It is
likely that every religion in the world has used words or practised rites
in one age, which have become distasteful or repugnant to another. We
cannot, though for different reasons, trust the representations either of
Comedy or Satire; and still less of Christian Apologists. (4) We observe
that at Thebes and Lacedemon the attachment of an elder friend to a beloved
youth was often deemed to be a part of his education; and was encouraged by
his parents--it was only shameful if it degenerated into licentiousness.
Such we may believe to have been the tie which united Asophychus and
Cephisodorus with the great Epaminondas in whose companionship they fell
(Plutarch, Amat.; Athenaeus on the authority of Theopompus). (5) A small
matter: there appears to be a difference of custom among the Greeks and
among ourselves, as between ourselves and continental nations at the
present time, in modes of salutation. We must not suspect evil in the
hearty kiss or embrace of a male friend 'returning from the army at
Potidaea' any more than in a similar salutation when practised by members
of the same family.
Pages:
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69