{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>But if any necessity arises, commanding the presence of married women,\r\nlet them be well clothed—without by raiment, within by modesty. But\r\nas for such as are unmarried, it is the extremest scandal for them to\r\nbe present at a banquet of men, especially men under the influence of\r\nwine. And let the men, fixing their eyes on the couch, and leaning\r\nwithout moving on their elbows, be present with their ears alone; and\r\nif they sit, let them not have their feet crossed, nor place one thigh\r\non another, nor apply the hand to the chin. For it is vulgar not to\r\nbear one’s self without support, and consequently a fault in a young\r\nman. And perpetually moving and changing one’s position is a sign of\r\nfrivolousness. It is the part of a temperate man also, in eating and\r\ndrinking, to take a small portion, and deliberately, not eagerly, both\r\nat the beginning and during the courses, and to leave off betimes,\r\nand so show his indifference. “Eat,” it is said, “like a man what is\r\nset before you. Be the first to stop for the sake of regimen; and, if\r\nseated in the midst of several people, do not stretch out your hand\r\nbefore them.”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_531\" id=\"FNanchor_531\">[531]</a> You must never rush forward under the influence of\r\ngluttony; nor must you, though desirous, reach out your hand till some\r\ntime, inasmuch as by greed one shows an uncontrolled appetite. Nor are\r\nyou, in the midst of the repast, to exhibit yourselves hugging your\r\nfood like wild beasts; nor helping yourselves<span class=\"pagenum\" id=\"Page_227\">[227]</span> to too much sauce, for\r\nman is not by nature a sauce-consumer, but a bread-eater. A temperate\r\nman, too, must rise before the general company, and retire quietly\r\nfrom the banquet. “For at the time for rising,” it is said, “be not\r\nthe last; haste home.”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_532\" id=\"FNanchor_532\">[532]</a> The twelve, having called together the\r\nmultitude of the disciples, said, “It is not meet for us to leave the\r\nword of God and serve tables.”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_533\" id=\"FNanchor_533\">[533]</a> If they avoided this, much more\r\ndid they shun gluttony. And the apostles themselves, writing to the\r\nbrethren at Antioch, and in Syria and Cilicia, said: “It seemed good to\r\nthe Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no other burden than these\r\nnecessary things, to abstain from things offered to idols, and from\r\nblood, and from things strangled, and from fornication, from which,\r\nif you keep yourselves, ye shall do well.”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_534\" id=\"FNanchor_534\">[534]</a> But we must guard\r\nagainst drunkenness as against hemlock; for both drag down to death.\r\nWe must also check excessive laughter and immoderate tears. For often\r\npeople under the influence of wine, after laughing immoderately, then\r\nare, I know not how, by some impulse of intoxication moved to tears;\r\nfor both effeminacy and violence are discordant with the word. And\r\nelderly people, looking on the young as children, may, though but very\r\nrarely, be playful with them, joking with them to train them in good\r\nbehaviour. For example, before a bashful and silent youth, one might\r\nby way of pleasantry speak thus: “This son of mine (I mean one who\r\nis silent) is perpetually talking.” For a joke such as this enhances\r\nthe youth’s modesty, by showing the good qualities that belong to him\r\nplayfully, by censure of the bad qualities, which do not. For this\r\ndevice is instructive, confirming as it does what is present by what\r\nis not present. Such, certainly, is the intention of him who says\r\nthat a water-drinker and a sober man gets intoxicated and drunk. But\r\nif there are those who like to jest at people, we must be silent, and\r\ndispense with superfluous words like full cups. For such sport is\r\ndangerous. “The mouth of the impetuous approaches to contrition.”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_535\" id=\"FNanchor_535\">[535]</a>\r\n“Thou shalt not receive a foolish report, nor shalt thou agree with an<span class=\"pagenum\" id=\"Page_228\">[228]</span>\r\nunjust person to be an unjust witness,”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_536\" id=\"FNanchor_536\">[536]</a> neither in calumnies nor\r\nin injurious speeches, much less evil practices. I also should think\r\nit right to impose a limit on the speech of rightly regulated persons,\r\nwho are impelled to speak to one who maintains a conversation with\r\nthem. “For silence is the excellence of women, and the safe prize of\r\nthe young; but good speech is characteristic of experienced, mature\r\nage. Speak, old man, at a banquet, for it is becoming to you. But speak\r\nwithout embarrassment, and with accuracy of knowledge. Youth, Wisdom\r\nalso commands thee. Speak, if you must, with hesitation, on being\r\ntwice asked; sum up your discourse in a few words.”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_537\" id=\"FNanchor_537\">[537]</a> But let both\r\nspeakers regulate their discourse according to just proportion. For\r\nloudness of utterance is most insane; while an inaudible utterance is\r\ncharacteristic of a senseless man, for people will not hear: the one is\r\nthe mark of pusillanimity, the other of arrogance. Let contentiousness\r\nin words, for the sake of a useless triumph, be banished; for our aim\r\nis to be free from perturbation. Such is the meaning of the phrase,\r\n“Peace to thee.” Answer not a word before you hear. An enervated\r\nvoice is the sign of effeminacy. But modulation in the voice is\r\ncharacteristic of a wise man, who keeps his utterance from loudness,\r\nfrom drawling, from rapidity, from prolixity. For we ought not to speak\r\nlong or much, nor ought we to speak frivolously. Nor must we converse\r\nrapidly and rashly. For the voice itself, so to speak, ought to receive\r\nits just dues; and those who are vociferous and clamorous ought to be\r\nsilenced. For this reason, the wise Ulysses chastised Thersites with\r\nstripes:</p>","headings":["THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.","THE INSTRUCTOR.","BOOK II.","CHAPTER VII. DIRECTIONS FOR THOSE WHO LIVE TOGETHER."],"marker_anchor":"FNanchor_533","paragraph_id":"pg71937-paragraph-401"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"f0983dedba8df95a9a05b10c53d81a9ab4c3f9a4b18cd839c55fee5318976781","edition_title":"The writings of Clement of Alexandria, Vol. 1 (of 2)","edition_translators":["William Wilson"],"edition_year":1867,"explicit_reference_candidates":[{"book":"ACT","chapter":6,"kind":"unreviewed","source_notation":"Acts vi. 2","verse":2,"verse_end":2}],"headings":[],"id":"pg71937-Footnote_533","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":"Project Gutenberg metadata: Public domain in the USA. Existing 1867 English translation; translator died 1875. Electronic transcription subject to Project Gutenberg reuse terms.","source_anchor":"Footnote_533","source_ebook":71937,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a class=\"label pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_533\" id=\"Footnote_533\">[533]</a> Acts vi. 2.</p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"8e5c5bc39922dbad2626ac7651c2eb2e3d94cdcbd721f781e9792143ebb1cd03","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/71937/pg71937-images.html#Footnote_533","text_sha256":"9ce42e8011926cd6e9bcdc1d8215a61a56eb6d2ba57bfb0d28ca91b7d5e39a61","verified":false,"work_id":null}