Definition of Iconoclasts
The Byzantine Greek eikonoklástēs ,
which can be translated as "image breaker" , came to late
Latin as iconoclasts . This is the immediate etymological
antecedent of iconoclast , a term that in our language has
two broad meanings.
According to the dictionary of
the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), it was described as
iconoclastic that, in the eighth century , was part of a movement
that rejected the sacred images , destroying them, pursuing their
worship and attacking the people who worshiped them . By extension, an
iconoclast is one who does not recognize the authority of norms, guides or
teachers .
It was the Byzantine emperor Leo
III who promoted iconoclasm in the eighth century . Through
various laws , he promoted the so-called iconoclastic revolution to
end the cult of images and thus achieve what he understood as an improvement in
public morals. However, this decision provoked confrontations with
different popes and motivated popular revolts.
Therefore, in the first sense
mentioned by the RAE that derives from this current fomented by Leon
III , an iconoclast is an individual who intends to ruin and eliminate
sculptures and sacred paintings. These are people with the opposite
attitude to iconodules , who venerate images.
Iconoclasm varies according to
each religion . Catholics, for example, venerate images because
they do not worship the representations themselves, but what they
represent. Muslims, on the other hand, are iconoclastic: they do not
accept representations of the prophet Muhammad nor allow figures to
represent people in mosques.
Iconoclast is also the one
who does not respect leaders, statutes or codes accepted by the majority . "Lisa,
the iconoclast" , in this context, is the title in Spanish of a chapter of
the seventh season of The Simpsons, where Lisa refuses to
venerate the hero Jeremías Springfieldwhen she discovers her dark side.
