| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Myths and Myth-Makers by John Fiske: remark, "that the king had been ill, and that people generally
expected the illness to be fatal, because the oldest lion in
the Tower, about the king's age, had just died. 'So wild and
capricious is the human mind,' " observes the elegant
letter-writer. But indeed, as Mr. Tylor justly remarks, "the
thought was neither wild nor capricious; it was simply such an
argument from analogy as the educated world has at length
painfully learned to be worthless, but which, it is not too
much to declare, would to this day carry considerable weight
to the minds of four fifths of the human race." Upon such
symbolism are based most of the practices of divination and
Myths and Myth-Makers |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Apology by Xenophon: the present time to hold my head less high than I did before sentence
was passed against me, if I have not been convicted of having done any
of those things whereof my accusers accused me? It has not been proved
against me that I have sacrificed to novel divinities in place of Zeus
and Hera and the gods who form their company. I have not taken oath by
any other gods, nor named their name.
[44] {eipein auton [autos(?)]}, i.e. "according to Hermiogenes."
[45] Or, "must have a heavy load on their minds in the consciousness
of their impiety and injustice."
"And then the young--how could I corrupt them by habituating them to
manliness and frugality? since not even my accusers themselves allege
The Apology |
