Schoeck_2010_EnvyATheoryOfSocialBehaviour.pdf

148 THE ENVY OF THE GODS AND THE CONCEPT OF FATE
example, as directing the battle in company with Fate. Since no one can
draw death as his lot more than once, in contrast to the many thousands
of portions of good and bad he received during the course of his life, the
conception of a particular god who holds the scales of fate, and decides
when a man's time has come, is more readily tolerable, perhaps even
comforting. 12
Nilsson cites some stories from Porphyry that are characteristic of the
endeavour to avert the envy of others found in the Apollonian piety of
the Greeks. Invariably the comparison involves two sacrifices made to
the god, one magnificent, such as a herd of cattle, the other meagre,
perhaps a few handfuls of corn from a sack. Asked which sacrifice was
more acceptable, the god invariably indicated the lesser. We are given a
deep insight into the underlying psychology, however, when the poor
man in the story proceeds to empty the whole of his sack of corn upon
the altar, whereupon he is told by the Pythia that he is now twice as
abhorrent to the god as he had previously been acceptable. Nilsson
concludes: 'This is a case, not of good or bad conscience, of contrast
between rich and poor or pure and impure, but of boasting and vainglory .
. . . What is stressed is that man should not pride himself on his piety, nor
should it be ostentatious. ,13 (The consequences of his doing so need only
be recalled: In witch-hunts, such as those in New England, the victims
were often exceptionally pious people, whose show of godliness had
drawn down upon them the envy of others.)
The Christian religion has been able only partially to solve the social
problem as to how the believer who is a perfectionist can protect himself
against the envy and attack of those who, in their own eyes, are less
perfect. For in a monastery, the very place where virtually every cause
for mutual envy has been eliminated, envious suspicion is focused upon
another's over-zealous concern for his religious duties or his religious
advancement.
Nemesis
The classical conception of a divine power that represents the principle
of envy is linked most often with the word 'nemesis.' In Homer, all it
12 Op. cit., pp. 343, 344.
13 Op. cit., p. 615.