SEBASTIAN, THE PAGAN SAINT
SEBASTIAN, THE PAGAN SAINT
The process of canonisation within the early church was often nothing more than the adoption ofpagan deities as thinly veiled historical personages, and this can be clearly seen in many of the aspectsof St. Sebastian. Indeed, the adoration of the saint as a naked youth by queer and transgressive artistsin itself suggests a profoundly pagan approach. One of the gods with whom Sebastian shared aremarkable similarity was Apollo; a comparison that was acknowledged even during the Renaissance.The transformation of Sebastian from the bearded figure of the early centuries into the handsomeyouth immediately suggests Apollo. The saint acquired the latter’s beauty and sunny fairness, and inso doing recalled the aesthetic codes of ancient Greece, where the god was represented like a verybeautiful god, very large, remarkable especially by its long black loops with the bluish reflections,like the petals of the pansy. The physical beauty of the two was not, however, the only quality theyshared, and we find both figures associated with arrows, and furthermore with
arrows as a symbol ofdisease; carried by Apollo and endured by Sebastian. In the ancient world, Apollo the archer was....
An interesting pdf that i m reading while i should be working-
Sebastian has always been one of my favourite saints, and those of you whom know me-know that Romulus doesn't do the one god gig =P-
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:aC28oqC3tqwJ:torturebyroses.gydja.com/Sebastian-Salome.pdf+saint+sebastian+pagan+god&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=17&gl=us
Still interesting to me is-what if the early church took Apollo-and "christianized" him? so that he was more "acceptable" to worship under the new system?
What do others think-i would greatly welcome some feed back and interesting thoughts that i get from you guys.....
So what do ya think?
The process of canonisation within the early church was often nothing more than the adoption ofpagan deities as thinly veiled historical personages, and this can be clearly seen in many of the aspectsof St. Sebastian. Indeed, the adoration of the saint as a naked youth by queer and transgressive artistsin itself suggests a profoundly pagan approach. One of the gods with whom Sebastian shared aremarkable similarity was Apollo; a comparison that was acknowledged even during the Renaissance.The transformation of Sebastian from the bearded figure of the early centuries into the handsomeyouth immediately suggests Apollo. The saint acquired the latter’s beauty and sunny fairness, and inso doing recalled the aesthetic codes of ancient Greece, where the god was represented like a verybeautiful god, very large, remarkable especially by its long black loops with the bluish reflections,like the petals of the pansy. The physical beauty of the two was not, however, the only quality theyshared, and we find both figures associated with arrows, and furthermore with
arrows as a symbol ofdisease; carried by Apollo and endured by Sebastian. In the ancient world, Apollo the archer was....
An interesting pdf that i m reading while i should be working-
Sebastian has always been one of my favourite saints, and those of you whom know me-know that Romulus doesn't do the one god gig =P-
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:aC28oqC3tqwJ:torturebyroses.gydja.com/Sebastian-Salome.pdf+saint+sebastian+pagan+god&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=17&gl=us
Still interesting to me is-what if the early church took Apollo-and "christianized" him? so that he was more "acceptable" to worship under the new system?
What do others think-i would greatly welcome some feed back and interesting thoughts that i get from you guys.....
So what do ya think?