| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from King James Bible: chief, (for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him the
chief;)
CH1 26:11 Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth:
all the sons and brethren of Hosah were thirteen.
CH1 26:12 Among these were the divisions of the porters, even among the
chief men, having wards one against another, to minister in the house of
the LORD.
CH1 26:13 And they cast lots, as well the small as the great, according
to the house of their fathers, for every gate.
CH1 26:14 And the lot eastward fell to Shelemiah. Then for Zechariah
his son, a wise counsellor, they cast lots; and his lot came out
King James Bible |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Republic by Plato: nothing which can be truly called himself. Neither can any man live his
life and act it. The actor is the slave of his art, not the master of it.
Taking this view Plato is more decided in his expulsion of the dramatic
than of the epic poets, though he must have known that the Greek tragedians
afforded noble lessons and examples of virtue and patriotism, to which
nothing in Homer can be compared. But great dramatic or even great
rhetorical power is hardly consistent with firmness or strength of mind,
and dramatic talent is often incidentally associated with a weak or
dissolute character.
In the Tenth Book Plato introduces a new series of objections. First, he
says that the poet or painter is an imitator, and in the third degree
The Republic |
