The Symposium
"Who else has been invited?" my father demanded when I told him about Athenodorus' invitation.
"Why did he pick you?" was the next question, when I confessed that none of the other students were going.
"I just happened to be there," I explained, but my father was still suspicious.
"You're a man now, Arxes, so you make your own decisions - and I must say that up until now I have always respected Athenodorus - but be careful. All too often the boy becomes a laughing stock in the community."
I felt my face flush fiery red as I realised my father's concern197 .
"It's nothing like that at all!" I exclaimed. "Athenodorus told Paul that he was an Ionian in that respect and I believe him." I carefully didn't mention my teacher's confession of the struggle he had with the common goddess of lust.
"Well, I'm glad to hear it," my father said. "I always thought Athenodorus was a good man198 and I'm happy to know that my suspicions are baseless. Still, not all those at his symposium will be as good, so be careful."
For the next couple of days I mulled over what my father had said. I had no desire to become anyone's boy-friend and certainly didn't want to harm my teacher's reputation and let people think that I was his lover. The only solution I could devise was to take Cartimandua with me and make it clear that I was only interested in her. The problem was how to arrange that, for there was no question of her coming as a guest: symposia were only for men.
It was in class that the answer came to me. Athenodorus, as we all knew, wasn't married and neither was he rich. If he was going to have a symposium he would need more help than could be provided by his two male slaves, who were just about as old as he was. I lingered after the class until everyone else had gone and then spoke to him.
"Sir, do you have enough cooks and so on for your symposium?"
Athenodorus raised his eyebrows. "Seeing as you ask, Arxes, the answer is 'No'. It looks like I shall have to hire that Callices and his crew199 . I hear that he's a good cook."
"I can lend you my slave girl," I offered. "I don't know whether she can cook, but she can help serve or something. Then I could have a word with my parents and see if they would be willing to lend you our cook."
"Well," Athenodorus considered for a moment. "Yes, I accept your offer, Arxes. Callices is not cheap and philosophers are not wealthy." He looked rueful. "As for your girl, a woman's touch would not go astray. Could she prepare the wreaths, do you think?"
When I spoke to her, my mother agreed to allow our assistant cook and a couple of the older women to go and help Athenodorus. She was less enthusiastic when I told her that I was lending Cartimandua.
"I don't know, Arxes. In the first place, she's young and beautiful and you'll have to keep a close eye on her in case any of the men get drunk and try to chase her - unless, of course, that's what you want. She is your girl; but son, that brings me to the second thing. I don't think you've been getting on very well with her, have you?"
I squirmed and blushed. My mother looked at me and nodded.
"No, I thought not. I wish you hadn't wiped your fingers in her hair. She's a good girl and I think she was prepared to do her duty cheerfully until you did that. Women are women, you know, even if they are slaves. Your father will be very angry if she runs away. She cost a lot of money, you know that."
"But I promised!" I protested. "I can't go back on my word."
"No," mother agreed, though she still sounded doubtful. "You'll just have to keep a very close eye on her, that's all."
Fortunately father had already gone to work when it was time to take the slaves over to Athenodorus' house. The assistant cook and his women helpers were waiting in the hall, loaded down with pots and pans. I called Cartimandua and gave her the old cloak my mother said she could have, then took a firm hold on her wrist and started through the door.
"Where we going, lord?" Cartimandua asked.
"My teacher is having a symposium this evening," I told her. "You're to help him with it."
"What I must do, lord?" Her face was suddenly pale and I felt her dragging back slightly.
"Oh, help around the house. I think he wants you to make the wreaths. Do you know how to do that?"
"I learn, lord."
"Good. Of course, you're to do anything else he tells you."
"Yes, lord."
As we reached the end of the street I heard Cartimandua sniff and from the corner of my eye I saw her wipe something off her cheek with her left hand. I looked round and discovered that she was crying.
"What are you crying for, you stupid girl?" I demanded.
"Nothing, lord."
"Well stop it, then." I ordered a moment later when the sniffling continued.
"Yes, lord." Cartimandua sniffed hard and then, very quietly, asked, "I am your girl, lord?"
