Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>It was a part of this same reasonableness of the Greeks\r\nwhich induced them to bestow upon the actors of these same\r\nplays no inconsiderable civic honours. In the above-mentioned\r\nbook of the <i>De Republica</i>, it is mentioned that Æschines,\r\na very eloquent Athenian, who had been a tragic actor in his\r\nyouth, became a statesman, and that the Athenians again and\r\nagain sent another tragedian, Aristodemus, as their plenipotentiary\r\nto Philip. For they judged it unbecoming to condemn\r\nand treat as infamous persons those who were the chief\r\nactors in the scenic entertainments which they saw to be so\r\npleasing to the gods. No doubt this was immoral of the\r\nGreeks, but there can be as little doubt they acted in conformity\r\nwith the character of their gods; for how could they\r\nhave presumed to protect the conduct of the citizens from\r\nbeing cut to pieces by the tongues of poets and players, who\r\nwere allowed, and even enjoined by the gods, to tear their\r\ndivine reputation to tatters? And how could they hold in\r\ncontempt the men who acted in the theatres those dramas\r\nwhich, as they had ascertained, gave pleasure to the gods\r\nwhom they worshipped? Nay, how could they but grant to\r\nthem the highest civic honours? On what plea could they\r\nhonour the priests who offered for them acceptable sacrifices\r\nto the gods, if they branded with infamy the actors who in\r\nbehalf of the people gave to the gods that pleasure or honour\r\nwhich they demanded, and which, according to the account of\r\nthe priests, they were angry at not receiving? Labeo,<a id=\"FNanchor_97_97\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_97_97\">[97]</a> whose\r\nlearning makes him an authority on such points, is of opinion\r\nthat the distinction between good and evil deities should find\r\nexpression in a difference of worship; that the evil should be\r\npropitiated by bloody sacrifices and doleful rites, but the good\r\nwith a joyful and pleasant observance, as, <i>e.g.</i> (as he says himself),\r\nwith plays, festivals, and banquets.<a id=\"FNanchor_98_98\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_98_98\">[98]</a> All this we shall,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_61\">[Pg 61]</a></span>\r\nwith God's help, hereafter discuss. At present, and speaking\r\nto the subject on hand, whether all kinds of offerings are made\r\nindiscriminately to all the gods, as if all were good (and it is\r\nan unseemly thing to conceive that there are evil gods; but\r\nthese gods of the pagans are all evil, because they are not gods,\r\nbut evil spirits), or whether, as Labeo thinks, a distinction is\r\nmade between the offerings presented to the different gods,\r\nthe Greeks are equally justified in honouring alike the priests\r\nby whom the sacrifices are offered, and the players by whom\r\nthe dramas are acted, that they may not be open to the charge\r\nof doing an injury to all their gods, if the plays are pleasing\r\nto all of them, or (which were still worse) to their good gods,\r\nif the plays are relished only by them.</p>","headings":["THE WORKS OF AURELIUS AUGUSTINE,","BOOK SECOND.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45304-paragraph-138"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"a5704342ffb33bb5575222ce731ce97dc23e2e051cf509f1f1f3e53741a40548","edition_title":"The City of God, Volume I","edition_translators":["Marcus Dods","George Wilson (Book IV)","J. J. Smith (Books V-VIII)"],"edition_year":1871,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg45304-Footnote_98_98","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Provider catalog reports public domain in the USA. Original transcription title leaves state T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1871; printed translator allocation retained. Gutenberg credits Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries without an exact scan identifier. Full provider license preserved with acquired original; republication and per-work metadata remain unreviewed.","source_anchor":"Footnote_98_98","source_ebook":45304,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_98_98\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_98_98\"><span class=\"label\">[98]</span></a> \"Lectisternia,\" feasts in which the images of the gods were laid on pillows\r\nin the streets, and all kinds of food set before them.</p></div>","source_sha256":"d89e9a2b80bb59f394f0fb1bf313b39fab162f06af6642166d62c5912c1195f1","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45304/pg45304-images.html#Footnote_98_98","text_sha256":"08f8727dc7f7a1fe315ff094a6c5e4d77193bcbe380db1ca8e46d47f995e00ca","verified":false,"work_id":null}

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