Mime In The Early Church

The following article outlines the role of mime in the church and society during the first centuries after Christ. In this period, as in others, mime was a significant medium of instruction and communication for believers and nonbelievers alike.

Mime was performed in the middle of the period of controversy and social change that riddled both the falling Roman Empire and the young church struggling to establish an identity. By the end of the fourth century, mime was on its way to virtual extinction, but not before it had been used in the church as a medium of evangelism and ministry. To understand the history of mime in the church, we must understand the place and history of secular mime in Rome before the birth of Christianity. Mime in the Roman Empire The popularity of mime and pantomime grew with the population explosion of the Roman Empire. The Empire grew from 1,200,000 to 120,000,000 in the span of 300 years. It absorbed dozens of nations and became a vast polyglot society of heterogeneous peoples. The problem of communication was great. Mime and pantomime were the only forms of communication which transcended the language barriers. Mime communicated in the international, multilingual art of gesture, which everyone could understand. The mime artists became the news tellers of the day. They were seen in the homes of the aristocrats and on the corners of the streets, and through pantomime they enacted the news and daily gossip. As their name suggests, mimes loved to mimic life (mime is associated with the Greek word mimesis, "to imitate life"). They portrayed all things good or bad, but they had a special love for satire and comedy. They would mock a leader's faults and the hypocrisies of life. "They based their work on life itself, and never looked beyond; they ridiculed the legends of the old gods just as later they ridiculed the Christian rites" (Allardyce Nicoll, Masks, Mimes, and Miracles: Studies in the Popular Theatre [New York: Cooper Square, 1963], 18, 121). They made the gods more human and reachable in a negative way by creating them with laughable faults, a practice accepted or at least tolerated by the Greeks and Romans. For the Christians, mocking Christ and his church was blasphemy and a reproach. They came to see mimes as enemies. To the mime artists, the Christians were just another subject of life to imitate. When Christians began to be persecuted, the mimes picked up on the strange and unique beliefs and practices of the Christians and their faith in a crucified God. St. Gregory of Nazianzus said "nothing on the stage was more pleasing to auditors and spectators than the comic Christians" (ibid). Mocking the Christians and Christian rites became a popular theme among the mimes and the public. Theater historian Allardyce Nicoll writes that "nothing … seems to have amused them more than the Christian rite of Baptism. The dipping of a man in a tub as part of an ecclesiastical ceremonial tickled their secular minds, and according to the testimony of the Acts Sanctorum, the mime which ridiculed this rite was most popular of all" (ibid). The church leaders did not always help their own case. As the early years went by, divisions and hypocrisy grew in the church. The mimes, being true to life, imitated and mocked this infighting. Nicoll says "the mimes had been … amused at Christianity, and when they saw the adherents of this new church quarreling with one another they shook their sides in undisguised merriment. Theological controversy was the mightiest jest of all, and ceremonies of a spiritual significance left them merely smiling" (ibid). So they mimed water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit; they mimed healings, conversions, and controversies. The Evolution of Greek and Roman Mime The Egyptian mystery plays and imitative dances (2500 b.c.–550 b.c.) influenced the growth of the masked dance and dithyrambs of Dionysus (the god of wine and festival) in the Corinthian Isthmus, Megara. This base style of mime is called Dorian mime. Dorian mime (fifth century) birthed Greek mime and Roman phlyax mime (northern Italy). The Phlykes (improvisational mime) inspired the development of The Fabula Atellana or Atellan farce (in southern Italy), which is a much more literate style. At first the themes of the mimes were the stories and legends of their gods; however, the popularity of the art and humanistic philosophy caused the focus to fall from their gods to men. Mime became the act of imitation, showing life in all of its secular glory. Entertainment replaced religion. Devotion was sold out to pleasure. Mime birthed all Western theater and dance as people learned to use the arts to worship humankind in the name of education and entertainment. Types of Ancient Mime There were many styles and types of mime and pantomime in existence by the first century of the church. Greek mime (mimus) used stock character masks and gestures to accent spoken words. Histriones was a general term for all actors. Planipes were barefoot mimes. Roman pantomime (pantomimus: all mime) was the art form supposedly created by a mime actor who lost his voice, Livius Andronicus (c. 240 b.c.). He is said to have had another actor speak/sing for him as he gestured the story. Pantomime also used music (especially the flute) and chanted lyric. Phylades and Bathylus are said to have brought the art to its perfection under the patronage of Caesar Augustus. Rome also bred mimetic dances, pyrrhic dance/mime (war mime/dance), funambuli (tight tope walkers), mime dancers (saltator), arch-mimes (archimimus) who were the leaders of mimes, Roman mime (Roman mimus) a vulgar sort of burlesque mime. The writer of a mime play is called a mimograph (mimographus), the directions in the play are called the mimography, and the play itself is referred to as a mime (as in the player: mimus). Atellanae fabula was the Roman theater form of stock masked characters. Moral and educational pantomime was called ethologues. The ludi were "games" both athletic and theatrical, distinguished by the event: Ludi Circenses (circus games), Ludi Scenici (theater games). Jewish mime (gestures and actions used to prophesy or worship) was not unique and seems to have been absorbed into the refined and popular arts. Greek and Roman mime did have a long and great heritage. We must remember, however, that before Thespis created the first drama in the sixth century b.c., before Epicharmus wrote Dorian mime (the parent form to Greek mime) in the fifth century b.c., or before Livius Andronicus did the first Roman pantomime in the third century b.c., we see the mimes of prophets hundreds of years earlier ministering the Word of the Lord. It should not surprise us when God redeems even the other arts for his glory. Mime and Martyrs In the midst of the persecution of Christians something wonderful happened. The mimes began to meet Jesus, and their jest became the "mime of life" in more than just their sayings. (The "mime of life" reflects the Greek concept that our life was but the game of the gods. Christians adapted this to portray that life on earth was but a reflection of heaven's afterlife, a small portion of time in comparison to eternity. Those who talk about the "mime of life" include the Emperor Augustus, Suetonius, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Seneca, Leone Di Somi.) The mimes were converted by their mimed parodies. The most famous account of a mime being saved in recorded in Acts Sanctorum (Sacred Acts [of the martyrs]). In the year a.d. 304, Diocletian came to Rome to celebrate his triumph over the nations and over the Christian impiety. In celebration of this victory he went to the theater to watch the famous mime Genesius mock the conquered Christian faith. The story Genesius told in mime was that of a mock baptism. However, in the process of being baptized in jest, Genesius had a revelation of Jesus Christ and was baptized in truth. When he exited the tepid water that was in the tub on stage, he proclaimed to his audience "I saw a hand which came from heaven, and shining angels above me. They read in a book all the sins I had committed since my infancy, and washed them in the water in which I had been baptized, and presented me with the book, which was whiter than snow" and "I am truly a Christian!" (Darras, The History of the Church, vol. 1, and Nicoll, Masks, 122). The mime arose a Christian, shattering the lie of Diocletian's victory over the Christians. The mime who Diocletian wanted to mock the Christians was mocking him. Diocletian had Genesius tortured and beheaded. Diocletian had lost face while Genesius won eternity. Another legend comes from the reign of Diocletian; this one from Egypt (Nicoll, Masks, 17–18; and Lincoln Kirstein, Dance: A Short History of Classic Theatrical Dancing [Brooklyn: Dance Horizons, 1969], 61). The story tells of a weak-willed deacon who came into the town of Antinoe where the prefect Arianus had proclaimed that all visitors must make sacrifice to the gods of Antinoe or be slain. This law persecuted the Christians and the Jews who would not offer sacrifices to a false god (the polytheistic people of the Roman empire did not care how many gods they worshiped and offered the sacrifice without problem). This law separated the Christians and Jews from the polytheists, making the Christians and Jews look like fanatic and unreasonable extremists. In this setting, the deacon knew both that he would not offer sacrifice and that this defiance would lead to his death. Instead of facing martyrdom, he asked the famous mime Philemon to take his place at the altar of sacrifice and make the offering for him. This jest was the type in which any mime would glory. The opportunity to fool the whole town was too much to pass up, and Philemon donned the holy man's robes. The plan worked up to the point of the sacrifice, when a miracle happened. Just as Philemon was about to commit the sacrifice, a voice from heaven spoke to him, and he had a revelation of Jesus. He spoke out the words "I am a Christian, and I will make no sacrifice." This statement was not a surprise to the people; it would have been expected from the deacon. What did surprise the people was that as Philemon spoke he pulled back his hood to reveal not the deacon, but the town mime. Great confusion ruled as the crowd tried to understand what had just taken place. Arianus was pressured to dismiss the whole incident as a bad joke. However, Philemon would not compromise by making the sacrifice and continued to proclaim his faith in Christ. No matter how the mob and Arianus tried to persuade him, whether by guilt, promised fame, proclaimed love, or wealth, Philemon remained constant and was finally put to death along with the deacon. His dying words were: "Good people of Antinoe, be not distressed at the blows I have received. I doubt not ye remember the time when I was a mime—how to my shame in the theater blows were rained on me by my fellow-actors. You laughed at those comic blows then, but the angels wept. Now, therefore, it is just that your tears should not weigh against the joy which the angels feel at my salvation" (excerpt from Nichol, Masks). These are but two examples of the many mime martyrs—Philemon (a.d. 287), Masculas (a.d. 486), Ardalio (a.d. 298), Gelasiunus (a.d. 297), Genesius (a.d. 303), Porphyrius (a.d. 362), Porphyrias of Caesarea (a.d. 275)—who died for their faith in Jesus. Theodoret said that the mimes