"Of course."
"Not for other mans?"
"Certainly not!" A great light dawned. "Listen! Athenodorus is a good man. Don't you worry about him."
"And other mans?"
"What other men?" I demanded.
"At symposium, lord."
"Of course not. I'm going to be there myself. You just keep close to me, understand?"
"Yes, lord."
She came almost willingly after that and we soon reached Athenodorus' modest flat in one of the more rundown streets behind the temple of Hermes. I nodded to the assistant cook and he put his bundle on the floor and rapped on the door.
"Door! Door!"
Almost at once the door opened and Athenodorus himself looked out.
"Ah, Arxes. Come in. Both my men are out shopping."
"This is our assistant cook, sir," I told him. "He's brought a couple of women to help him. And this," I pulled Cartimandua forward, "is my girl. She'll make the wreaths for you or anything else you need."
"Right," Athenodorus became brisk and businesslike. "The kitchen is through there - I think the fire is still alight and there's plenty of water in the pithoi. Now you - what's her name, Arxes?"
"I Cartimandua."
"Er, yes. Well, my dear, there's some ribbons and greenery in here."
He pulled back the curtain onto the balcony and revealed a pile of ivy, a reel of cheap ribbon and several bunches of flowers200 . Cartimandua sat down cross-legged on the floor and began to twist the strands of ivy into wreaths, tying them with ribbon and threading the stalks of the flowers between the leaves. We watched her for a moment or two and then I beckoned Athenodorus back into the other room and lowered my voice.
"There's just one thing, sir. I haven't had her long and my father would be very angry with me if she - er - if she . . ."
"I understand." Athenodorus assured me. "I'll lock the door myself and make sure that it stays locked. Mind you, even if she did try to escape, she wouldn't get far with hair that colour."
"No, sir," I agreed, "but there's always the possibility that someone else might offer her shelter, for the same reason."
"Don't worry. I'll take great care. Oh, and thanks very much, Arxes. I'm very grateful to you and to your parents."
I walked slowly home and spent the rest of the day fidgetting and worrying. I could well imagine what my father would say if Cartimandua disappeared. It was a relief when evening came and I could return to Athenodorus' house and make sure she was still there. I went to the baths and then, although it was still light, I summoned a torchbearer to accompany me. I left him lounging outside the house with the slaves belonging to the other guests and climbed the stairs to my teacher's flat.
To my surprise Cartimandua opened the door and handed me an ivy wreath. Athenodorus came bustling up almost immediately.
"Arxes! Glad you could make it. Come, I have a couch over here for you. You don't mind sharing, do you? Good, good. This is Harmodius, he teaches Stoic philosophy in Cenchreae."
"What about my girl?" I asked, glancing nervously over my shoulder.
Athenodorus had the grace to look a bit abashed. "I'm sorry about that, Arxes, but what else could I do? Both my men have gone to bring Paul - I couldn't send just one, could I? - and it wouldn't look good for me to open the door myself. I'm keeping an eye on her, but I don't think you need worry. She's a good girl and been a tremendous help."
I sat on the end of the couch as I did with my father until Harmodius, an elegant man with a fringe of grey hair around his balding head, patted the couch in front of him. Rather shyly I lay down, propping myself up on my left elbow, the first time I had eaten in company like a man. Harmodius began to question me about myself but Cartimandua brought a bowl to wash my feet201 and then other guests came into the room and distracted him.
The room was nearly full when Paul arrived, escorted by Athenodorus' two slaves. My teacher hurried forward to welcome him and led him round the room, introducing him to everyone. As I heard their names I realised that Athenodorus had assembled all the teachers of philosophy in Corinth and its adjacent towns: Stoics, Epicureans, Platonists and even a wizened old Cynic202, who seemed the most jovial of all the people there - certainly he never stopped telling jokes.
Athenodorus conducted Paul over to his own couch and helped him get settled before reclining behind him.
"My friends! Welcome to my house and especially I welcome the guest of honour, the Jewish philospher Paul from Tarsus. So that nothing will be done to offend our guest, I elect myself president of this symposium."
