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Church Fathers. On and laughter. TERTULIAN. (2nd -3rd CE). Tertullian. Life. Well educated; probably practiced law Converted in his late thirties, was married Wrote and lived in Carthage Among other writings published a book condemning theater entitled On Spectacles. Thought.
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Church Fathers On and laughter
TERTULIAN (2nd -3rd CE)
Life • Well educated; probably practiced law • Converted in his late thirties, was married • Wrote and lived in Carthage • Among other writings published a book condemning theater entitled On Spectacles
Thought • Austere approach to Christian morality • Christian women should wear veils • Remarriage should be forbidden
Context • Carthage famous for spectacles, especially violent gladiatorial displays. • Christians kept going to the games.
The port of Roman Carthage, 2nd century CE.It used the same structures as the Punic port had.
Arguments against theater • Idolatry—pagan religious origin of the games. • Emotions are an integral part of the theatre, including the obscene Atellan farces, naked prostitutes, etc.
Arguments against theater • Theater linked to the temple of Venus to give it a religious back-up; • Venus and Bacchus allied demons promoting immodesty of gestures and attire
The capital of Jordan, the Greco-Roman city named Philadelphia, originally spread over seven hills, Amman now covers at least nineteen hills.
We LUST for shows • Their spiritual agitation procures pleasure • Excitement leads to lapses • Show involve pornography a ‘buffoon in a woman’s clothes’
Pagan conspiracy • Pagans insist that Christians take part in the games, because they want to jeopardize their salvation
Examples • Case 1: woman went to theater and came back possessed; during exorcism, the demon replied: ‘I found her in my domain’
The Setting • The arena as the place of Christian martyrdom • ‘to the lions!’
Last Judgment • ‘Our pleasures are yet to come’ • God is the greatest enjoyment • The final judgment will be the true spectacle
Augustine (354-430 C.E.)
St Augustine • Lived most of his life in Roman Africa
Augustine: • Christian mother: • As a student had a mistress and son • He gave her up to make a society marriage in Milan
Conversion • Baptized Christian in 387 • 397 becomes bishop of Hippo and publishes Confessions
Augustine on Theater • Confessions • Theater as site of debauchery • City of God • Social practice inappropriate for Christians • Concerning the teacher and On Christian doctrine • Theater as a language inappropriate for Christian contents
Augustine’s experience of theater • “Thus arose my love of suffering, not the kind that would affect me deeply… but such as would supply, as it were, a superficial scratching as I listened to those fictions. Yet, an inflamed sore, and putrefaction, and blood poisoning followed as if from the scratches of fingernails. ”
Emotions • Theatrical emotions are artificial. • Theater abuses the human capacity for pity, because the spectators enjoy feeling it.
Theater in the City of God • Theater as an institution • Is an expression of polytheism • Is virtually indistinguishable from other religious rituals • Represents gods (including grotesque ones, such as Priapus) directly • The myths shown are immoral
Conclusion • Theatrical performance represents representations and therefore cannot be a means of expression Christian values