Texte grec :
| [7,72] Πρὶν ἄρξασθαι τῶν ἀγώνων, πομπὴν ἔστελλον
τοῖς θεοῖς οἱ τὴν μεγίστην ἔχοντες ἐξουσίαν, ἀπὸ
τοῦ Καπιτωλίου τε καὶ δι´ ἀγορᾶς ἄγοντες ἐπὶ τὸν
μέγαν ἱππόδρομον. ἡγοῦντο δὲ τῆς πομπῆς πρῶτον
μὲν οἱ παῖδες αὐτῶν οἱ πρόσηβοί τε καὶ τοῦ πομπεύειν
ἔχοντες ἡλικίαν, ἱππεῖς μέν, ὧν οἱ πατέρες τιμήματα
ἱππέων εἶχον, πεζοὶ δ´ οἱ μέλλοντες ἐν τοῖς πεζοῖς
στρατεύεσθαι· οἱ μὲν κατ´ ἴλας τε καὶ κατὰ λόχους,
οἱ δὲ κατὰ συμμορίας τε καὶ τάξεις ὡς εἰς διδασκαλεῖον
πορευόμενοι· ἵνα φανερὰ γίνοιτο τοῖς ξένοις ἡ
μέλλουσα ἀνδροῦσθαι τῆς πόλεως ἀκμὴ πλῆθός τε καὶ
κάλλος οἵα τις ἦν. τούτοις ἠκολούθουν ἡνίοχοι τὰ
τέθριππά τε καὶ τὰς συνωρίδας καὶ τοὺς ἀζεύκτους ἵππους
ἐλαύνοντες· μεθ´ οὓς οἱ τῶν ἀθλημάτων ἀγωνισταὶ
τῶν τε κούφων καὶ τῶν βαρέων τὸ μὲν ἄλλο σῶμα
γυμνοί, τὸ δὲ περὶ τὴν αἰδῶ καλυπτόμενοι. τοῦτο
καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ τὸ ἔθος ἐν Ῥώμῃ διέμενεν, ὡς ἐξ ἀρχῆς
ἐγίνετο παρ´ Ἕλλησιν· ἐν Ῥώμῃ διέμενεν, ὡς ἐξ ἀρχῆς
Λακεδαιμονίων αὐτὸ καταλυσάντων. ὁ δὲ πρῶτος ἐπιχειρήσας
ἀποδυθῆναι τὸ σῶμα καὶ γυμνὸς Ὀλυμπίασι
δραμὼν ἐπὶ τῆς πεντεκαιδεκάτης ὀλυμπιάδος Ἄκανθος
ὁ Λακεδαιμόνιος ἦν. τὰ δὲ πρὸ τούτων δι´ αἰσχύνης
εἶχον ἅπαντες Ἕλληνες ὅλα γυμνὰ φαίνειν ἐν ταῖς
ἀγωνίαις τὰ σώματα, ὡς Ὅμηρος τεκμηριοῖ, μαρτύρων
ἀξιοπιστότατός τε καὶ ἀρχαιότατος ὢν ζωννυμένους τοὺς
ἥρωας ποιῶν. τὴν γοῦν Αἴαντος καὶ Ὀδυσσέως πάλην
ἐπὶ τῇ Πατρόκλου ταφῇ γενομένην ἀφηγούμενός φησι·
Τὼ δὲ ζωσαμένω βήτην ἐς μέσσον ἀγῶνα·
καὶ ἔτι σαφέστερον ἐν Ὀδυσσείᾳ τοῦτο ποιεῖ φανερὸν
ἐπὶ τῆς Ἴρου καὶ Ὀδυσσέως πυγμῆς ἐν τοῖσδε τοῖς ἔπεσιν·
Ὣς ἔφαθ´· οἱ δ´ ἄρα πάντες ἐπῄνεον· αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς
Ζώσατο μὲν ῥάκεσιν περὶ μήδεα, φαῖνε δὲ μηροὺς
Καλούς τε μεγάλους τε. φάνεν δέ οἱ εὐρέες ὦμοι
Στήθεά τε στιβαροί τε βραχίονες.