He reached around Paul to the table in front of the couch and picked up a krater of unmixed wine.
"May this gathering be acceptable to the all-Highest God, to Whom I dedicate this libation."
He carefully poured a few drops of the rich red wine onto the floor while the other men murmured their own vows and dedications.
"Now, my friends," Athenodorus continued as Cartimandua and the other slaves began to bring in the food203, "many people would provide a dancer or a juggler for your amusement, but we are all philosophers here and, as Socrates said, such things provide little entertainment for the man of reason204. I suggest therefore that after we have eaten, each of us gives a speech in honour of Lust205, which I trust will be acceptable to our guest, for even Jews, being human, must acknowledge the power of this god, even if they do not recognise his divinity."
As soon as the bread and savouries206 had been distributed, with a dish for each table, we began to eat. Paul, I noticed, bowed his head207 and closed his eyes for a few moments before reaching out for his share of the food. As well as some stuffed vine leaves, the slaves had put a dish of roasted mutton on the table in front of Harmodius and me and there were a similar dishes in front of Paul. Athenodorus leaned forward and spoke quietly in Paul's ear.
"The stuffing in the vine leaves is a couple of pigeons my slaves killed today but the mutton, I'm afraid, has been dedicated to Zeus. I searched everywhere but there was nothing else. I'm sorry."
Paul, whose hand had been stretched out over the dish, reached for the vine leaves instead.
"Thanks," he whispered back. "I appreciate your scruples on my behalf."
The meal ended with some honey cakes that tasted very like the ones our cook makes. I made a note to tell my mother how well the assistant cook was learning. When we had all finished eating, the slaves came and cleared the dishes away and gave each of us a pottery drinking cup. I followed Cartimandua with my eyes and made sure that she went back into the kitchen and not towards the door. Athenodorus propped himself up on his couch and raised his voice.
"If it is acceptable to Paul, we will sing a paean in honour of the all-Highest, the one that begins 'Father of all, in Whose hand is life' but in the second verse where it mentions Apollo, be pleased to use the word 'God' instead."
Athenodorus began the paean in a good strong voice and the others quickly joined in, though I noticed that Paul remained silent. I hoped that my teacher hadn't offended him, but after all, you couldn't have a symposium without invoking the presence of some god and singing a hymn in his honour208.
As soon as the hymn had ended Athenodorus signalled and his two slaves hurried around with the mixed wine and poured it into our cups. Athenodorus cleared his throat.
"Lust, as we know, is the primordial god and is responsible for some of our greatest benefits. He209 is strong and powerful and his influence is seen in every aspect of life. As Socrates tells us, he gives life and peace and every good thing210 , so now let us hear your speeches in his praise." He turned to the guest at his head. "Charicles, you start and we'll go round the room."
One by one we all spoke on the subject Athenodorus had suggested. Some were ironical, some witty, one or two even serious. My speech, I fear, was a poor affair, though the others were kind enough to compliment me and Harmodius whispered that I showed promise. Finally the only ones left to speak were Paul and Athenodorus and as both host and president the old philosopher gave precedence to his guest.
"Paul, what will you tell us about Lust?"
Paul cleared his throat and smiled at us. "I fear that I shall not speak in praise of Lust. Instead, let me show you a more excellent way. Compassion211 not lust, is the greatest force in the world. Indeed, though I could speak every language known among men or angels, without Compassion I should be nothing more than the clang of a bronzesmith's hammer or a dancer's cymbal. If I distributed all my belongings among the poor and finally gave my body to be burned212, if I did it without Compassion, it would count for nothing.
"Compassion is patient and kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude nor self-seeking, it is not easily angered, for it keeps no record of wrongs. Compassion does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Compassion will never fail. Prophets may fail, knowledge grows and changes, but that which is perfect - Compassion - will never pass away."
Paul paused and the guests, thinking that he had finished his speech began to applaud. Athenodorus called out, "I see that you are a master of rhetoric," but Paul raised his hand again.
