When accusing someone of hypocrisy, people often use the name of the ancient Roman god Janus, who, as everyone knows, had two faces, which means two mouths and four eyes. Those who are not familiar with ancient mythology may have the impression that this celestial person personified deceit and deceit, but this is not so. Janus was a good god, he symbolized the beginning and end, and also helped to find exits and entrances. Chaos was also in his "zone of responsibility", and he is the source material for any order. Why? Yes, because there is nothing else to make it from.
Pagan polytheism, which was the state religion in the ancient Roman Empire, implied that there are many gods, they form a kind of governing body with a strict division of functions and a certain hierarchy. Janus occupied not the last place in this structure. Therefore, not every two-faced person deserves such a flattering definition.
Generally speaking, any member of society at certain moments of his life plays some role, and Shakespeare was right when he called the whole world a theater, and people - actors in it. If we go back to ancient times, then the traditions of the theater inIn ancient Greece, performers were ordered to wear masks, according to which their roles were guessed. This is what happens today, only representatives of the creative profession use their own faces, expressing with facial expressions the whole gamut of emotions dictated by the nature of the character being performed. But can it be argued that every actor is a two-faced person?
Our life is full of rituals, each of which provides for a variety of elements that must be performed. Even if one of the participants in the ceremony, whether joyful or sad, does not share the feelings prescribed by the situation, he is forced to obey the general order and give his own physiognomy an expression appropriate to the moment. He "puts on a mask" and everything goes his own way. And if someone tries to take it off, they will immediately accuse him of callousness, cynicism and lack of decorum. Not only that, they will say that he is a two-faced person: for so many years he pretended to be decent and now …
If there are only two options for behavior, then there is no need to talk about sophisticated cunning. A two-faced person is not yet a hypocrite: the real cunning lies in the many more appearances, and they can change depending on the situation like the colors of a chameleon when moving through the jungle. The ability for such mimicry is partly innate, but for the most part it increases as skill is achieved, and we can talk about diversity.
But to simplify, we can accept the hypothesis that the personification of deceitis a two-faced person. Determining that a counterpart can show some deceit in a relationship is, in general, a simple procedure, but this will take a little time. So, the first sign of duplicity is the failure to keep promises. The second criterion is the ability to lie. And the third is the inability to justify the trust placed. At least, the outstanding Bashkir writer and scientist Rizaitdin Fakhretdinov recommended paying attention to these three symptoms. However, people who are wise with life experience can quickly determine that they have a two-faced person in front of them; for this, sometimes it is enough for them to look into their eyes. For those who want to learn to understand the nature of deceit and signs of deceit from an early age, Alan Pease's book "Body Language" will be useful.