came upon the stage and suddenly entered into the ranks of the martyrs, gaining the victory and seizing the crown; who by the attestation of their faith cast error into the breasts of the devils whose slaves they had formerly been.… A number of mimic actors, during the third and fourth centuries gained canonization (sainthood) at the hands of the catholic church because of their constancy." (Nicoll, Masks, 121, 122)

The Issue of Mime in the Church Not all mimes who were saved become martyrs. Some survived to use their art to glorify God. This meant changing both the form of their art and their costumes (for one thing, they had to remove all phallic symbols from their costumes). The stories they told were of the crucifixion, the Lord's Supper, baptism, and healing. Their characters resembled the anti-Christian mime characters: a hero, a friend, a judge and attendants, a bishop and acolytes, soldiers, guards, neighbors, and Christians, or Bible characters or saints. One of the most famous mimes was the arch-mime (mime leader or master) Masculas, who mimed for the Lord and died for this faith during the invasion of the Vandals. The church Fathers used mime in evangelism to compete with the worldly draw of the arts. Mimograph (mime writer) St. Gregory of Nazianzus (a.d. 329–390) was well versed in mime. He stood against its secular usage, but redeemed its form by writing after the style of the Syracusan Sophron. He redeemed mime's canticum (story song with music). He is credited with writing The Passion of Christ, which is a mime play after the Attic style with the hymns of the church substituting the original choruses (Katharine Lee Bates, The English Religious Drama [Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat, 1966]). The Passion of Christ borrows from Aeschylus (Prometheus Bound) and Euripides (<foreign lang=latin>Bacchanals</latin>). The story was narrated by the character of Mary, and her lament of Christ's death is directly taken from Euripides' play. (There is a contention, however, that this work was written in the tenth century rather than in the fourth century and was supported by the labors begun by Ignatius, a deacon of Constantinople and a supporter of the ministering arts.) Another famous religious figure who used mime was Arius of Alexandria (a.d. 260–336). Arius was a presbyter who developed a heretical theology that created a great controversy in the church. He was a mimograph (mime writer) who styled the Egyptian Sotades. The Arians (those who followed after his beliefs) used liturgies that were called "stage books." Nicoll states that "when we hear a prominent Arian described as 'the leader of the Arian stage ballet,' we realize that here we are in the midst of a religious movement which is attempting to counter the activities of the mimes by introducing some of their characteristic methods of appeal into the church services. Gesticulation, variety of vocal tone, and, later, music came to be used for this purpose" by all of the church. Arius wrote the drama Thalia, whose mimography (instruction for gestures) included a pantomime of the crucifixion. This work supported his doctrinal positions, which were later rejected by the council of Nicea. When Constantine exiled Arius, Athanasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, destroyed all records of Thalia and Arian mime traditions. Arians tried to make their theology popular through the arts and were prepared to make the services more popular by using mimic gestures and inflections. Chrysostom hated the Arian use of mime, saying,

they show themselves … no better than madmen, agitating and moving their bodies, uttering strange sounds, engaging in customs foreign to the things of the spirit. They introduce the habits of mimes and dancers into sacred places. Their minds are darkened by what they have heard and seen in the theaters. They confuse theatrical action with the ceremonials of the Church.

Chrysostom thought that all drama was "for those who execute the will of the devil." Prejudice like this caused great confusion in the church.

However, mime and mimetic dance seemed to have become a very active part of the church's life. Plays were being written by many different factions. The Gnostics (who believed in salvation by knowledge) wrote a gospel on Christ called the Acts of John. In it is mimetic dance said to have been done by Jesus after the Last Supper. In this saltatio (mimed dance), the disciples circled around Jesus, singing and gesturing by his directions.