"If I may, I should like to tell you about a man who showed truly divine Compassion, a man who said, 'There is no greater Compassion than that one man should lay down his life for his friends.' I speak about the Christos, Jesus of Nazareth."
Once more I listened to the story of this Jewish teacher and miracle worker who was crucified by the Romans. Near the start of the story, however, something curious happened. I was facing the kitchen door and just after Paul began to tell about Jesus Cartimandua's face appeared in the doorway. She looked startled and her eyes were fixed on Paul. She stood there without moving all the while he was talking and only disappeared when he finished and some of the guests called for more wine.
Of course much of the rest of the symposium was taken up with an intense debate between all the philosophers as to whether resurrection was possible. Most agreed that it was not, but out of respect for Athenodorus no-one made fun of Paul. Paul defended his teaching much as he had to us but when the questions continued he ended up replying simply "I can only bear witness to what I have seen - and I have seen Jesus alive."
After that the conversation turned towards the idea of the "truly good" and whether it was possible for a man to know whether he was progressing towards that ideal213. The Stoics, of course, all denied that it was possible while everyone else said that it was. The argument might have gone on for hours except that Paul interrupted it.
"Tell me, Harmodius214," he said, addressing the philosopher on my couch, "do you, like me, often find yourself wanting to do what is right?"
"Of course." Harmodius agreed. "A true philosopher always wants to do what is right."
"And do you, again like me, just as often find yourself doing the very opposite?"
Harmodius' answer was not so prompt this time, but eventually he agreed that sometimes he did not live up to his ideals.
"So that you want to do what is right, but in fact you don't do it; you want to avoid what is wrong but in fact you end up doing it."
Harmodius agreed that this was so and the other guests, curious to see what Paul was proposing, admitted that they too faced the same problem.
"Is this state of affairs pleasing to God?" Paul asked.
The philosophers shook their heads and then broke out into noisy talk, some saying that the aim was to progress and become perfect, others saying that so long as you kept on trying, the gods would be pleased. To each suggestion Paul shook his head until finally Harmodius asked him, "So what is your solution?"
"Jesus the Christos has died in my place. God is not so unjust that He will demand a double penalty, so there is no condemnation for me or, indeed, for anyone who accepts the Christos. More than this, those who accept the Christos have the very Spirit of God dwelling in them, driving them to live and behave in a manner pleasing to God."
Through out the conversation the slave with the wine was kept busy filling all our cups, though I noticed that the wine was well watered. There was no chance that any of us would be drunk, no matter how long we lingered. Although I enjoyed the dispute, by the time we heard a watchman going down the street calling out the fourth hour of the night I had reached the stage when I could hardly keep my eyes open. Soon afterwards the party began to break up as the guests called for their torchbearers and said their farewells to their host.
Finally the only ones left were Paul and Athenodorus. Paul stood up and Athenodorus swung his legs down onto the floor, but then he held up his hand to detain Paul.
"I was interested in what you had to say about Compassion. It does indeed seem a more excellent way. Is this what binds the members of your society together?"
"Indeed," Paul nodded. "Those who are initiated into the society of the Christos feel compassion for each other. That is why I was taken in by Aquila and Priscilla, even though I am a stranger to them."
"And this divine Compassion prevents God from condemning us when we do wrong?"
"That's right. We are declared to be just because of our belief in the Christos and this gives us peace with God."
"Does one have to become a circumcised Jew in order to experience this peace?" Athenodorus asked.
Paul shook his head. "Circumcision is part of the old law, the old covenant or agreement that God made with our forefathers. You are not a descendant of Abraham, so that agreement doesn't apply to you."
"What if I were?"
"There is no spiritual benefit in circumcision," Paul spoke slowly. "It is merely a sign of the agreement between God and our forefathers, the agreement to give us the land of Israel. For a Jew that agreement is still significant and so circumcision is still right for Jews - so long as they don't think that it will make them more pleasing to God. The only way to please God is to believe in His Christos."
"Whom He raised from the dead."
"Whom He raised from the dead." Paul agreed.
"Is it really possible for the dead to rise?" Athenodorus mused, more to himself than anyone. "Was Democritus right215 after all?"
