| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Alcibiades II by Platonic Imitator: it to himself as far as he can, it does indeed require an almost superhuman
wisdom to discover what the poet would be at. You surely do not suppose
that Homer, the wisest and most divine of poets, was unaware of the
impossibility of knowing a thing badly: for it was no less a person than
he who said of Margites that 'he knew many things, but knew them all
badly.' The solution of the riddle is this, I imagine:--By 'badly' Homer
meant 'bad' and 'knew' stands for 'to know.' Put the words together;--the
metre will suffer, but the poet's meaning is clear;--'Margites knew all
these things, but it was bad for him to know them.' And, obviously, if it
was bad for him to know so many things, he must have been a good-for-
nothing, unless the argument has played us false.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Glinda of Oz by L. Frank Baum: elected."
"What is your name?" asked Ozma.
"I am called the Su-dic, which is short for Supreme
Dictator. I sent that man away because the moment you
mentioned Ozma of Oz, and the Emerald City, I knew who
you are. I suppose I'm the only Flathead that ever
heard of you, but that's because I have more brains
than the rest."
Dorothy was staring hard at the Su-dic.
"I don't see how you can have any brains at all," she
remarked, "because the part of your head is gone where
Glinda of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Hellenica by Xenophon: Agis, proposing to become allies of the Lacedaemonians on the sole
condition of keeping their fortification walls and Piraeus; and to
draw up articles of treaty on these terms. Agis bade them betake
themselves to Lacedaemon, seeing that he had no authority to act
himself. With this answer the ambassadors returned to Athens, and were
forthwith sent on to Lacedaemon. On reaching Sellasia,[6] a town in[7]
Laconian territory, they waited till they got their answer from the
ephors, who, having learnt their terms (which were identical to those
already proposed to Agis), bade them instantly to be gone, and, if
they really desired peace, to come with other proposals, the fruit of
happier reflection. Thus the ambassadors returned home, and reported
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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 Agesilaus by Xenophon: 27.
And if, by admission, it is noble for every Hellene to be a lover of
his fellow-Hellenes, yet we must fare far afield to find another
instance of a general who, expecting to sack some city, would have
refused to seize the prize; or who regarded victory in a war waged
against fellow-Hellenes as a species of calamity. Yet this man when a
message was brought him concerning the battle at Corinth,[8] in which
but eight Lacedaemonians had fallen, but of their opponents ten
thousand nearly, showed no sign of exultation, but sighed, saying,
"Alas for Hellas! since those who now lie in their graves, were able,
had they lived, to conquer the hosts of Asia."[9] Again, when some
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