Glory and the Lightning by Taylor Caldwell

Author:Taylor Caldwell [Caldwell, Taylor]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Doubleday & Company, Inc.
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

Among the wedding guests was the shy and emotional Ichthus, who was, from a calm and philosophic view, deplorable in his lack of self-restraint. His feelings were ever visible, in the constant slight trembling of his face and in his ardent and fervid eyes. He seemed always on the verge of flight; his sensitivity was that of a man who has been flayed. A felicitous word or a kind smile could provoke him to tears. He haunted the colonnades, following the philosophers and listening, and sometimes he would cry out as if unbearably moved. The philosophers found this gratifying, if amusing. Their students did not. They did not know that here was an undefiled soul who yearned for beauty and justice and truth and could not understand a world in which these were so terribly lacking. (Worse, he could not express in eloquent speech the majesty he perceived, and so could only mumble though his spirit vibrated. His tongue was as if paralysed.)

However, he could write. He wrote anonymously, and broadcast his writing throughout Athens, employing young lads to toss pieces of parchment in public places, and against the doors of houses. His poems were poor if touching. But his polemics were potent and galvanic. They rang with passion and eloquence and fire. He questioned everything, but with humility, if it pertained to the Godhead. However, when he questioned government it was as if a volcano had broken its stony fastnesses and was pouring lava and flame over the city, full of wrath.

His particular hatred was for the hypocritical democracy of Athens, which pretended to serve the people but only served politicians. “The Founding Father of our once-beneficent laws, Solon of holy memory, sought to establish a just republic, wherein there would be no slaves and all men would be equal under the law, and all would have recourse to government if offended or deprived of their rights. No privileged man would be above the law nor too humble to evoke it. The Tyrants proclaimed that they followed the laws of Solon; they perverted them for their own advantage and almost destroyed Athens with their venality, their craftiness and exigency. Virtue’s own spotless raiment was assumed, and is still assumed, in which to envelop demons and give them an air of authority and sanctity. Harpies swooping with the white wings of justice! Where is the man in Athens today, no matter his station, who can declare in all honesty, ‘I am a free man?’ Onerous taxes destroy ambition and create listlessness in the strong and mendicancy in the weak. No man knows this very hour whether his land belongs to him or if the government will seize it tomorrow for evil purposes. The Ecclesia is a den of thieves; it is a congregation of liars and oppressors! It deprives honorable men of their goods or their lives. It elevates Cerberuses to be the guardians of the people! The River Styx flows through Athens and her dominions. Who will build

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