Paul looked at him for a moment before replying. "Yes, in a way. Yet Democritus did not come to life again, so it is permissible to question his teaching. Jesus the Christos did come to life again. I have spoken to Him once; I know many others who saw Him walk the earth for forty days after His resurrection."
"And if I believe in Him, then I too can live again?"
"Yes." Paul nodded vigorously.
"Life becomes dearer as one gets older," Athenodorus mused. "It is wasted on young people like this youth," he pointed at me, "who think that pleasure, not contentment216, is the true goal in life. I would like to have hope."
"Jesus offers you hope," Paul asserted, "a glorious hope, not only for eternal life217 but for life in a better world, one which will know neither pain nor sorrow. Our eyes have not seen nor have our ears heard, nor can our minds even begin to imagine the wonderful things God has in store for those who love Him."
"How can you be so sure?" Athenodorus wondered. "What do we mortals know about the gods?218"
"I can but tell you what I have seen and heard," Paul replied. "This is not a fable but living fact, attested by men and women still alive today."
"I suppose I must forsake the worship of all other gods?"
"Indeed," Paul nodded. "God calls on all men everywhere to turn from those things which are not gods and to worship Him alone."
"But how can it be wrong to worship - pay respect, if you like - to the guardians whom He has Himself appointed?" Athenodorus protested.
"The rulers, powers and authorities have not kept their appointed place," Paul explained. "They have rebelled against the Most High God and He has appointed a day when they will be judged and destroyed."
Athenodorus sat silently for a moment, his hands clasped about his knees and then he seemed to reach a decision.
"How is one initiated into your mystery and how much does it cost?"
"The gift of God is without price," Paul smiled at him. "I would rather die than have anyone say that I charged for preaching the good news. As for initiation, just as in other mysteries you go down into Hades, so in the mystery of Christos you go down into death. I will take you and bury you, baptising219 you in water, and then bring you up to a new life, just as the Christos was buried and rose again. Your sins will be washed away and you will be clean and new - a new creature, a new creation."
"And you will teach me all the secret signs and hidden knowledge, without charge?" Athenodorus sounded sceptical.
"The society of Christos - we are commonly called 'Christians' - is open and free," Paul replied. The only hidden knowledge is that which God is now revealing - and if God reveals it, who am I to keep it secret or to try and profit from teaching it?"
"And when will the initiation take place?" Athenodorus asked.
"As soon as you like," Paul smiled at him. "There is no water here, but the sea is near at hand, or there are the baths."
"Very well." Athenodorus rose to his feet. "I have long studied the Jews' religion. I know what is required. Tomorrow I shall remove the statues and altars that I have honoured till now and in the evening I shall come and receive initiation at your hands. From now on I will worship only the Most High God and the Christos whom He has sent."
197 Although homosexual relationships were accepted in Athenian society, fathers guarded their sons' "virtue" as carefully as they guarded their daughters'. As Pausanias said in Plato's Symposium: "You see that fathers stop lovers talking to their boyfriends by putting attendants in charge of their sons with specific instructions to that effect, and if a boy's friends catch him being approached by a lover they call the lover names and older people don't stop them calling him names and don't tell them off as if what they were saying was wrong." (p. 17) Return
198 In Xenophon's Symposium Socrates urges Callias to keep his relationship with the attractive Autolycus non-physical. Lycon, the boy's father, was grateful for Socrates' words. "That was the end of this discussion. Autolycus got up to walk home, because it was time for him to go. As his father Lycon was going out with him, he turned back and said, 'I swear, Socrates, it does seem to me that you are a truly good man.'" (p. 265) Return
199 Greek plays show that cooks were commonly hired for special events, complete with their helpers and equipment. They were always depicted as erratic and irascible, as temperamental as modern chefs. Return
200 In Plato's Symposium Alcibiades turns up drunk, supported by a flute-girl and several friends. "He stood at the door wearing a chaplet of leafy ivy entwined with violets and with ribbons galore trailing over his head." (p. 57) Return
201 In Plato's Symposium we are told: "Agathon sent a slave to go and look for Socrates and bring him in and suggested that Aristodemus share Eryximachus' couch. A slave washed him so that he could take his place on the couch." (p. 6) Return
