Laudator Temporis Acti

Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods 2.56.141 (tr. H. Rackham):

And just as architects relegate the drains of houses to the rear, away from the eyes and nose of the masters, since otherwise they would inevitably be somewhat offensive, so nature has banished the corresponding organs of the body far away from the neighbourhood of the senses.

atque ut in aedificiis architecti avertunt ab oculis naribusque dominorum ea quae profluentia necessario taetri essent aliquid habitura, sic natura res similes procul amandavit a sensibus.

Arthur Stanley Pease ad loc.:

for the thought cf. Off. 1, 126-127: quae partes autem corporis ad naturae necessitatem datae aspectum essent deformem habiturae atque foedum eas contexit atque abdidit. hanc naturae tam diligentem fabricam imitata est hominum verecundia, etc.; Xen. Mem. 1, 4, 6: ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ ἀποχωροῦντα δυσχερῆ, ἀποστρέψαι τοὺς τούτων ὀχετοὺς καὶ ἀπενεγκεῖν ᾗ δυνατὸν προσωτάτω ἀπὸ τῶν αἰσθήσεων [cf. Plut. De cap. ex Inim. 10, p. 91 f; [Longin.] 43, 5]; Plat. Tim. 45 a; Varr. Menipp. 430 Bücheler: retrimenta cibi qua exirent per posticum vallem feci; Sen. N.Q. 1, 16, 7; Apul. De Plat. 1, 13; Corp. Herm. 5, 6: τίς ὁ τὰ τιμιώτατα εἰς τὸ φανερὸν ἐκτυπώσας καὶ τὰ αἰσχρὰ κρύψας; Lact. De Opif. 7,7; Ambr. Exam. 6, 72; Cyril. Hieros. Cat. 4, 22; Hier. Adv. Iovin. 1, 36; Aug. C. lulian. Op. imperf. 4, 37; C. Iulian. Pelag. 5, 33: quod in nostro corpore loca digestionis Balbus remota dixit a sensibus, ideo verum est quoniam sensus nostros ea quae digerimus non alliciunt sed offendunt; propterea pars qua egeruntur naturaliter aliis partibus altrinsecus prominentibus occultatur; Isid. Etym. 11, 1, 105; Michael Ephes. in Part. An. 4, p. 76, 34-36 Hayduck; Melet. De Nat. Hom. (Cramer, Anecd. Oxon. 3, 107-108): καθάπερ καὶ οἱ πόλεων τινῶν ἐπιμελούμενοι, ὀχετοὺς καὶ ἀμάρρας καὶ ῥύακας παρασκευάζουσιν εἰς λίμνας ἢ ποταμοὺς ἢ θαλάσσας τὰ συναγόμενα πέμποντες περιττά. Cf. also an analogous case in Aristot. Part. An. 4, 5, 681 b 26-28. Posidonius may here be attacking, on the grounds of nature's own creations, the offensive tenets and practices of the Cynics; cf. I. Heinemann, Poseidonios' metaphys. Schr. 2 (1928), 212; also M. Pohlenz, Ant. Führertum (1934), 75-76, with remarks on αἰδώς. On his general inclination to modesty and even euphemism cf. K. Reinhardt, Poseidonios (1921), 254, who remarks upon his omission from the discussion of refe­rence to the reproductive organs.

Labels: noctes scatologicae