τὸν δὲ πτωχὸν οὐκέτι βουλόμενον μάχεσθαι, ἀλλ´ ἀποδειλιῶντα
εἰσάγων τάδε εἴρηκεν·
Ὡς ἂρ ἔφαν· Ἴρῳ δὲ κακῶς ὠρίνετο θυμός·
Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὣς μνηστῆρες ἄγον ζώσαντες ἀνάγκῃ.
τοῦτο δὴ τὸ ἔθος ἀρχαῖον ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ὂν οἱ φυλάττοντες
μέχρι τοῦδε Ῥωμαῖοι δῆλοί εἰσιν οὐ προσμαθόντες
παρ´ ἡμῶν ὕστερον, ἀλλ´ οὐδὲ μεταθέμενοι σὺν
χρόνῳ καθάπερ ἡμεῖς. ἠκολούθουν δὲ τοῖς ἀγωνισταῖς
ὀρχηστῶν χοροὶ πολλοὶ τριχῇ νενεμημένοι, πρῶτοι μὲν
ἀνδρῶν, δεύτεροι δ´ ἀγενείων, τελευταῖοι δὲ παίδων,
οἷς παρηκολούθουν αὐληταί τ´ ἀρχαϊκοῖς ἐμφυσῶντες
αὐλίσκοις βραχέσιν, ὡς καὶ εἰς τόδε χρόνου γίνεται,
καὶ κιθαρισταὶ λύρας ἑπταχόρδους ἐλεφαντίνας καὶ τὰ
καλούμενα βάρβιτα κρέκοντες. ὧν παρὰ μὲν Ἕλλησιν
ἐκλέλοιπεν ἡ χρῆσις ἐπ´ ἐμοῦ πάτριος οὖσα· παρὰ δὲ
Ῥωμαίοις ἐν ἁπάσαις φυλάττεται ταῖς ἀρχαίαις θυηπολίαις.
σκευαὶ δὲ τῶν ὀρχηστῶν ἦσαν χιτῶνες φοινίκεοι
ζωστῆρσι χαλκέοις ἐσφιγμένοι, καὶ ξίφη παρηρτημένα,
καὶ λόγχαι βραχύτεραι τῶν μετρίων· τοῖς δ´ ἀνδράσι
καὶ κράνη χάλκεα λόγοις ἐπισήμοις κεκοσμημένα καὶ
πτεροῖς. ἡγεῖτο δὲ καθ´ ἕκαστον χορὸν εἷς ἀνήρ, ὃς
ἐνεδίδου τοῖς ἄλλοις τὰ τῆς ὀρχήσεως σχήματα, πρῶτος
εἰδοφορῶν τὰς πολεμικὰς καὶ συντόνους κινήσεις ἐν
τοῖς προκελευσματικοῖς ὡς τὰ πολλὰ ῥυθμοῖς. Ἑλληνικὸν δ´ ἄρα
καὶ τοῦτ´ ἦν ἐν τοῖς πάνυ παλαιὸν ἐπιτήδευμα, ἐνόπλιος ὄρχησις
ἡ καλουμένη πυρρίχη, εἴτ´
Ἀθηνᾶς πρώτης ἐπὶ Τιτάνων ἀφανισμῷ χορεύειν καὶ
