๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ซ๐๐๐จ-๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ก๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐๐
Abstract: Dance held a complex and often morally ambiguous role in the Greco-Roman world, especially within the context of pagan religious rituals and public spectacles. While it was used for entertainment and religious expression, dance was also associated with eroticism, emotional excess, and idolatrous rites. This paper examines how these negative connotations influenced early Christian perceptions of dance, contributing to its exclusion from Christian worship practices despite its earlier prominence in the Old Testament. Introduction In the ancient Mediterranean world, dance functioned as a powerful form of ritual, cultural expression, and entertainment. However, unlike its generally celebratory and sacred use in Old Testament worship, dance in Greco-Roman paganism carried associations with sensuality, theatrical excess, and religious syncretism. The early Church, emerging within this cultural context, distanced itself from such expressions, emphasizing moral purity, ord...