A time will soon come when tragic actors will imagine that they are merely mask and shoes and robe, and nothing else. Man, you have these things given you as your subject and task. Speak your part, that we may know whether you are a tragic actor or a buffoon: for except their speech they have all else in common.
Does the tragic actor disappear, if you take away his shoes and mask and bring him on the stage in the bare guise of a ghost, or is he there still? If he has a voice he is there still.
So it is in life: “Take a post of command”; I take it, and taking it show how a philosopher behaves.
“Lay aside the senator's dress, and put on rags and appear in that character.” Very well: is it not given me still to display a noble voice? In what part then do you appear now?
As a witness called by God: “Come and bear witness for me, for I count you worthy to come forward as my witness. Is anything good or evil which lies outside the range of the will? Do I harm anyone? Do I put each man's advantage elsewhere than in himself?”
What is the witness you now bear to God?
“I am in danger, O Lord, and in misfortune; no man heeds me, no man gives me anything, all blame me and speak evil of me.”
Is this the witness you are going to bear, and so dishonor the calling that He has given you, in that He honored you thus and counted you worthy to be brought forward to bear such weighty witness?
Does the tragic actor disappear, if you take away his shoes and mask and bring him on the stage in the bare guise of a ghost, or is he there still? If he has a voice he is there still.
So it is in life: “Take a post of command”; I take it, and taking it show how a philosopher behaves.
“Lay aside the senator's dress, and put on rags and appear in that character.” Very well: is it not given me still to display a noble voice? In what part then do you appear now?
As a witness called by God: “Come and bear witness for me, for I count you worthy to come forward as my witness. Is anything good or evil which lies outside the range of the will? Do I harm anyone? Do I put each man's advantage elsewhere than in himself?”
What is the witness you now bear to God?
“I am in danger, O Lord, and in misfortune; no man heeds me, no man gives me anything, all blame me and speak evil of me.”
Is this the witness you are going to bear, and so dishonor the calling that He has given you, in that He honored you thus and counted you worthy to be brought forward to bear such weighty witness?
—from Epictetus, Discourses 1.29
As I read this section, I think of the classic Universal Studios horror film, The Invisible Man, inspired by the novel of H.G. Wells. As a youngster, I was both amazed and horrified by the scenes where Griffin removes his bandages, and he appears as if he were just an empty set of clothes.
When special effects had to be practical, without any digital manipulation, this made quite an impression.
Even back then, I felt like the fact that no one could see him somehow meant that his very humanity was also disappearing. Years later, I think about how an infatuation with manipulating appearances is such a great enemy to the virtues.
Epictetus is hardly being prophetic here, because shallow people will invariably dwell upon the externals. Observe the so-called “celebrity”, who may or may not be a decent person, but who in public becomes a mere fabrication, a construct of clever advertising.
I didn’t quite understand this until I saw people I had personally known be twisted into caricatures by the media. That smug slacker from highs school? He now has a record contract with a major label, and a national magazine labeled him one of the sexiest men alive. Too bad that he is blind to a conscience, and brags about his love of the smack.
We all play different roles, and the only question is whether we choose to play them with integrity, where the outside proceeds naturally from the inside. Will I be a mere mask and a set of shoes, or a man with something worthwhile to say?
What happens to the poseurs when you rip off the wardrobe? They drift away, like wisps of smoke. I want to be more than that; I desperately want to be genuine.
To be most fully myself, I am obliged to serve God, however we wish to define such an Absolute. The parts only make sense within the whole, as I only make sense within my service to Providence.
There must be a respect for the grand design, and a gratitude for being made as I am. When I “speak” to God, not in mere speech but in my thoughts and actions, I complete who I am by embracing the totality.
I can complain and accuse, and then I am worst kind of loser. I can love, without any exceptions, and then I am best kind of winner. That may be the reverse of our current customs, yet it remains the only way.
As I read this section, I think of the classic Universal Studios horror film, The Invisible Man, inspired by the novel of H.G. Wells. As a youngster, I was both amazed and horrified by the scenes where Griffin removes his bandages, and he appears as if he were just an empty set of clothes.
When special effects had to be practical, without any digital manipulation, this made quite an impression.
Even back then, I felt like the fact that no one could see him somehow meant that his very humanity was also disappearing. Years later, I think about how an infatuation with manipulating appearances is such a great enemy to the virtues.
Epictetus is hardly being prophetic here, because shallow people will invariably dwell upon the externals. Observe the so-called “celebrity”, who may or may not be a decent person, but who in public becomes a mere fabrication, a construct of clever advertising.
I didn’t quite understand this until I saw people I had personally known be twisted into caricatures by the media. That smug slacker from highs school? He now has a record contract with a major label, and a national magazine labeled him one of the sexiest men alive. Too bad that he is blind to a conscience, and brags about his love of the smack.
We all play different roles, and the only question is whether we choose to play them with integrity, where the outside proceeds naturally from the inside. Will I be a mere mask and a set of shoes, or a man with something worthwhile to say?
What happens to the poseurs when you rip off the wardrobe? They drift away, like wisps of smoke. I want to be more than that; I desperately want to be genuine.
To be most fully myself, I am obliged to serve God, however we wish to define such an Absolute. The parts only make sense within the whole, as I only make sense within my service to Providence.
There must be a respect for the grand design, and a gratitude for being made as I am. When I “speak” to God, not in mere speech but in my thoughts and actions, I complete who I am by embracing the totality.
I can complain and accuse, and then I am worst kind of loser. I can love, without any exceptions, and then I am best kind of winner. That may be the reverse of our current customs, yet it remains the only way.
—Reflection written in 5/2001
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