ui] PHASES OF PAGAN DECADENCE 43 These romances have another unmistakable trait of decadence. Although love stories, they express lu- bricity rather than passion. The passion of love had been sung by Sappho ; it had been made pastoral by Theocritus. Again, utter coarseness, life unveiled amid loud laughter, wanton animal exuberance, had also existed in literature, as with Aristophanes; yet these traits did not indicate a polluted mind. The interest lay in the fun, which might seize on any sub- ject, and quite readily on what was obscene. But the Greek romances, like their forerunner, Lucian's AsSy contain neither overmastering passion nor the indis- criminate laughter which may take one subject as readily as another. They contain much that touches only sexual desire, which they seem intended to arouse. Sometimes shameless details are told, showing what the author and his public really cared for. Passion has been always part of human strength. But there is no surer sign of decadence than the dwelling of the mind on such matters as are prominent in the Greek romances. Sidon. In Book III pictures of Andromeda and of Prometheus are described, and near the beginning of Book V a picture of Philomela and Tereos.
