| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Golden Sayings of Epictetus by Epictetus: extracts from more than five hundred authors for his son's use.
The best examination of the authenticity of the Fragments is
Quaestiones Epicteteae, by R. Asmus, 1888. The above selection
includes some of doubtful origin but intrinsic interest.--Crossley.
(APPENDIX B)
The Hymn of Cleanthes
Chiefest glory of deathless Gods, Almighty for ever,
Sovereign of Nature that rulest by law, what Name shall we give Thee?--
Blessed be Thou! for on Thee should call all things that are mortal.
For that we are Thine offspring; nay, all that in myriad motion
Lives for its day on the earth bears one impress--Thy likeness--upon it.
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Symposium by Plato: and like all spirits he is intermediate between the divine and the mortal.'
'And what,' I said, 'is his power?' 'He interprets,' she replied, 'between
gods and men, conveying and taking across to the gods the prayers and
sacrifices of men, and to men the commands and replies of the gods; he is
the mediator who spans the chasm which divides them, and therefore in him
all is bound together, and through him the arts of the prophet and the
priest, their sacrifices and mysteries and charms, and all prophecy and
incantation, find their way. For God mingles not with man; but through
Love all the intercourse and converse of God with man, whether awake or
asleep, is carried on. The wisdom which understands this is spiritual; all
other wisdom, such as that of arts and handicrafts, is mean and vulgar.
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Koran: We sent Noah unto his people, and he said, 'O my people! worship
God, ye have no god-but Him; do ye then not fear?'
Said the chiefs of those who misbelieved among his people, 'This
is nothing but a mortal like yourselves who wishes to have
preference over you, and had God pleased He would have sent angels; we
have not heard of this amongst our fathers of yore: he is nothing
but a man possessed; let him bide then for a season.'
Said he, 'Help me, for they call me liar!'
And we inspired him, 'Make the ark under our eyes and inspiration;
and when the oven boils over, conduct into it of every kind two,
with thy family, except him of them against whom the word "has passed;
The Koran |
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum: transformed us. But how did she manage to get you,
Polychrome?"'
"I was asleep, and she took unfair advantage of me,"
answered the bird sadly. "Had I been awake, I could
easily have protected myself."
"Tell me," said the Green Monkey earnestly, as he
came close to the cage, "what must we do, Daughter of
the Rainbow, to escape from these transformations?
Can't you help us, being a Fairy?" "At present I am
powerless to help even myself," replied the Canary.
"That's the exact truth!" exclaimed the Giantess, who
The Tin Woodman of Oz |
