Agathon

“ The centurion had noticed his companion’s agitation and, with his natural frankness and absence of reserve, asked what there was in the Sicilian’s appearance to cause so much surprise—had Caius Bononius discovered in Hero some neighbor at the circus, for whom he had long sought in vain, or recognized in Agathon a troublesome rival? The youth was in a mood that renders the heart communicative and desirous of seeking counsel from others; he had long prized the centurion as a reliable and discreet man; besides, he thought he perceived that Philippus also cherished no special regard for Agathon. ”

“ The rhetoric of Agathon elevates the soul to 'sunlit heights,' but at the same time contrasts with the natural and necessary eloquence of Socrates. Agathon contributes the distinction between love and the works of love, and also hints incidentally that love is always of beauty, which Socrates afterwards raises into a principle. While the consciousness of discord is stronger in the comic poet Aristophanes, Agathon, the tragic poet, has a deeper sense of harmony and reconciliation, and speaks of Love as the creator and artist. ”

“ Farther on, he wishes to extol the wisdom of Agathon by attributing to him such a sentence as this:
‘It is evident that Love is the most beautiful of the gods, because he is the youngest of them.’
Now, even on earth, the youngest is not always the most beautiful; how infinitely less cogent, then, is the argument when we come to speak of the Immortals, with whom age can have no concern! ”

“ But why did Agathon allow his daughter into the clutches of that old, flat nosed Socrates, that insufferable fault-finder who corrupts the young and prevents them from frequenting courtesans and the holy mysteries?
ANITUS: Agathon was infatuated with the same principles. He was one of those sober and serious types who have different morals from ours; who are from another country, and who are our sworn enemies, who think they've fulfilled all their duties when they've adored divinity, helped humanity, cultivated friendship and studied philosophy ”

“ This is speedily repressed by Phaedrus, who reminds the disputants of their tribute to the god. Agathon's speech follows:—
He will speak of the god first and then of his gifts: He is the fairest and blessedest and best of the gods, and also the youngest, having had no existence in the old days of Iapetus and Cronos when the gods were at war. The things that were done then were done of necessity and not of love. For love is young and dwells in soft places,—not like Ate in Homer, walking on the skulls of men, but in their hearts and souls, which are soft enough. ”

“ Julian. Maximus? Do not speak of that mountebank. Who knows anything certain of Maximus?
Agathon. He avers that he has slept three years in a cave beyond Jordan.
Julian. Hekebolius holds him an impostor, and doubtless he is not far wrong——
No, no, Agathon—Libanius is the most dangerous. Our sinful earth has writhed, as it were, under this scourge. Portents foretold his coming. A pestilential sickness slew men by thousands in the city. And then, when it was over, in the month of November, fire rained from heaven night by night.night. Nay, do not doubt it, Agathon! ”

“ Abbâ Agathon also used to say, “The monk’s cloak is a sign of the absence of wickedness”; and he also said, “God asketh from those who begin the service of the works of the fear of God nothing except that they shall order their bodies by obedience to the commandments against the passions of the lusts.”
484. Abbâ Agathon also said, “He who removeth from before his eyes accusations, and disgrace (or insult) , and loss (or belittlement) is able to live.”
485. A brother said unto Abbâ Agathon, “Father, I had the order to dwell in a certain place, and I have war there, and I want to depart ”

“ Oh, is not Love the strongest and the clearest?
Greater importance attaches to a recent treatment of the theme by George Edward Woodberry. His poem, Agathon, dealing with the young poet of Plato's Symposium, is our most literal interpretation of Platonism. Agathon is sought out by the god of love, Eros, who is able to realize his divinity only through the perfection of man's love of beauty. ”

“ Voltaire has a tragedy called Agathocle, and Caroline Pichler has an excellent German novel entitled Agathoclés.
Agathon, the hero and title of a philosophic romance, by C. M. Wieland (1733-1813) . This is considered the best of his novels, though some prefer his Don Sylvia de Rosalva.
Agdistes, the name given by Spenser to our individual consciousness or self. Personified in the being who presided over the Acrasian "bowre of blis."
That is our selfe, whom though we do not see
Yet each doth in himselfe it well perceive to bee. ”