ὀρχεῖσθαι σὺν τοῖς ὅπλοις τἀπινίκια ὑπὸ χαρᾶς ἀρξαμένης, εἴτε
παλαίτερον ἔτι Κουρήτων αὐτὴν καταστησαμένων, ὅτε τὸν Δία
τιθηνούμενοι θέλγειν ἐβούλοντο
κτύπῳ τε ὅπλων καὶ κινήσει μελῶν ἐνρύθμῳ καθάπερ
ὁ μῦθος ἔχει. δηλοῖ δὲ καὶ τούτου τὴν ἀρχαιότητα
ὡς ἐπιχωρίου τοῖς Ἕλλησιν Ὅμηρος πολλαχῇ μὲν καὶ
ἄλλῃ, μάλιστα δ´ ἐν ἀσπίδος κατασκευῇ, ἣν Ἀχιλλεῖ
δωρήσασθαί φησιν Ἥφαιστον. ὑποθέμενος γὰρ ἐν
αὐτῇ δύο πόλεις τὴν μὲν εἰρήνῃ κοσμουμένην, τὴν δὲ
πολέμῳ κακοπαθοῦσαν, ἐν ᾗ τὴν ἀμείνω καθίστησι
τύχην ἑορτὰς ποιῶν καὶ γάμους καὶ θαλίας ὥσπερ εἰκὸς
καὶ ταῦτα λέγει·
Κοῦροι δ´ ὀρχηστῆρες ἐδίνεον· ἐν δ´ ἄρα τοῖσιν
Αὐλοὶ φόρμιγγές τε βοὴν ἔχον· αἱ δὲ γυναῖκες
Ἱστάμεναι θαύμαζον ἐπὶ προθύροισιν ἑκάστη.
καὶ αὖθις ἕτερον ἐν αὐτῇ λέγων διακεκοσμῆσθαι
Κρητικὸν ἠιθέων τε καὶ παρθένων χορὸν ὧδε εἴρηκεν·
Ἐν δὲ χορὸν ποίκιλλε περικλυτὸς ἀμφιγυήεις,
Τῷ ἴκελον οἷόν ποτ´ ἐνὶ Κνωσσῷ εὐρείῃ
Δαίδαλος ἤσκησεν καλλιπλοκάμῳ Ἀριάδνῃ.
Ἔνθα μὲν ἠίθεοι καὶ παρθένοι ἀλφεσίβοιαι
Ὠρχεῦντ´ ἀλλήλων ἐπὶ καρπῷ χεῖρας ἔχουσαι.
κόσμον τ´ αὐτοῦ ἀφηγούμενος, ἵνα δῆλον ἡμῖν ποιήσειεν,
ὅτι ἡ τῶν ἀρρένων κίνησις ἐνόπλιος ἦν, τάδε λέγει·
Καί ῥ´ αἱ μὲν καλὰς στεφάνας ἔχον, οἱ δὲ μαχαίρας
Εἶχον χρυσείας ἐξ ἀργυρέων τελαμώνων.
ἡγεμόνας τε τῆς ὀρχήσεως αὐτῶν τοὺς ἐνδιδόντας τοῖς
ἄλλοις καὶ προκαταρχομένους εἰσάγων τοιάδε γράφει·
Πολλὸς δ´ ἱμερόεντα χορὸν περιΐσταθ´ ὅμιλος
Τερπόμενοι· δοιὼ δὲ κυβιστητῆρε κατ´ αὐτοὺς
Μολπῆς ἐξάρχοντες ἐδίνευον κατὰ μέσσους.