202 Diogenes, the original Cynic, was a resident of Corinth. Plutarch, in The Age of Alexander, recounts the famous story of Alexander's visit to Corinth. "Many of the Greek statesmen and philosophers visited him to offer their congratulations and he hoped that Diogenes of Sinope, who was at that time living in Corinth, would do the same. However since he paid no attention whatever to Alexander but continued to live at leisure in the suburb of Corinth which was known as Craneion, Alexander went in person to see him and found him basking at full length in the sun. When he saw so many people approaching him Diogenes raised himself a little on his elbow and fixed his gaze upon Alexander. The king greeted him and inquired whether he could do anything for him. 'Yes,' replied the philosopher, 'you can stand a little to one side out of my sun.'" (p. 266)
Diogenes claimed to despise material possessions and at the time of Alexander's visit was supposed to be living in a wooden tub tipped up on end. In his essay On Being Aware of Moral Progress, Plutarch recalls another incident that showed the same thing:"When Diogenes saw someone using his hands to drink, he took his cup out of his bag and threw it away." (p. 132) Return
203 At the start of Plato's Symposium there is a delay when Socrates falls into deep thought outside the door, but Aristodemus persuades Agathon, the host, to let him be. "'All right, if you say so, that's what we'll do,' said Agathon. 'But you slaves, the rest of us will start eating now, please. You generally serve whatever you like when no-one's overseeing you, but I've never done that. So now treat me and the rest of these people here as your dinner guests and attend to our needs. Make us proud of you.'" (p. 7) Return
204 Although Socrates, in Xenophon's Symposium, complimented the host on the entertainment, he then remarked, "These people, gentlemen, show that they are capable of entertaining us, but I'm sure that we believe ourselves to be much better than they are. Won't it be a disgrace if, while we are together here, we don't even try to improve or amuse one another?" (p. 235) and later still he said, "It seems to me that to turn somersaults over sword-blades is an exhibition of danger that is quite out of place at a party. Then again, to write or read as one spins round on a potter's wheel is, no doubt, a remarkable feat, but I can't make out what pleasure this could afford either." (p. 256) Return
205 Taken directly from Plato's Symposium (p. 10) In this book Plato tells of eight men who gave impromptu speeches in honour of the god Eros, translated as "Love". Eros, however, is the god of sensual gratification and I have, therefore, used the word "Lust". We should be aware, however, that "lust" or "eros" did not carry the connotations of disapproval we have inherited from our Puritan forbears. Return
206 Greek meals consisted of savouries - vegetable or meat stew or cheese - and bread. It was considered good manners to take only a small portion of the savoury to flavour the bread and in his Memoirs of Socrates Xenophon records how the philosopher rather pointedly rebuked an uncouth young man who was eating savouries without bread. Return
207 A good deal of tractate Berakoth of the Babylonian Talmud is taken up with a discussion of the blessings to be said before and after meals. Much of this discussion seems fairly pointless: how much food do you have to eat before you are required to say grace (answer, as much as an olive), which is the correct blessing to be said over vegetables, meat or fruit and whether the blessing should be said aloud or silently. The rule seems to be that where three or more were present, the grace should be said aloud, but we won't go into the disputed question of whether or not slaves counted to make up the three. Return
208 In Plato's Symposium he describes the ritual that was conducted on these occasions. "So Socrates lay down on the couch. Once he and everyone else had finished eating they performed all the traditional rites - the libations, the hymns to Zeus and so on - and then they turned to drinking." (p. 8) Xenophon, in his account of a similar symposium, says: "When the table had been removed and they had poured libations and sung a paean, a Syracusan came in to provide entertainment." (p. 230) Return
209 As Pausanias said in Plato's Symposium, "On the other hand, the Love that accompanies Celestial Aphrodite is wholly male, with no trace of femininity. This, then is the Love which is for boys and a second point to note is that the provenance of this Love is the goddess who is older and incapable of treating people brutally. That is why this Love's inspiration makes people feel affection for what is inherently stronger and more intelligent - which is to say that it makes people incline towards the male." (p. 14) Return
