A Valentinian Response to the Culture of Reclining

Abstract

Let me begin with an unscholarly and contemporary reflection. As I worked through the Valentinian material, I was reminded of the following sort of experience: at some time in your life, you have perhaps had dining companions or dinner guests who have gone through the entire dinner party seemingly without taking any notice of their surroundings, the décor of the dining room or restaurant, the table settings, the food on the plates before them, or the wine in their glasses. The conversation at the meal has been lively, it has been a good dinner party, and everyone has enjoyed each other’s company, but the arrangements and composition of the meal itself seem to have escaped notice. I would not speculate too much on the reasons—your friends are not boors, after all—but it may be because there has been business to do over the meal or the ideas have been flying fast and furiously, or the meal may be simply a precursor to the rest of the evening’s entertainments or intimacies.