οὐ μόνον δ´ ἐκ τῆς ἐναγωνίου τε καὶ κατεσπουδασμένης
ὀρχήσεως τῶν χορῶν, ᾗ παρὰ τὰς θυηπολίας
τε καὶ πομπὰς ἐχρῶντο Ῥωμαῖοι, τὸ συγγενὲς ἄν τις
αὐτῶν τὸ πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἴδοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῆς
κερτόμου καὶ τωθαστικῆς. μετὰ γὰρ τοὺς ἐνοπλίους
χοροὺς οἱ τῶν σατυριστῶν ἐπόμπευον χοροὶ τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν
εἰδοφοροῦντες σίκιννιν. σκευαὶ δ´ αὐτοῖς ἦσαν
τοῖς μὲν εἰς Σιληνοὺς εἰκασθεῖσι μαλλωτοὶ χιτῶνες,
οὓς ἔνιοι χορταίους καλοῦσι, καὶ περιβόλαια ἐκ παντὸς
ἄνθους· τοῖς δ´ εἰς Σατύρους περιζώματα καὶ δοραὶ
τράγων καὶ ὀρθότριχες ἐπὶ ταῖς κεφαλαῖς φόβαι καὶ
ὅσα τούτοις ὅμοια. οὗτοι κατέσκωπτόν τε καὶ κατεμιμοῦντο τὰς
σπουδαίας κινήσεις ἐπὶ τὰ γελοιότερα
μεταφέροντες. δηλοῦσι δὲ καὶ αἱ τῶν θριάμβων εἴσοδοι
παλαιὰν καὶ ἐπιχώριον οὖσαν Ῥωμαίοις τὴν κέρτομον
καὶ σατυρικὴν παιδιάν. ἐφεῖται γὰρ τοῖς κατάγουσι
τὰς νίκας ἰαμβίζειν τε καὶ κατασκώπτειν τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους
ἄνδρας αὐτοῖς στρατηλάταις, ὡς Ἀθήνησι τοῖς
πομπευταῖς τοῖς ἐπὶ τῶν ἁμαξῶν πρότερον ἅμα {τοῖς}
σκώμμασι παροχουμένοις, νῦν δὲ ποιήματ´ ᾄδουσιν
αὐτοσχέδια. εἶδον δὲ καὶ ἐν ἀνδρῶν ἐπισήμων ταφαῖς
ἅμα ταῖς ἄλλαις πομπαῖς προηγουμένους τῆς κλίνης
τοὺς σατυριστῶν χοροὺς κινουμένους τὴν σίκιννιν ὄρχησιν,
μάλιστα δ´ ἐν τοῖς τῶν εὐδαιμόνων κήδεσιν.
ὅτι δ´ οὔτε Λιγύων οὔτ´ Ὀμβρικῶν οὔτ´ ἄλλων τινῶν
βαρβάρων τῶν ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ κατοικούντων εὕρημα ἡ σατυρικὴ
παιδιὰ καὶ ὄρχησις ἦν, ἀλλ´ Ἑλλήνων, δέδοικα,
μὴ καὶ ὀχληρὸς εἶναί τισι δόξω, λόγοις πλείοσι πιστοῦσθαι
ὁμολογούμενον πρᾶγμα βουλόμενος.
Μετὰ δὲ τοὺς χοροὺς τούτους κιθαρισταί τ´ ἀθρόοι
καὶ αὐληταὶ πολλοὶ παρεξῄεσαν· καὶ μετ´ αὐτοὺς οἵ τε
τὰ θυμιατήρια κομίζοντες, ἐφ´ ὧν ἀρώματα καὶ λιβανωτὸς παρ´
ὅλην ὁδὸν ἐθυμιᾶτο, καὶ οἱ τὰ πομπεῖα
παραφέροντες ἀργυρίου καὶ χρυσίου πεποιημένα τά τε
ἱερὰ καὶ τὰ δημόσια. τελευταῖα δὲ πάντων αἱ τῶν
θεῶν εἰκόνες ἐπόμπευον ὤμοις ὑπ´ ἀνδρῶν φερόμεναι,
μορφάς θ´ ὁμοίας παρέχουσαι ταῖς παρ´ Ἕλλησι πλαττομέναις
καὶ σκευὰς καὶ σύμβολα καὶ δωρεάς, ὧν εὑρεταὶ καὶ
δοτῆρες ἀνθρώποις ἕκαστοι παραδίδονται, οὐ
μόνον Διὸς καὶ Ἥρας καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς καὶ Ποσειδῶνος καὶ
τῶν ἄλλων, οὓς Ἕλληνες ἐν τοῖς δώδεκα θεοῖς καταριθμοῦσιν,
ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν προγενεστέρων, ἐξ ὧν οἱ
δώδεκα θεοὶ μυθολογοῦνται γενέσθαι, Κρόνου καὶ
Ῥέας καὶ Θέμιδος καὶ Λητοῦς καὶ Μοιρῶν καὶ Μνημοσύνης καὶ
τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων, ὅσων ἐστὶν ἱερὰ καὶ
τεμένη παρ´ Ἕλλησι· καὶ τῶν ὕστερον, ἀφ´ οὗ τὴν
ἀρχὴν Ζεὺς παρέλαβε, μυθολογουμένων γενέσθαι, Περσεφόνης
Εἰλειθυίας Νυμφῶν Μουσῶν Ὡρῶν Χαρίτων
Διονύσου, καὶ ὅσων ἡμιθέων γενομένων αἱ ψυχαὶ τὰ
θνητὰ ἀπολιποῦσαι σώματα εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀνελθεῖν λέγονται, καὶ
τιμὰς λαχεῖν ὁμοίας θεοῖς, Ἡρακλέους
Ἀσκληπιοῦ Διοσκούρων Σελήνης Πανὸς ἄλλων μυρίων.