210 In Plato's Symposium Agathon gives a paean of praise in honour of Eros. "It is my opinion, then, that Love is himself without equal in attractiveness and in goodness and secondly is responsible for similar qualities in others. I am moved to express myself in verse and say that he is the one who causes 'peace among men, calm on the open sea undisturbed by breath of air, winds' stillness at the end of day and sleep for those with cares'. He it is who draws insularity out of us and pours familiarity into us, by causing the formation of all shared gatherings like ours, by taking the lead in festal, choral, sacrificial rites. He dispenses mildness and dismisses wildness; he is unsparing of goodwill and unsharing of ill-will. He is gracious and gentle, adored by the wise, admired by the gods, craved when absent, prized when present. Hedonism, luxury and sensualism, delight, desire and eroticism, these are his children. he looks after the good and overlooks the bad. In adversity and uncertainty, for passion and discussion, there is no better captain or shipmate or guardian deity; for the whole of heaven and the whole of earth he is matchless and peerless as governor and guide. Everyone should follow in his train, glorifying him with sweet-sounding hymns, sharing the song he sings to charm the minds of gods and men." (p. 35) Return
211 Agape, also often translated as "love" is a calmer emotion. I have used "compassion", which is not a good translation, so as to emphasise the fact that while we use the single word "love", the Greeks used different words that had different meanings, which made it impossible for them to confuse the various aspects of love. Return
212 Most people reading this think of persecution, but Paul said "give my body", not "have my body given". Philosophers affected to despise their bodies and therefore admired - though few copied - the Brahmins Alexander met in India, one of whom accompanied Alexander back to Susa. Plutarch, in The Age of Alexander, tells the tale.
"It was here too that Calanus, who had suffered for some while from a disease of the intestines, asked for a funeral pyre to be made ready for him. He rode up to it on horseback, said a prayer, poured a libation for himself and cut off a lock of hair to throw on the fire." (This probably refers to the single lock of hair which Brahmins keep on their shaven heads.) "Then he climbed onto the pyre, greeted the Macedonians who were present and urged them to make this a day of gaiety and celebration and to drink deep with the king whom, he said, he would soon see in Babylon. With these words he lay down and covered himself. He made no movement as the flames approached him and continued to lie in exactly the same position as at first, and so immolated himself in a manner acceptable to the gods, according to the ancestral custom of the wise men of his country. Many years afterwards an Indian who belonged to the retinue of Augustus Caesar performed the same action in Athens and the so-called Indian's Tomb can be seen there to this day." (p. 326) Return
213 The philosophical idea of the "truly good" was very similar to the sort of ethics Christianity proposed. As Plutarch said in his essay On Being Aware of Moral Progress, "It follows that giving something to a friend and doing a favour for an acquaintance, (but not telling others about it) is a sign of progress. Voting honestly when surrounded by corruption, rejecting a dishonourable petition from an affluent or powerful person, spurning bribes and even not drinking when thirsty at night or resisting a kiss from a good-looking woman or man, as Agesilaus did, quietly keeping any of these to oneself is also a sign of progress. A man like this gains recognition from himself and he feels not contempt, but pleasure and contentment at being self-sufficient as a witness - and spectator too - of his good deeds. This shows that reason is now being nourished within and is taking root inside him." (p. 135) Return
214 Paul is here employing the Socratic method of asking questions, known as the elenchus. You put forward a question or a proposition with which your opponent was bound to agree. Using this as a basis you went on to ask further questions or propound further propositions that exposed the inconsistencies in your opponent's position and step by step forced him to accept yours. Return
