upon completion of the case, the wound is covered with paper soaked in cold water and bandaged thoroughly. The patient, supported by two “operators,” is forced to walk around the room for 2-3 hours, after which he is allowed to lie down, but is forbidden to drink anything for three days. On the fourth day, the bandage is removed and the sufferer can finally get relief. If this works, it means he is out of danger; if not, he is doomed to a painful death, since his passages are already swollen and nothing can save him.”

Byzantium

The institution of eunuchs penetrated into the Christian empire from ancient Rome. Roman patricians believed that eunuchs gave the house a touch of oriental exoticism. In Byzantium, eunuchs became the most trusted servants of the imperial court, and sometimes very influential courtiers. These were, for the most part, slaves from among the Persians, Arabs, and residents of the Caucasus. However, there are cases where younger sons in noble families were castrated. One of the most famous eunuchs, John Orphanotroph, lived in the 11th century. He married his brother Michael of Paphlagon to Empress Zoe, making him emperor. He then convinced Zoya to adopt his nephew, also Mikhail, thus becoming first the brother and then the uncle of the emperor. In fact, he ruled the empire on behalf of his illustrious relatives. Under Emperor Michael Ducas, the empire was actually ruled by the eunuch Nikephoros, nicknamed Nikiforitsa for his small stature. He took bribes, stole from the state treasury, and monstrous greed finally led him to a sad ending: Nikoforitsa died under torture during an investigation into government embezzlement.

Among the higher clergy Byzantine Empire there were also a lot of castrati.

Türkiye

Having captured Constantinople, Mehmed the Conqueror discovered magnificent palaces here, which were served by hundreds of eunuchs. All this was put to good use, and since then eunuchs in the mass consciousness have been associated specifically with Turkey. At first, harems were guarded by white eunuchs. But then black castrati came into fashion. This was due to several reasons. Firstly, it was believed that black boys endured the castration procedure more easily, and secondly, there was a belief that the lost body part of castrati rarely, but could grow back. And in this case, if the slave woman committed a sin, the child would be born black, which would reveal the deception. By the way, for the same reason the ugliest men were taken as eunuchs. Having lost their manhood, they received other names, usually the names of flowers, because they would serve women as beautiful as flowers. To complete the portrait of the eunuch of the Ottoman Empire, it is worth adding that they often suffered from urinary incontinence. To emit it, they used a silver tube, which they hid in a turban. The approach of a eunuch was usually signaled by the heavy smell of ammonia. These are the flowers that guarded the peace of the odalisques!

Nevertheless, these people played a serious role in politics. The concubines of the Sultan and Valide (mothers of the Sultan and princes) exerted considerable influence on their husbands and sons, and in order to achieve one or another decision, courtiers and diplomats resorted to the help of eunuchs, who, for a fee, conveyed their messages or even arranged meetings with the desired lady. The pinnacle of a eunuch's career in Turkey is the position of kizlargasa, or commander-in-chief of the palace guard. This position can be compared to that of a prime minister in Europe. Kizlyargasy played a leading role in all ceremonies of the court; the promotion of the Sultan’s concubines up the hierarchical ladder depended on him. Skillfully manipulating the affections of the Sultan and the passions of the harem recluses, Kizlyargasy was virtually omnipotent.

Italy

Europe already in modern times experienced a surge in fashion for castrati. This is connected with the famous Pope's Chapel, for which magnificent music was written, including many soprano parts. Women were not allowed in there, so boys sang. But boys, as is known, undergo a voice mutation during puberty. Therefore, every three to four years it was necessary to train new performers. The solution was found without much difficulty: castration. In the 17th century, during the Baroque era, the fashion for castrati was widespread in European countries. They sang not only in the papal chapel, but also at the courts of less prominent Catholic prelates, as well as on opera scenes. Parents of boys who had beautiful voices willingly decided to undergo such an operation, since it provided their child with a comfortable future. As a rule, castration was carried out between 8 and 10 years. The boy was drugged with opium and immersed in a bath of ice water, which prevented excessive bleeding. The operation itself consisted of the surgeon cutting the groin and removing the testes. The external genitalia were not touched. Many adult castrati are said to have retained the ability to have intimate relationships with women. How else can we explain the fact that many castrati who performed in the opera had affairs with their fans? After such a procedure, of course, if the boy managed to survive, the performer’s voice achieved incredible beauty and strength. Such castrati singers as Farinelli, Carestini, Salimbeni and others had a huge influence on musical culture Baroque era.