I will pipe. Dance, all of you—Amen. I will mourn, beat you all your breasts—Amen.… to the Universe belongs the dancer … He who does not know what happens.… I am a door to you [who] knock on me … I am a way to you [the] traveler. Now if you follow my dance, see yourself in Me who am speaking … You who dance, consider what I do, for yours is this passion of Man which I am to suffer.… After the Lord had so danced with us, my beloved, he went out [to be crucified]. (excerpts from the Gnostic writings, Acts of John, vv. 94–97)

This saltatio (mime/dance) was apparently influenced by the mime styles that incorporated a hymn and mime of the mysteries of the universe. Mystery dances were common among Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. It is logical that the people of the early church were acquainted with this form of presentation and incorporated it into their explanations of church mysteries, as the mimography of this passage suggests. The Acts of John were mentioned by St. Augustine and show that mime was accepted in the early church, enough so that Jesus is pictured miming—without the church considering this an outrage. (The Acts of John was considered uninspired and unworthy to be called Holy Scripture and was therefore not included in our New Testament. The writings had a different view of Christ and created a spiritual Christ who was not wholly man, but was rather wholly Spirit in the form of man. This book contained imperfect doctrine and was considered to be a more devotional work.)

The quote from the Acts of John is reminiscent of Jesus' rebuke to the unresponsive generation of his day (Matt. 11:17 and Luke 7:32). They would not mime or dance to his piping (that is, understand the truths that he and John the Baptist brought): "We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented." Other modern translations of this passage present other possibilities for understanding it in terms of mimetic gesture:

We have played the flute to you, [Rotherham] we played at weddings, but you wouldn't dance. [Phillips] We sang a lament, [Rotherham] we sang a funeral song, [Beck] and you would not beat your breasts. [Moffatt]

Matthew Henry comments that this passage is parable to show the extremes to which God will go to get our attention. It speaks of the joyful dance, a wedding dance, as representing Jesus' good news of salvation and the dance of the bride of Christ (Rev. 19:7), while the dirge, a funeral dance, is associated with the call of John the Baptist for repentance, baptism, and the burial of the old nature. Both dances were rejected by the children of Israel. Instead they called Jesus a drunkard and John a possessed crazy man. If Jesus is willing to use analogy in the form of mime, it is not surprising that his church would use mime and the arts to explain and illustrate other mysteries of God. Other examples of mime in the early church include the second century efforts of a Jew named Ezekiel, who wrote a mime based on Exodus. Its characters included Moses, Sapphora, and God seen in the similitude of the burning bush. In the fourth century the priest Apollinarius (the Elder) of Laodicea, disciple of Athanasius and contemporary of Gregory of Nazianzus, wrote parts of the Old Testament in homeric hexameters; his son, Apollinarius, rewrote the New Testament in Platonic dialogues, which were enacted stories. All of these examples show a general popular use of mime in the church as part of its worship and ministry. Mime was embraced by the church when it evangelized and ministered to those who could not understand their message due to differences in language or culture, when it illustrated a doctrine or truth, when it was used in prophecy, when it proclaimed a philosophy to be embraced, or when it helped in expressing worship. It was also embraced as a popular form of celebration, a form which later degenerated into mere entertainment and began the process that led to the fall of mime in the church. The Fall of the Arts The church stood against the worldly mime of the Romans and the Greeks, even as it embraced it as a form of ministry. By the fourth century, the secular art form of mime had bred many forms of drama that were ungodly and unholy. Much like our television and movies of today, they contained explicit sex and violence. In response to this, the church cast out mime. The following were important considerations in this development. 1. Associations with Sin. The theaters were well attended by members of the Christian church. These Christians attended love feasts (agape) and festivals, some of which were vulgar, lustful events that incorporated degenerate Roman mimus (burlesque mime) and other base forms of drama such as the Floralia (naked courtesans who were histriones [actresses]). The church rose up against these gatherings, promising to punish those who participated in them with exclusion from the Lord's Table or even excommunication. The festivals of the pagans were slowly replaced by Christian festivals. But until that time they remained a threat to the church. The feasts that the church fought in particular well into the Middle Ages were the feasts of fools, the feast of the ass, the feast of the boy bishop, and the ancient Saturnalia. 2. False Doctrine. Athanasius destroyed the mimography of Arius because the Arians were using it to perpetuate condemned doctrines. The gnostic Acts of John was also cast aside with the erroneous doctrines of the gnostics. The church tried to purge itself of all doctrines which might cause division and eliminated those things related to the doctrines—the good with the bad. 3. Association with the Sorrows of the Christians. Many Christians were tortured during the violence of the Ludi Circenses (circus games) by gladiators or wild animals. Tacitus wrote that "the Christians … were dressed in the skins of wild beasts, and exposed to be torn to pieces by dogs in the public games … they were crucified, or condemned to be burnt; and at nightfall served in place of lamps to lighten the darkness, Nero's own gardens being used for the spectacle." Augustine wrote against its lure, speaking of how he lost his friend Alypius, who was drawn to the blood lust of the games of the gladiators. Christians had seen their friends martyred for the pleasure of the public shows while other people were lost to its lusts. St. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:9 that "God has exhibited us Apostles at the very end of the procession [Goodspeed] … like doomed gladiators in the arena! [Moffatt] … to be gazed at in a theater by the whole world, both men and angels" [Conybeare]. The church became a very serious and contemplative place; at points laughter was even considered unworthy conduct for the Christian or even to be evil. Many church leaders tried to fight this error, arguing that joy and laughter came from God and not from the devil, as Chrysostom would have had them believe. The mimes did not fit Chrysostom's somber frame of mind; they were a joyous lot who made fun of the very serious. Some Christians tried to find release from their sorrows in the ungodly, lustful theater of the Roman mime and Floralia, drawn like bugs to a flame, devoured in the pleasures of a theater form that would destroy their souls. The confusion of the early church toward drama and mime was largely due to the fact that degenerate mime was mixed with the godly mime. The church threw out both. 4. Association with False Worship. Cyprian complained

