SATURNALIA
371
SATYR
jecting all glosses, and has returned to the old view that 'rj](pdv is the mistake of a scribe for Kiyim, or Riyun {Auihent. des PenUit. i, 110 sq.) ; yet this seems too hasty; and Kircher's view is supported by some well acquainted with the Coptic, and is defended by Baur {CuJiimeiif. ad loc.) and Winer, who considers the ren- dering of Hengstenberg {Geslell eurer Bilder, i. e. the frame or support of your iinotjes) as without force, though Hitzig and Ewald adopt it. Gesenius (Thesaur. ii, 6G9 sq.) renders statuam idolorum vestrorum, i. e. statue of your idols, which is without good reason. (Comp.^ in gen., Braun, Selecta Sacra, p. 477 sq. ; Maius and Schwab, in Ugolini Thesaur. xxiii [but these are un- important] ; Schroder, I)e Tabernac. MoL et Stella Dei Rempha [Marb. 1745].) Kosenmiiller denies that the Sept. renders Kiyun by 'Vai<pai>, but refers it as a word of explanation to elohekem, QS"''^'^) your gods. But this is with little reason. An attempt has been made to connect Saturn with the Jewish Sabbath, as the day of Saturn. See, contra, Biihr, Symbol, ii, 584. Wolff's J)iss. I. de Chiun et Remph. (Leips. 1741) h un- important.— Wilier. .See Chil'n.
Saturnalia, the festival of Saturnus, to whom the people of Latium attributed the introduction of agricult- ure and the arts of civilized life. It was kept towards the end of December, as a sort of harvest-home, during which business was suspended; courts and schools were closed; no war was commenced or malefactor punished; slaves were relieved from ordinary labor, and, dressed in their masters' clothes, were waited upon by them at the table. Saturnus being an ancient national god of Lati- um, the institution of the Saturnalia is lost in the most remote antiquity. One legend ascribes it to Janus, an- other (by Varro) to the Pelasgi, while a third tradition represented certain followers of Hercules, whom he had left behind on his return to Greece, as the authors of the festival. At first only one day was set apart for the sacred rites of Saturnus, but additions were gradual!}' made until it occupied seven days. In reality, during the empire, three different festivals were celebrated. First came the Saturnalia proper, commencing on XYI Kal. Dec, followed by the Opalia, anciently coincident with the Sif/illa7-ia, so called from little earthenware figures (sifjilla oscilki) exposed for sale at this season. See Anthon, Classical Diet. s. v.
Saturnia and Saturnius, in Greek mythology, were appellatives of Juno and Jupiter, derived from their father Saturn.
Saturninians, Saturnians, or Saturnines, an early sect of Syrian Gnostics, followers of Saturninus (q. v.) or Saturnilus. The theories of Saturninus are only known through the worlc of Irena?us Agahist Heresies. In this he states that Saturninus, like Mcnander, taught that there is one supreme Unknown, the Father (Darz/p ayvwaroQ). The Fatlier, he taught, was without or- igin, bodiless and formless, and never had in reality ap- peared to men ; the God of the Jews was only an angel. A number of spiritual beings were created by him in successive gradations, in the lowest of which came the spirits of the seven planets. These seven, of whom the God of the Jews was chief, created the world, man, and all things. They had not power to make man an erect being, and so he continued to crawl upon the earth like a worm until the Supreme sent forth a spark of life, which gave him an erect posture, compacted his joints, and made him to live. INIan now for the first time be- comes possessed of a soul, and the godlike germ is des- tined to unfold itself in those human natures where it has been implanted, to distinct personalitj', and to re- turn after a determinate period to the original Fountain of Life. Saturninus taught that the Saviour, whom he calls Mow, vovc, came to destiw the Demiurge, who was the God of the Jews ; that he was without birth, without body, without figure, and only in appearance a man. He accounted for the existence of good and evil men by afiirming that they were originally created of
two kinds, the one good, whom Christ came to save, the other wicked, whom the devils succor, and whom Christ will destroy. The Saturninians considered marriage to be of Satan; they abstained from animal food, and taught that some prophecies came from the spirits who made the world, and some from Satan. Their doctrines led to a strict asceticism, and also to the celibacy of follow- ing times ; they were based on dualism, and resembled those of the Docetas. As these heretics are not men- tioned by St. Clement of Alexandria, it is probable that they were not much known out of Syria, and that they were few in number. See ^\nnt, Hist, of Sects, s. v. ; Gardner, Faiths of the World, s. v. ; Ueberweg, Hist, of Philos. i, 280 sq.
Saturninus, a native of Antioch, in Syria, and a disciple of jMenander. He was founder of a sect of Gnostics, called after him Saturninians (q.v.). He flour- ished A.D. 117-138.
Saturninus, a Christian martyr under Diocletian, was a priest of Albitiiia, in Africa, who, having been in- formed against for officiating in his clerical capacity, was apprehended and sent to Carthage to be examined before Amelinus. On his examination, Saturninus vin- dicated the Christian religion with great eloquence. By command of the proconsul he was tortured and remand- ed to prison, where he died of starvation, about A.D. 305. — Fox, Book of Martyrs, p. 48,