The word “eunuch” itself translated from Greek means “guardian of the bed.” Contrary to popular belief today, eunuchs were not deprived of their penises, but of their testicles. Under certain conditions, eunuchs retained the ability to experience sexual arousal, which allowed them to have sex. But they could not have children under any circumstances. This is precisely what should be considered the main reason for carrying out the castration procedure. Rulers and nobles in this way saved themselves from the threat of the birth of illegitimate bastard children, maintaining the purity of their blood. Eunuchs most often guarded the harems of their overlords, restored order there, dealt with organizational issues, and were the only men on their territory. Their work was generously paid, and the risk of one of the wives or concubines having an illegitimate heir was reduced to zero.

Voluntary and forced castration

Men became eunuchs both under duress and voluntarily. Many poor families sent their sons to this service. Castration in childhood was in some ways easier to experience, since the young men did not fully realize what they were deprived of. Hormonal changes in the body adolescence happened differently, the body was rebuilt to suit the changed circumstances, gaining extra pounds. Such voluntary eunuchs were generously rewarded by the rulers who accepted them into service. Over time, they could reach really high positions. In most eastern countries, eunuchs could become financial advisers, military leaders, and officials.

There was also forced castration. In China, for example, captured enemies were castrated. In this case, such a procedure had two meanings at once. Firstly, castration humiliated the enemy, and secondly, the purity of the nation was preserved, since a castrated enemy could no longer become a father, “spoiling” the family tree of the winners.

In some religious cults, castration was performed as a kind of sacrifice to the deity. The eunuch monk similarly denied all carnal, sinful thoughts and devoted himself completely to religious service.

The institution of eunuchs itself arose among the Persians, Assyrians and Byzantines, and a little later it became widespread in China. It was in China that eunuchs formed a real, strong caste that repulsed any brave man who encroached on them. The Persians and Assyrians always had a rather contemptuous attitude towards eunuchs; stern warriors treated them without an iota of respect.

Which began to be produced on humans. Even 4,000 years ago, the kings of ancient Assyria ordered the deprivation of genitals from their immediate circle to prevent a violent seizure of power.

Later, priests were castrated. It was believed that if a person serves deities, then he must lose something important. What could be more important than the ability to procreate?

IN Ancient Rome male strength was considered a divine gift, therefore The Romans did not remove genitals even slaves. When the empire fell at the hands of the barbarians, Constantinople became the main center of life. This wonderful city mixed European with Asian, here castration was the order of the day.

When the Turks captured the capital of Byzantium in 1453, the Sultan began to receive selected eunuchs straight from Egypt.

Until about the middle of the 15th century, only the testicles of eunuchs were cut off. One day, Sultan Mehmed II noticed that, despite castration, the geldings’ ardor did not diminish and they still climbed onto the mares, so he ordered cut off boys' genitals under the root.

The operation was carried out when the applicant for a place in the harem guard reached 8 years of age. After castration, the children were inserted with bamboo sticks to urinate and buried up to their necks in sand for several days. Not everyone survived, but a better life awaited the strongest.

The first step in a eunuch's career was a guard post. Having proven themselves in the service, they could become servants, then overseers. The most successful of them became great bosses, acquired their own houses and even got married.

However, women who married rich castrati complained that in bed they were worse than animals.

Prophet Muhammad forbade castrating Muslims, referring to the will of Allah. At first, Christians supplied eunuchs to Istanbul. However, the demands of the new sultans grew, the harems expanded, and more security was required. Boys from Africa began to gain popularity.