καίτοι εἰ βάρβαροι ἦσαν οἱ τὴν Ῥώμην οἰκίσαντες καὶ
τὴν ἑορτὴν ταύτην καταστησάμενοι, τί προσῆκεν αὐτοῖς τοὺς μὲν
Ἑλληνικοὺς ἅπαντας σέβειν θεούς τε
καὶ δαίμονας, τῶν δὲ πατρίων ὑπερορᾶν; ἢ δειξάτω
τις ἡμῖν ἔξω τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ φῦλον ἕτερον, ᾧ πάτριά
ἐστι ταῦτα τὰ ἱερά, καὶ τότε διαβαλλέτω ταύτην τὴν
ἀπόδειξιν ὡς οὐχ ὑγιῆ. συντελεσθείσης δὲ τῆς πομπῆς
ἐβουθύτουν εὐθὺς οἵ θ´ ὕπατοι καὶ τῶν ἱερέων οἷς
ὅσιον, καὶ ὁ τῶν θυηπολιῶν τρόπος ὁ αὐτὸς ἦν τῷ
παρ´ ἡμῖν. χερνιψάμενοί τε γὰρ αὐτοὶ καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ
καθαρῷ περιαγνίσαντες ὕδατι καὶ Δημητρίους καρποὺς
ἐπιρράναντες αὐτῶν ταῖς κεφαλαῖς, ἔπειτα κατευξάμενοι, θύειν
τότε τοῖς ὑπηρέταις αὐτὰ ἐκέλευον. τῶν
δ´ οἱ μὲν ἑστῶτος ἔτι τοῦ θύματος σκυτάλῃ τοὺς κροτάφους
ἔπαιον, οἱ δὲ πίπτοντος ὑπετίθεσαν τὰς σφαγίδας,
καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο δείραντές τε καὶ μελίσαντες
ἀπαρχὰς ἐλάμβανον ἐξ ἑκάστου σπλάγχνου καὶ παντὸς
ἄλλου μέλους, ἃς ἀλφίτοις ζέας ἀναδεύσαντες προσέφερον
τοῖς θύουσιν ἐπὶ κανῶν· οἱ δ´ ἐπὶ τοὺς βωμοὺς
ἐπιθέντες ὑφῆπτον καὶ προσέσπενδον οἶνον κατὰ
τῶν ἁγνιζομένων. ἕκαστον δ´ ὅτι κατὰ νόμους ἐγίνετο
τοὺς ἀμφὶ θυσίαν ὑφ´ Ἑλλήνων κατασταθέντας, ἐκ τῆς
Ὁμήρου ποιήσεως γνῶναι ῥᾴδιον. καὶ γὰρ χερνιπτομένους
εἰσάγει τοὺς ἥρωας καὶ οὐλαῖς χρωμένους ἐν οἷς φησι·
Χερνίψαντο δ´ ἔπειτα καὶ οὐλοχύτας ἀνέλοντο.