“ Julian. That Mamas was never a martyr. His whole legend was a strange delusion. Hekebolius has, with infinite research, arrived at the real truth, and I myself have lately composed a slight treatise on the subject—a treatise, my Agathon, which certain philosophers are said, strangely enough, to have mentioned with praise in the lecture-rooms——
The Lord keep my heart free from vanity! The evil tempter has countless wiles; one can never know——.
That Gallus should succeed and I fail! Ah, my Agathon, when I think of that church-building, I see Cain’s altar——
Agathon. ”

“ Classical times showed many an Agathon, and Agathias, and numerous compounds, such as Agathocles (good fame) , to be repeated in the Teutonic Gudred, and other varieties; but the abiding use of the word as an European name was owing to a Sicilian girl, called Agatha, who in the Decian persecution was tortured to death at Rome. Sicily considered her as one of its guardian saints. Thus, the festival day of this martyred virgin is observed by both the Eastern and Western Churches, and her name is found among all the nations that ever possessed her native island. ”

“ Agathon was a contemporary of Euripides, and is mentioned in terms of praise by Aristotle for his delineation of the character of Achilles, presumably in his tragedy of 'Telephus.' From the fragments which remain of this author it appears that his style was replete with ornament, particularly antithesis. ”

“ And the disciple answered and said, “I fast until evening, and then I eat two bread-cakes”; and Abbâ Agathon said unto him, “It is a beautiful way of living, but it is very laborious.” Then Abbâ Agathon said unto the other disciple, “And how dost thou live?” And the disciple answered and said unto him, “I fast two days at a time, and after each fast I eat two bread-cakes.” Then the old man said unto him, “Thou toilest greatly, and maintainest a twofold strife. For one man eateth every day and filleth not his belly, and another fasteth two days at a time and taketh whatsoever he needeth ”

“ We cannot but regret the loss of this work, which must have been amusing and original. The titles of four only of his tragedies are known with certainty: they are, the Thyestes, the Telephus, the Aërope, and the Alcmaeon. A fifth, which is ascribed to him, is of doubtful authority. It is probable that Aristophanes has given us extracts from some of Agathon's plays in the Thesmophoriazusae, v. 100-130. The opinion that Agathon also wrote comedies, or that there was a comic writer of this name, has been refuted by Bentley, in his Dissertation upon the Epistles of Euripides, p. ”

“ He produced at least one play of which both the plot and the characters were invented by himself. [71] The name of this “attractive” drama is uncertain: it may have been The Flower (Anthos) or Antheus. Agathon, here as elsewhere, shows himself a follower of Euripides. The master had employed recognized myths as a framework for a thoroughly “modern” treatment of ordinary human interests; his disciple finally throws aside the convention of antiquity.
(ii) Another post-Euripidean feature is the use of musical interludes. ”

“ Legg. iii. 694) concurs with him, that this discourse, assigned to Phædrus, is intended by Plato as an imitation of the style of Lysias. This is sufficiently probable. The encomium on Eros delivered by Agathon, especially the concluding part of it (p. 197) , mimics the style of florid effeminate poetry, overcharged with balanced phrases (ἰσόκωλα, ἀντίθετα) , which Aristophanes parodies in Agathon’s name at the beginning of the Thesmophoriazusæ, Athenæus, v. 187 C.
17 Plato, Sympos. ”

“ The same critic (Poët. 18. §17) also blames him for selecting too extensive subjects for his tragedies. Agathon also wrote pieces, the story and characters of which were the creations of pure fiction. ”

“ But Aristotle justifies Agathon for departing from this custom and making both his plot and characters fictitious, for the plays of Agathon give none the less pleasure. [279] But not all pleasure, he says, is appropriate to tragedy. In comedy we are pleased to see enemies walk off the stage as friends, but in tragedy the "pleasure which the poet should afford is that which comes from pity and fear through imitation." [280] Marvels, too, and wonders in poetry he justifies because "the wonderful is pleasing ”