During the reign of Murad III, they served at the palace only black eunuchs. The most valuable slaves were from Sudan; they asked for the most money. Things got to the point that a black man became the Sultan’s closest advisor, and the whites were gradually forced out of the circle of the ruler of the Ottoman Empire.

The mediator between the Sultan and the harem was Kizlyar Agha. All the most important information about the state of affairs in the empire passed through this person. The people holding this post sold information to European ambassadors and set up ingenious corruption schemes. They also controlled a large part of the property of the ruler of the empire, which brought them huge income.

Built an interesting career guy from Venice, Gazanfer. While still a boy, he was captured by Turkish pirates. Already at a conscious age, he agreed to castration in order to enter service in the palace of the Sultan. Sultan Selim, the father of that same Suleiman the Magnificent, really liked him, who appointed him kapi-agasy - the head of the white eunuchs.

Gradually Gazanfer gained more and more power. It got to the point that the Sultan began to value his opinion more than the advice of the Grand Vizier. However, one’s own skin turned out to be more expensive. When the Janissary uprising occurred, they gave Selim's successor, Murad, an ultimatum: either his life or the life of Gazanfer. The Sultan sacrificed his friend.

Under the influence of the chief eunuch Haji Mustafa, the young Sultan Ahmed I built in Istanbul the famous Blue Mosque on Hippodrome Square. Despite the empty treasury after the war with Austria and the peasant uprising.

In the 17th century, eunuchs became so powerful that they were able to choose who would be placed on the throne of the Ottoman Empire. Kapi-agasy Uzun Suleiman and at all killed the regent Kösem Sultan, to place the insane Suleiman II, who spent 39 years in a cage, on the throne, instead of his brother Mehmed IV.

Such disgrace among the highest ranks of the empire continued until mid-19th century, when the Ottomans became dependent on the Europeans. Reforms began following the model of civilized countries, as a result of which the eunuchs lost power.

In 1830, the empire banned the trade in white slaves. This hit the neuter market hard. In 1871, the sale of blacks was banned. Thus the era of eunuchs ended.

In Eastern monarchies great importance was given to the purity of dynastic blood, which legitimized the monarch's claims to descent from the gods and to supreme power. To exclude even the hypothetical possibility of infidelity, monarchs did not allow mature men into the chambers of their wives and concubines.

The courtly importance of eunuchs could be converted into political authority. Unable to continue the family line and establish their own dynasty, eunuchs were not considered by monarchs as political competitors and served as obedient executors of the royal will, which is why they often enjoyed the trust of the ruler and influence at court.

Eunuchs are characterized by their tall stature and plump physique. The collected statistical data suggest a longer (within the margin of error of 14-17 years) life expectancy of eunuchs compared to men of comparable social status.

In the ancient world

The first information about the presence of eunuchs (partially castrated) comes from Assyria. In the 19th century BC. Assyrian kings began to appoint eunuchs, previously employed exclusively in the palace and in the royal guard, as governors of the conquered lands, for they were not afraid that they would try to organize a separatist rebellion and found their own dynasty. The Assyrian practice of castration of future courtiers was adopted by the Persians and some other peoples of the Middle East. One of the Persian eunuchs, named Bagoi, usurped the reins during the interregnum government. Another Persian eunuch with this name became famous for his love affair with Alexander the Great.

In Rome and Byzantium

In the Eastern Roman Empire, the main purpose of eunuchs remained serving the Byzantine emperor and empress in the chambers of the Grand Palace. Thanks to unhindered access to the emperor, the eunuchs for a long time had influence on government affairs; the Armenian Narses became famous as a commander. It is known about courtier eunuchs in Norman Sicily.