τριχοτομοῦντάς τ´ ἀπὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς τὰς τρίχας καὶ
τιθέντας ἐπὶ τὸ πῦρ ὧδε γράφων·
Ἀλλ´ ὅ γ´ ἀπαρχόμενος κεφαλῆς τρίχας ἐν πυρὶ βάλλε.
σκυτάλαις τε παίοντας τὰ μέτωπα τῶν ἱερείων καὶ τὰ
πεσόντα θύοντας, ὡς ἐπὶ τῆς Εὐμαίου ποιεῖ θυσίας·
Κόψε δ´ ἀπαρχόμενος σχίζῃ δρυός, ἣν λίπε κείων.
Τὸν δ´ ἔλιπε ψυχή· τοὶ δ´ ἔσφαξάν τε καὶ εὗσαν.
ἀπαρχάς τ´ ἀπὸ τῶν σπλάγχνων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων
λαμβάνοντας μελῶν, καὶ ταύτας ἀλφίτοις δεύοντας καὶ
καθαγίζοντας ἐπὶ τῶν βωμῶν, ὡς ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ποιεῖ θυσίας·
ὁ δ´ ὠμοθετεῖτο συβώτης,
Πάντοθεν ἀρχόμενος μελέων ἐς πίονα δημόν·
Καὶ τὰ μὲν πυρὶ βάλλε παλύνας ἀλφίτου ἀκτῇ.
Ταῦτα δὲ Ῥωμαίους ἔτι καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ πράττοντας
ἐπὶ ταῖς θυσίαις ἰδὼν ἐπίσταμαι· καὶ μιᾷ πίστει τῇδε
ἀρκούμενος οὐ βαρβάρους ἐπείσθην εἶναι τοὺς οἰκιστὰς
τῆς Ῥώμης, ἀλλ´ ἐκ πολλῶν τόπων συνεληλυθότας
Ἕλληνας. ὀλίγα μὲν γὰρ ἐπιτηδεύματα περὶ θυσίας
τε καὶ ἑορτὰς ὁμοίως Ἕλλησι καὶ βαρβάρους τινὰς ἐπιτελεῖν
ἐνδέχεται, πάντα δὲ ταὐτὰ πράττειν ἀπίθανον.
|
|
Traduction française :
| [7,72] Before beginning the games the principal magistrates conducted a procession in
honour of the gods from the Capitol through the Forum to the Circus Maximus. Those
who led the procession were, first, the Romans' sons who were nearing manhood and
were of an age to bear a part in this ceremony, who rode on horseback if their fathers
were entitled (p363) by their fortunes to be knights, while the others, who were destined
to serve in the infantry, went on foot, the former in squadrons and troops, and the
latter in divisions and companies, as if they were going to school; this was done in
order that strangers might see the number and beauty of the youths of the
commonwealth who were approaching manhood. These were followed by
charioteers, some of whom drove four horses abreast, some two, and others rode
unyoked horses. After them came the contestants in both the light and the heavy
games, their whole bodies naked except their loins. This custom continued even to
my time at Rome, as it was originally practised by the Greeks; but it is now abolished
in Greece, the Lacedaemonians having put an end to it. The first man who
undertook to strip and ran naked at Olympia, at the fifteenth Olympiad, was
Acanthus the Lacedaemonian. Before that time, it seems, all the Greeks had been
ashamed to appear entirely naked in the games, as Homer, the most credible and the
most ancient of all witnesses, shows when he represents the heroes as girding up
their loins. At any rate, when he is describing the wrestling-match of Aias and
Odysseus41 at the funeral of Patroclus, he says:
And then the twain with loins well girt stepped forth Into the lists.
(p365) And he makes this still plainer in the Odyssey upon the occasion of the boxing-
match between Irus and Odysseus, in these verses:
He spake, and all approved; Odysseus then
His rags girt round his loins, and showed his thighs
So fair and stout; broad shoulders too and chest
And brawny arms there stood revealed.