They put on the stage the wanton Venus, the adulterer Mara, and Jove, that old wretch, prince of the realm of love not less on account of his own vices that on account of his position. They show him majestic with his thunderbolts, or made white with the feathers of a swan or descending in a golden shower.

Augustine wrote, "In the theaters the spectators may behold some counterfeit god Jove, committing adultery and hurling his thunderbolts at one and the same time." Mimes commonly mocked the gods just as their earlier counterparts worshiped them in the goat song. However they still worshiped the false god by mentioning their existence and glorifying their sins. 5. Mockery of Church Disputes. The quarrels of Patriarch Chrysostom with the bishops Severianus and Antiochus, and of St. Gregory of Nazianzus with Maximus of Alexandria became the subject matter for the mimes. Gregory of Nazianzus exclaimed "My tragedy is become a comedy for my enemies. Through this we of the church are bandied to and fro and are brought upon their stages." All these reasons caused church leaders such as St. Tertullian (in his De Spectaculis), St. Chrysostom, and St. Cyprian to write avidly against all theater. The evil associations found in the arts caused the early church fathers to raise a voice of protest against all ludi (mime, dance, juggling, athletics, etc.). The arts in general were condemned because of their associations, just as the violence and sex of drama today causes the church to condemn art. Mime was frequently condemned throughout the early history of the church. The councils which in some way condemned actors, mimes, and feasts, included the Council of Arles (314); Laodicean Council (341–381); Council of Carthage (397); Canons of Hippolytus [3d century: lost], Constitutions of the Apostles by Clemens Romanus, the African Council of 408, the seventh Council of Carthage, the second Synod of Arras in 452, Council of Agde in 506, Concilium Trullanum of 692, the second Council of Cloveshow in Mercia 747, Synod of Nicea of 767, the Synodus Turonensis of 813, Synodus Cabilonensis of 813, the canons of the Concilium Aquigranense of 816, the Concilium Parisiense of 829, and the thirteenth canon of the Concilium Moguntinum of 847. These documents prove that mime was alive throughout the centuries despite the church's opposition. Mime in Worship Eventually, the church debated the proper use of the arts. Language became a problem in evangelism and later in ministry. Much of what was preached had to be supported in pictures, mimetic movements, and even mime. Mime was an integral part of the church and worship. Nicoll writes that "almost all the average man knew of his faith was through what he could see … ritual was visual … and dramatic." The Mass evolved out of the mimed dramas of the early church in order to illustrate the truths of the Lord's Table and other mysteries. Of necessity the church became more and more visual in its ministry because fewer people spoke Greek or, in later years, Latin. The church added statues, paintings, and ceremonies and relied on a liturgy of gestures as complex as the most difficult mime. Reluctantly, the church came to reconsider the mimetic arts it had once wholeheartedly condemned.