Among the many ways of visualising a reversal, none is so obvious, unequivocal and popular as the reversal in attire. The most easy and effective way to turn reality upside down is to change your clothes for the garment of the opposite sex or of social antipodes, or for distinguishing marks of animals or gods. Circumstantial information has been presented on these forms of disguise and their function in the first chapter of this book. By thus inverting normality the new situation is marked as exceptional and abnormal. It is noteworthy that among the signs that mark Greek sacrifices as exceptional or extraordinary-such as the absence of wine or the presence of milk-one is that the sacrificers do not wear the wreaths that are normally one of the most characteristic signs of sacrificial ceremonies. This provides a perfect parallel for the reversal of the Saturnian sacrifice. During the festival everything is out of order, above all clothing regulations. Moreover, Saturn himself is the marker of abnormality par excellence. His veiled head-irrespective whether this is an originally Roman element or a Greek heritagestamps him as 'different' and exceptional. Another way of expressing a reversal of ordinary life is by imitating odd customs of foreign nations. Romans could and did give expression to abnormality by allusions to 'the Greek way of life'. In the (Roman) fabula togata it was not allowed to stage slaves that outwitted their masters, whereas this was accepted in the fabula palliata, the pallium conveniently evoking a Greek atmosphere. In Greece, as any decent Roman knew, odd things happened that were quite incompatible with Roman customs. Graeculi just had a habit of mixing up the normal order. Viewed in this light, it is very well possible and in my view becomes very likely that sacrificing ritu Graeco was just another reference to the eccentric nature of the total ritual. This supposition is supported by a tiny piece of evidence on Saturn himself which has remained unnoticed so far. Apart from the covering of his head there is another trait that sets him apart. The ivory statue in his temple was clothed with a purple-coloured cloak, as Tertullian, Testim. anim. 2, 137, 12, testifies. His exact words are: pallio Saturni coccinato. It is true that in the course of time pallium has become the term for any kind of garment. In this case, however, a positively un-Roman pallium is meant - the extrinsecus habitus sharply censured by the same Tertullian, De pallio 4, 9: Galatici ruboriss uperiectio (a wrap of Galatian red). Now, the pallium never quite lost the negative connotations of its Greek or, more generally, foreign flavour. It characterized (Greek) philosophers, especially the Cynics and other dubious specimens, and prostitutes; in short, those marginals who refused to subject themselves to the norms and codes of civilized society. A fortiori a purple pallium was the very opposite of what could be regarded as normal Roman custom.
Versnel, H.S., 1993, Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion, vol. II: Transition and Reversal in Myth and Ritual. Leiden, Nova Iorque, Köln: E. J. Brill.
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