| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: authoress when she changed her scheme.
{110} A male writer would have made Ulysses say, not "may you
give satisfaction to your wives," but "may your wives give
satisfaction to you."
{111} See note {64}.
{112} The land was in reality the shallow inlet, now the salt
works of S. Cusumano--the neighbourhood of Trapani and Mt. Eryx
being made to do double duty, both as Scheria and Ithaca. Hence
the necessity for making Ulysses set out after dark, fall
instantly into a profound sleep, and wake up on a morning so
foggy that he could not see anything till the interviews between
The Odyssey |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Symposium by Plato: dialogue between himself and Diotima. And as at a banquet good manners
would not allow him to win a victory either over his host or any of the
guests, the superiority which he gains over Agathon is ingeniously
represented as having been already gained over himself by her. The
artifice has the further advantage of maintaining his accustomed profession
of ignorance (compare Menex.). Even his knowledge of the mysteries of
love, to which he lays claim here and elsewhere (Lys.), is given by
Diotima.
The speeches are attested to us by the very best authority. The madman
Apollodorus, who for three years past has made a daily study of the actions
of Socrates--to whom the world is summed up in the words 'Great is
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: would work himself into a fit.
"Suddenly he ceased, and I could hear him snorting and
blowing like a porpoise. I said--
"'What steamer is this, pray?'
"'Eh? What's this? And who are you?'
"'Castaway crew of an English bark burnt at sea.
We came here to-night. I am the second mate. The
captain is in the long-boat, and wishes to know if you
would give us a passage somewhere.'
"'Oh, my goodness! I say. . . . This is the Celestial
from Singapore on her return trip. I'll arrange with
Youth |