In the Ottoman Empire

If Byzantine eunuchs were often “supplied” to the court by their own parents in the hope that, having become rich, the son would lend a helping hand to distressed relatives, the eunuchs who served the harem of the Ottoman emperor, all in the same Constantinople, were recruited from among captive boys of foreign origin, mostly blacks . White eunuchs were brought from the Balkan Peninsula, black eunuchs from Africa. At the court there were positions of chief white and chief black eunuchs. The latter, called kizlyar-aga in Turkish, led an extensive network of spies and had great weight at court. A similar position existed in the Crimean Khanate.

In imperial China

Completely castrated eunuchs served each and every ruler of the empires and kingdoms of China for more than two thousand years. Many emperors used eunuchs not only to work in their harems, but also to perform various kinds of responsible economic and administrative tasks, as a counterweight to learned mandarin officials. During the minority of the emperors, some eunuchs actually headed the entire vertical of power; naval commander Zheng He became a true national hero. IN XVIII-XIX centuries Eunuchs were allowed to adopt other people's children. The last Chinese eunuch died in December 1996.

There were many eunuchs among the courtiers in other countries of the “Chinese world” - Vietnam, Burma, Siam.

Other castrati

Castration was often used in history not only to obtain future courtiers-eunuchs, but also as a measure of punishment. Self-castration was practiced by some Christian sects to combat “temptations of the flesh” (see eunuchs).

The castrati rebelled,
Entering father's chambers:
“Why aren’t we married?
How are we to blame? etc.

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Notes

Literature

• Usov V.N. Life and deeds of eunuchs. // Asia and Africa today. 1998.No. 9. P.56-60; No. 10. P.54-59
• Usov V.N. Eunuchs in China. M., 2000.
• Usov V. N. Eunuch. // Spiritual culture of China. Encyclopedia in 6 volumes. Institute of Far Eastern Studies RAS. Volume 4. Historical thought, political and legal culture. M., 2009, p. 498-501.
• Voskresensky D. N. Usov V. N. The Book of Palace Intrigues. Eunuchs at the helm of power. M., 2004.
• // Klug J. History of the harem in the cultures of the world. Smolensk, 2004, p. 27-39
• // Maslov A. A. China: bells in the dust. The wanderings of a magician and an intellectual. M., 2003, p. 157-163

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Excerpt characterizing the Eunuch

This person is also needed to justify the last collective action.
The action is completed. The last role has been played. The actor was ordered to undress and wash off the antimony and rouge: he would no longer be needed.
And several years pass in which this man, alone on his island, plays a pathetic comedy in front of himself, petty intrigues and lies, justifying his actions when this justification is no longer needed, and shows the whole world what it was like what people took for strength when an invisible hand guided them.
The manager, having finished the drama and undressed the actor, showed him to us.
- Look what you believed! Here he is! Do you see now that it was not he, but I who moved you?
But, blinded by the power of the movement, people did not understand this for a long time.
The life of Alexander I, the person who stood at the head of the countermovement from east to west, is even more consistent and necessary.
What is needed for that person who, overshadowing others, would stand at the head of this movement from east to west?
What is needed is a sense of justice, participation in European affairs, but distant, not obscured by petty interests; what is needed is a predominance of moral heights over one’s comrades—the sovereigns of that time; a meek and attractive personality is needed; a personal insult against Napoleon is needed. And all this is in Alexander I; all this was prepared by countless so-called accidents of his entire past life: his upbringing, his liberal initiatives, his surrounding advisers, Austerlitz, Tilsit, and Erfurt.
During a people's war, this person is inactive, since he is not needed. But how soon is the need common European war, the face is in this moment appears in its place and, uniting the European peoples, leads them to their goal.
The goal has been achieved. After last war 1815 Alexander is at the pinnacle of possible human power. How does he use it?
Alexander I, the pacifier of Europe, a man who from his youth strove only for the good of his people, the first instigator of liberal innovations in his fatherland, now that he seems to have the greatest power and therefore the opportunity to do the good of his people, while Napoleon exile makes childish and deceitful plans about how he would make humanity happy if he had power, Alexander I, having fulfilled his calling and sensing the hand of God on himself, suddenly recognizes the insignificance of this imaginary power, turns away from it, transfers it into the hands of those despised by him and despised people and says only:
- “Not for us, not for us, but for your name!” I am a human being too, just like you; leave me to live as a human being and think about my soul and God.