215 Pliny, in his Natural History VII.lv remarks, "There are various problems concerning the spirits of the departed after burial. All men are in the same state from their last day onwards as they were before their first day, and neither body nor mind possess any sensation after death any more than it did before birth - for the same vanity prolongs itself also into the future and fabricates for itself a life lasting even into the period of death, sometimes bestowing on the soul immortality, sometimes transfiguration, sometimes giving sensation to those below and worshipping ghosts and making a god of one who has already ceased to be even a man - just as if man's mode of breathing were in any way different from that of the other animals or as if there were not many animals found of greater longevity, for which nobody prophesies a similar immortality! But what is the substance of the soul taken by itself? What is its material? Where is its thought located? How does it see and hear, and with what does it touch? What use does it get from these senses or what good can it experience without them? Next, what is the abode, or how great is the multitude, of the souls or shadows in all these ages? These are fictions of childish absurdity and belong to a mortality greedy for life unceasing. Similar also is the vanity about preserving men's bodies and about Democritus' promise of our coming to life again - who did not come to life again himself! Plague take it, what is this mad idea that life is renewed by death? What repose are the generations ever to have if the soul retains permanent sensation in the upper world and the ghost in the lower? Assuredly this sweet but credulous fancy ruins nature's chief blessing, death, and doubles the sorrow of one about to die by the thought of sorrow to come hereafter also; for if to live is sweet, who can find it sweet to have done living? But how much easier and safer for each to trust in himself and for us to derive our idea of future tranquillity from our experience of it before birth." Return
216 Socrates lived a most ascetic life; according to Xenophon's Memoirs of Socrates (p. 96) when someone mocked him he made a long speech defending his contentment with the little he had, in the course of which he asked, "Don't you think that I, who am always training myself to put up with the things that happen to my body, find everything easier to bear than you do, with your neglect of training?" Return
217 The Greek word aionios, commonly translated "eternal" or "forever" is an interesting one. In his book New Testament Words Dr William Barclay, a renowned authority on Greek, has this to say:
"Here then is the salient fact. The essence of the word aionios is that it is the word of the eternal order as contrasted with the order of this world; it is the word of deity as contrasted with humanity; essentially it is the word which can be properly applied to no one other than God. Aionios is the word which describes nothing less and nothing other than the life of God.
"We must now turn to the use of the word aionios in the New Testament itself. By far its most important usage there is in connection with eternal life. But that usage is so important that we must retain it for separate treatment. And we must first take a sweeping view of all its usages. As we do so we must remember that aionios is distinctively the word of eternity and that it can properly describe only that which essentially belongs to and befits God. . . ."
Several paragraphs in the book are given to examples of how aionios is used to describe words such as "redemption", "glory", "inheritance" and "Gospel."
"But while aionios is used to describe the greatest blessings of the Christian life, it is also used to describe the greatest threats of the Christian life. . . ."
Now come examples of aionios in connection with "punishment", "judgement", "fire" and "destruction".
"It is in these passages that we need to be specially careful in our interpretation of the word. Simply to take it as meaning lasting for ever is not enough. In all these passages we must remember the essential meaning of aionios. Aionios is the word of eternity as opposed to and contrasted with time.
"It is the word of deity as opposed to and contrasted with humanity. It is the word which can only really be applied to God. If we remember that, we are left with one tremendous truth - both the blessings which the faithful shall inherit and the punishment which the unfaithful shall receive are such as befits God to give and to inflict. Beyond that we cannot go. Simply to take the word aionios, when it refers to blessings and punishment, to mean lasting for ever is to oversimplify, and indeed to misunderstand, the word altogether. It means far more than that.
"It means that that which the faithful will receive and that which the unfaithful will suffer is that which it befits God's nature and character to bestow and to inflict - and beyond that we who are men cannot go, except to remember that that nature and character are holy love." (p. 35-37) Return
218 In his essay On God's Slowness to Punish, Plutarch remarks: "Being human and investigating the affairs of the gods is an extreme version of being tone-deaf and talking about music or having never served in the army and talking about warfare. We resemble amateurs trying to use arguments from probability based on opinions and conjecture to unearth the ideas of experts." (p. 253) Similar humility would well become many of today's theologians who are so dogmatic about subjects, such as Christ's nature, where human knowledge is not only imperfect but almost totally lacking. Return
219 The Greek word baptismos means 'to immerse'. Return