And when he introduces the beggar as no longer willing to engage but declining the
combat through fear, he says:
They spake, and Irus' heart was sorely stirred;
Yet even so the suitors girt his loins
By force and led him forward.
Thus it is plain that the Romans, who preserve this ancient Greek custom to this day,
did not learn it from us afterwards nor even change it in the course of time, as we
have done.
The contestants were followed by numerous bands of dancers arranged in three
divisions, the first consisting of men, the second of youths, and the third of boys.
These were accompanied by flute-players, who used ancient flutes that were small
and short, as is done even to this day, and by lyre-players, who plucked ivory lyres of
seven strings and the instruments called "barbita". The use of these has ceased in my
time among the Greeks, though traditional with them, but is preserved by the
Romans in all their ancient sacrificial ceremonies. (p367) The dancers were dressed in
scarlet tunics girded with bronze cinctures, wore swords suspended at their sides, and
carried spears of shorter than average length; the men also had bronze helmets
adorned with conspicuous crests and plumes. Each group was led by one man who
gave the figures of the dance to the rest, taking the lead in representing their warlike
and rapid movements, usually in the proceleusmatic rhythms. This also was in fact
a very ancient Greek institution I mean the armed dance called the Pyrrhic
whether it was Athena who first began to lead bands of dancers and to dance in arms
over the destruction of the Titans in order to celebrate the victory by this
manifestation of her joy, or whether it was the Curetes who introduced it still earlier
when, acting as nurses to Zeus, they strove to amuse him by the clashing of arms and
the rhythmic movements of their limbs, as the legend has it. 8 The antiquity of this
dance also, as one native to the Greeks, is made clear by Homer, not only in many
other places, but particularly in describing the fashioning of the shield which he says
Hephaestus presented to Achilles. For, having represented on it two cities, one
blessed with peace, the other suffering from war, in the one on which he bestows the
happier fate, describing festivals, marriages, and merriment, as one would naturally
expect, he says among other things:
Youths whirled around in joyous dance, with sound
Of flute and harp; and, standing at their doors,
Admiring women on the pageant gazed.
(p369) And again, in describing another Cretan band of dancers, classing of youths
and maidens, with which the shield was adorned, he speaks in this manner:
And on it, too, the famous craftsman wrought,
With cunning workmanship, a dancing-floor,
Like that which Daedalus in Cnossus wide
For fair-haired Ariadnê shaped. And there
Bright youths and many-suitored maidens danced
While laying each on other's wrists their hands.
And in describing the dress of these dancers, in order to show us that the males
danced in arms, he says:
The maidens garlands wore, the striplings swords
Of gold, which proudly hung from silver belts.
And when he introduces the leaders of the dance who gave the rhythm to the rest and
began it, he writes:
And great the throng which stood about the dance,
Enjoying it; and tumblers twain did whirl
Amid the throng as prelude to the song.
But it is not alone from the warlike and serious dance of these bands which the
Romans employed in their sacrificial ceremonies and processions that one may
observe their kinship to the Greeks, but also from that which is of a mocking and
ribald nature. For after the armed dancers others marched in procession
impersonating satyrs and portraying the (p371) Greek dance called sicinnis. Those who
represented Sileni were dressed in shaggy tunics, called by some chortaioi, and in
mantles of flowers of every sort; and those who represented satyrs wore girdles and
goatskins, and on their heads manes that stood upright, with other things of like
nature. These mocked and mimicked the serious movements of the others, turning
them into laughter-provoking performances. The triumphal entrances also show
that raillery and fun-making in the manner of satyrs were an ancient practice native
to the Romans; for the soldiers who take part in the triumphs are allowed to satirise
and ridicule the most distinguished men, including even the generals, in the same
manner as those who ride in procession in carts at Athens; the soldiers once jested in
prose as they clowned, but now they sing improvised verses. And even at the
funerals of illustrious persons I have seen, along with the other participants, bands of
dancers impersonating satyrs who preceded the bier and imitated in their motions
the dance called sicinnis, and particularly at the funerals of the rich. This jesting and
dancing in the manner of satyrs, then, was not the invention either of the Ligurians,
of the Umbrians, or of any other barbarians who dwelt in Italy, but of the Greeks; but
I fear I should prove tiresome to some of my readers if I endeavoured to confirm by
more arguments a thing that is generally conceded.