“ The door of the Temple of Heracles, situated in the deme of Melité, close to Athens. This temple contained a very remarkable statue of the god, the work of Eleas, the master of Phidias.
[386] A fabulous monster, half man and half horse.
[387] So also, in 'The Thesmophoriazusae,' Agathon is described as wearing a saffron robe, which was a mark of effeminacy.
[388] A woman's foot-gear.
[389] He speaks of him as though he were a vessel. Clisthenes, who was scoffed at for his ugliness, was completely beardless, which fact gave him the look of a eunuch. He was accused of prostituting himself. ”

“ So Agatha moved close. “I—am—so—glad,” she said, articulating carefully. Her eyes grew [198] moist with earnestness. He lived in a world of silence. Oh! the tragedy of it!
He looked his gratitude. It was strange how perfectly he seemed to know what she had said; for he had not watched her lips: he had watched her dimples.
It was so slow and difficult putting things down that soon he devised ways of conversing more readily. He formed swift letters in the air with one forefinger, or scratched them in the dirt with her parasol.
Five o’clock found them still in the square. ”

“ If any love us, and we believe it and trust them, they are sure to come out clear from all clouds, our own beloved, true to the end. Therefore, Agatha, above all blessings, may God bless you with love! May you be happy in your husband, and make him happy! May you live to see your home merry and full—not silent!—may you die among your children and your own people—not alone!”
The sudden solemnity of this blessing, enhanced by the feebleness of the voice that uttered it, awoke strange emotions in Agatha. She threw herself on her knees by the armchair, where Anne lay back—now faint and pale. ”

“ In a dozen years he had not seen snow, and he was always wondering if New England fruits and berries had not a finer tang than those of California. Through hazy vistas he saw the old New England life, and he wanted to see it again in the flesh before he died.
And, finally, there was duty. Agatha was his wife. He would bring her back with him to the West. He felt that he could stand it. He was a man, now, in the world of men. He ran things, instead of being run, and Agatha would quickly find it out. Nevertheless, he wanted Agatha to come to him for his own sake. ”

“ They did not squabble—Nathanael Harper never squabbled—but they always met with a gentle hissing, like water sprinkled on coals. Agatha, who was quite new to these harmless fraternalities, always occurring in large families, was mightily amused thereat.
The first house the little party looked over was, as Emma Thornycroft would have phrased it, “a love of a place!” Dining-room, drawing-rooms, conservatory, gardens—quite a gentleman's mansion. Agatha set her heart upon it at once, and it blotted out even her lingering regret over the lost home in the Regent's Park. ”

“ The smile, flitting to Agatha, took a cheerfulness which hitherto in the sad subject of her talk Miss Valery had not displayed. A certain benevolent meaning, which Agatha rather guessed at than discerned, was likewise visible there.
“Come,” said she, “for this night we can do nothing; but having settled what we shall do, or rather what Mr. Harper will do, let us make ourselves at rest. Be content, my dear Nathanael. Heaven will take care of him for whom we fear.” ”

“ Agatha answered simply, and said,
' Renounce thou thy gods which are of stone and wood,
and pray to thy Creator who truly liveth;
if thou despisest Him, thou shalt suffer in eternal torments.'
Then the impious man became incensed, and bade stretch her on the rack,
and cruelly twist her like a withy-rope, and said,
' Forsake thy self-will, that thy life may be saved.'
Agatha answered on the rack thus,
'So greatly I rejoice in these painful torments
even as he that seeth him whom he hath desired,
or as he that findeth many hoards of gold. ”

“ It was a crabbed, ancient hand, blotted and blurred, then steadied resolutely into the preciseness of a school-boy—one of those pathetic fragments of writing that irresistibly remind one of the trembling failing hand—the hand that once wrote brave love-letters.
“You are highly favoured; my father rarely writes to any one. What does he say?” cried Harrie, rather jealous.
Agatha read aloud:
“My dear Daughter-in-law, “Will you honour me by dining here to-day, without fail? “I remain, always your affectionate Father, “Nathanael Harper.” ”