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home:texts_and_library:dialogues:of-pantomime [2022/01/12 22:30] – [15] frank | home:texts_and_library:dialogues:of-pantomime [2022/01/12 22:38] – [21] frank | ||
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- | Having dealt with India and Ethiopia, let us now consider the neighbouring country of Egypt. If I am not mistaken, the Egyptian Proteus of ancient legend is no other than a dancer, whose mimetic skill enables him to adapt himself to every character: in the activity of his movements, he is liquid as water, rapid as fire; he is the raging lion, the savage panther, the trembling bough; he is what he will. The legend takes these data, and gives them a supernatural turn,— for mimicry substituting metamorphosis. Our modern pantomimes have the same gift, and Proteus himself sometimes appears as the subject of their rapid transformations. | + | Having dealt with India and Ethiopia, let us now consider the neighbouring country of Egypt. If I am not mistaken, the Egyptian Proteus of ancient legend is no other than a dancer, whose mimetic skill enables him to adapt himself to every character: in the activity of his movements, he is liquid as water, rapid as fire; he is the raging lion, the savage panther, the trembling bough; he is what he will. The legend takes these data, and gives them a supernatural turn,— for mimicry substituting metamorphosis. Our modern pantomimes have the same gift, and Proteus[1] himself sometimes appears as the subject of their rapid transformations. |
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+ | >[1] Proteus | Lucian laughs out loud here. Proteus has been turned into a dancing-master shows that Lucian cannot be in earnest.((Select Dialogues: Of Lucian, Translated from the Greek by Thomas Franklin, D.D. The Sungraphein, | ||
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- | Our attention is next claimed by the Roman dance of the Salii, a priesthood drawn from the noblest families; the dance is performed in honour of Mars, the most warlike of the Gods, and is of a particularly solemn and sacred character. According to a Bithynian legend, which agrees well with this Italian institution, | + | Our attention is next claimed by the Roman dance of the Salii[1], a priesthood drawn from the noblest families; the dance is performed in honour of Mars, the most warlike of the Gods, and is of a particularly solemn and sacred character. According to a Bithynian legend, which agrees well with this Italian institution, |
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+ | >[1] Salii | The Salii were Roman priests, and so called from Latin for dance, //salio//. First appointed by Numa, their office was to celebrate the rites of Mars with songs and dances. They were clothed in a short scarlet cassock, having round the a broad belt, clasped with brass buckles, on their heads they wore a sort of copper helmet, short swords by their sides, a javelin in their right hand, and the ancele (target) on the other. They were twelve in number and always chosen from the patrician class.((Select Dialogues: Of Lucian, Translated from the Greek by Thomas Franklin, D.D. The Sungraphein, | ||
+ | >[2] Idaean Dactyls | Priests of Cybele, who was worshipped on Mount Ida, called dactyli, from the word for finger, in allusion to their number. In the beginning there were ten of them.((Select Dialogues: Of Lucian, Translated from the Greek by Thomas Franklin, D.D. The Sungraphein, | ||
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home/texts_and_library/dialogues/of-pantomime.txt · Last modified: 2022/01/12 22:44 by frank