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Literary notes about sacrilege (AI summary)

In literature, "sacrilege" is employed as a powerful term to denote the violation or profanation of that which is deemed sacred, whether in a religious, moral, or cultural sense. Writers use it to vividly portray acts that desecrate established norms or hallowed objects—ranging from overt transgressions, such as defiling holy sanctuaries ([1], [2]), to more metaphorical breaches of human dignity or tradition ([3], [4]). The term is equally at home in historical narratives where it marks egregious political or military misconduct ([5], [6]), as well as in philosophical discourses that debate the nature of the sacred and its protection ([7], [8]). It also appears in personal or emotional contexts, emphasizing the profound shock and disapproval that accompany an act seen as irreverent ([9], [10]). Across these varied contexts, "sacrilege" functions as both a moral indictment and a dramatic device, reflecting the enduring human preoccupation with the separation between the sacred and the profane ([11], [12]).
  1. Apollo, who witnessed the sacrilege, came down to defend his sanctuary, and a violent struggle ensued.
    — from Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome by E. M. Berens
  2. ] Note 1339 ( return ) [ i.e. things which it would be sacrilege to disturb, such as tombs.
    — from Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica by Hesiod
  3. you, another sacrilege against human dignity, and nothing more.
    — from The Duel and Other Stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
  4. To be driven by lovers—A king might envy us, and if we part them it’s more like sacrilege than anything I know.”
    — from A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
  5. He afterwards supported the expense of the civil wars, and of his triumphs and public spectacles, by the most flagrant rapine and sacrilege.
    — from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete by Suetonius
  6. “If all Russians are in the least like you, it is sacrilege to fight such a nation,” he said to Pierre.
    — from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy
  7. We have treated of sacrilege, and of conspiracy, and of treason.
    — from Laws by Plato
  8. At the beginning of Book x, all acts of violence, including sacrilege, are summed up in a single law.
    — from Laws by Plato
  9. It appeared to me sacrilege so soon to leave the repose, akin to death, of the house of mourning and to rush into the thick of life.
    — from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
  10. They had seen sacrilege unspeakable, and it behoved them to get away before the Gods and devils of the hills took vengeance.
    — from Kim by Rudyard Kipling
  11. He seemed to him to be conducting himself in a monstrous fashion, to be robbing him in a sort, and almost committing sacrilege.
    — from Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
  12. But you are not free enough yet to commit a sacrilege.
    — from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

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