Just as the sun and each atom of the ether is a ball, complete in itself and at the same time only an atom of a whole inaccessible to man due to the enormity of the whole, so each personality carries within itself its own goals and, at the same time, carries them in order to serve common goals inaccessible to man. .
A bee sitting on a flower stung a child. And the child is afraid of bees and says that the purpose of a bee is to sting people. The poet admires a bee digging into the calyx of a flower and says that the bee’s goal is to absorb the aroma of flowers. The beekeeper, noticing that the bee collects flower dust and brings it to the hive, says that the bee's goal is to collect honey. Another beekeeper, having studied the life of a swarm more closely, says that the bee collects dust to feed young bees and breed the queen, and that its goal is to procreate. The botanist notices that, by flying with the dust of a dioecious flower onto the pistil, the bee fertilizes it, and the botanist sees the bee’s purpose in this. Another, observing the migration of plants, sees that the bee promotes this migration, and this new observer can say that this is the purpose of the bee. But the final goal of the bee is not exhausted by either one, or the other, or the third goal, which the human mind is able to discover. The higher the human mind rises in the discovery of these goals, the more obvious to it is the inaccessibility of the final goal.
Man can only observe the correspondence between the life of a bee and other phenomena of life. Same with goals. historical figures and peoples.

The wedding of Natasha, who married Bezukhov in 13, was the last joyful event in the old Rostov family. That same year, Count Ilya Andreevich died, and, as always happens, with his death the old family fell apart.
Events last year: the fire of Moscow and the flight from it, the death of Prince Andrei and Natasha’s despair, the death of Petya, the grief of the countess - all this, like blow after blow, fell on the head of the old count. He did not seem to understand and felt unable to understand the meaning of all these events and, morally bending his old head, as if he was expecting and asking for new blows that would finish him off. He seemed either frightened and confused, or unnaturally animated and adventurous.
Natasha's wedding occupied him for a while with its external side. He ordered lunches and dinners and, apparently, wanted to appear cheerful; but his joy was not communicated as before, but, on the contrary, aroused compassion in the people who knew and loved him.
After Pierre and his wife left, he became quiet and began to complain of melancholy. A few days later he fell ill and went to bed. From the first days of his illness, despite the doctors' consolations, he realized that he would not get up. The Countess, without undressing, spent two weeks in a chair at his head. Every time she gave him medicine, he sobbed and silently kissed her hand. On the last day, he sobbed and asked for forgiveness from his wife and in absentia from his son for the ruin of his estate - the main guilt that he felt for himself. Having received communion and special rites, he died quietly, and the next day a crowd of acquaintances who had come to pay their last respects to the deceased filled the Rostovs’ rented apartment. All these acquaintances, who had dined and danced with him so many times, who had laughed at him so many times, now all with the same feeling of inner reproach and tenderness, as if making excuses for someone, said: “Yes, whatever it was, there was a most wonderful Human. You won’t meet such people these days... And who doesn’t have their own weaknesses?..”
It was at a time when the count’s affairs were so confused that it was impossible to imagine how it would all end if it continued for another year, he unexpectedly died.
Nicholas was with the Russian troops in Paris when news of his father's death came to him. He immediately resigned and, without waiting for it, took a vacation and came to Moscow. The state of financial affairs a month after the count's death became completely clear, surprising everyone with the enormity of the amount of various small debts, the existence of which no one suspected. There were twice as many debts as estates.
Relatives and friends advised Nikolai to refuse the inheritance. But Nikolai saw the refusal of the inheritance as an expression of reproach to the sacred memory of his father and therefore did not want to hear about the refusal and accepted the inheritance with the obligation to pay debts.