Is a hypocrite an actor, a pretender, or a hypocrite?

The meaning of the word lyceum now has a purely negative, even offensive character. Call the actor that way - he will take it as a spit in the face. Although in fact there is nothing offensive in this word initially. It may sound phonetically not very pleasant, but initially it had a different meaning.

What dictionaries say

In the “Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language” Krylov claims that we received this word as a literal translation from the ancient Greek concept of “prosopoleptos”, which means “one who wears a stranger’s face”, “makes a stranger’s face”. This word was used to call actors in antiquity, relying on the fact that they wore masks during performances. That is, initially the Greeks did not think to invest any negative meaning in such an expression. Ozhegov’s explanatory dictionary suggests that the actor is an actor. Most other reference sources use the same meaning. The word "pretender" is also mentioned.

Church and acting

The word received this color in the Middle Ages, thanks to the efforts of the church. Christianity immediately branded hypocrisy as one of the sins. Like, not only does it evoke base passions in people with its grimaces, it also takes on the personality of another person, takes over all his misconduct. They did not care if they were invented or not.

For the sake of justice, it is worth noting that partly Orthodox priests were right - at that time we had no serious theater, and there was no talk of any catharsis. There were only vagrant buffoon artists who amused the people. Indeed, they were often noticed where debauchery took place. However, this is clearly not a reason to say that the lyceum is a direct messenger from the Devil.

The reasons the church had for such an attitude were actually quite pragmatic. Magicians and acrobats led the flock right from under the nose, and had to do something about it. In the end, they came to the old conclusion - “they kick out a wedge with a wedge”, adopting the techniques of buffoons and turning them into a nativity scene and Easter performances.

The hypocrite and the hypocrite

Despite the formal acceptance of acting by the Orthodox Church, this word still got a negative color for many centuries. Sinfulness has become attached to acting, it seems, forever.

In addition, the meaning of the word hypocrites is now associated with the hypocrite. “Wearer of a stranger’s face” stood in line with the “changing faces”. Miraculity farther and farther away from the actors, passing to various unpleasant personalities. “A lyceum is the same hypocrite” - people who were far from etymological orders were sure.

In addition, prototypes of theaters began to appear at that time with an attempt to tell dramatic stories. And now it was completely uncomfortable to put people (sometimes of a noble family) engaged in this art on a par with unwashed vagabonds-buffoons. Therefore, gradually, the term "lyceum" has departed to various jesters and unsuccessful comedians, becoming an insult to people who create real art.

Contemporary acting

Now the hypocrite has almost completely become synonymous with the hypocrite. True, with one fundamental difference. The word "lyceum" is used not to any rabble, but in relation to supposedly "respected" people. Their roles may include pseudo-singers and pseudo-singers, dancers and soccer players. A president can even be a hypocrite, who is trying to create the image of “his boyfriend” among the people, having 18 chic palaces. True, clowns and magicians still calmly refer to this term, because their work is somewhat different from the theater and is aimed primarily at the spectacle.

Now the lyceum is a public person who in reality does not so much change masks, but wears one - someone else's. For acting, the closest analogue was pretense.