(p373) After these bands of dancers came a throng of lyre-players and many flute-players,
and after them the persons who carried the censers in which perfumes and
frankincense were burned along the whole route of the procession, also the men who
bore the show-vessels made of silver and gold, both those that were sacred owing to
the gods and those that belonged to the state. Last of all in the procession came the
images of the gods, borne on men's shoulders, showing the same likenesses as those
made by the Greeks and having the same dress, the same symbols, and the same gifts
which tradition says each of them invented and bestowed on mankind. These were
the images not only of Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, Neptune, and of the rest whom the
Greeks reckon among the twelve gods, but also of the son of still more ancient from
whom legend says the twelve were sprung, namely, Saturn, Ops, Themis, Latona, the
Parcae, Mnemosynê, and all the rest to whom temples and holy places are dedicated
among the Greeks; and also of those whom legend represents as living later, after
Jupiter took over the sovereignty, such as Proserpina, Lucina, the Nymphs, the
Muses, the Seasons, the Graces, Liber, and the demigods whose souls after they had
left their mortal bodies are said to have ascended to Heaven and to have obtained the
same honours as the gods, such as Hercules, Aesculapius, Castor and Pollux, Helen,54
Pan, and countless others. Yet if those who founded Rome and instituted this
festival were barbarians, (p375) how could they properly worship all the gods and other
divinities of the Greeks and scorn their own ancestral gods? Or let someone show us
any other people besides the Greeks among whom these rites are traditional, and
then let him censure this demonstration as unsound.
After the procession was ended the consuls and the priests whose function it was
presently sacrificed oxen; and the manner of performing the sacrifices was the same
as with us. For after washing their hands they purified the victims with clear water
and sprinkled corn on their heads, after which they prayed and then gave orders to
their assistants to sacrifice them. Some of these assistants, while the victim was still
standing, struck it on the temple with a club, and others received it upon the
sacrificial knives as it fell. After this they flayed it and cut it up, taking off a piece from
each of the inwards and also from every limb as a first-offering, which they sprinkled
with grits of spelt and carried in baskets to the officiating priests. These placed them
on the altars, and making a fire under them, poured wine over them while they were
burning. It is easy to see from Homer's poems that every one of these ceremonies
was performed according to the customs established by the Greeks with reference to
sacrifices. For he introduces the heroes washing their hands and using barley grits,
where he said:
Then washed their hands and took up barley-grains.
(p377) And also cutting off the hair from the head of the victim and placing it on the fire,
writing thus:
And he, the rite beginning, cast some hairs,
Plucked from the victim's head, upon the fire.
He also represents them as striking the foreheads of the victims with clubs and
stabbing them when they had fallen, as at the sacrifice of Eumaeus:
Beginning then the rite, with limb of oak
One he had left when cleaving wood he smote
The boar, which straightway yielded up his life;
And next his throat they cut and singed his hide.
And also at taking the first offerings from the inwards and from the limbs as well
and sprinkling them with barley-meal and burning them upon the altars, as at that
same sacrifice:
Then made the swineherd slices of raw meat,
Beginning with a cut from every limb,
And wrapping them in rich fat, cast them all
Upon the fire, first sprinkling barley-meal.
These rites I am acquainted with from having seen the Romans perform them at
their sacrifices even in my time; and contented with this single proof, I have become
convinced that the founders of Rome were not barbarians, but Greeks who had come
together out of many places. It is possible, indeed, that some barbarians also may
observe a few customs relating to sacrifices and festivals in the same manner as the
Greeks, but that they should do everything in the same way is hard to believe.
|
|
