DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61301#0256
222
STUDIES IN GREEK ART.
the winged horses and the charioteer of the gods are all
of them noble and of noble breed, while ours are mixed;
and we have a charioteer who drives them in a pair, and
one of them is noble and of noble origin, and the other is
ignoble and of ignoble origin, and, as might be expected,
there is a great deal of trouble in managing them. I
will endeavour to explain to you in what way the mortal
differs from the immortal creature. The soul or animate
being has the care of the inanimate, and traverses the
whole heaven, in divers forms appearing—when perfect
and fully winged she soars upward and is the ruler of
the universe, while the imperfect soul loses her feathers
and, drooping in her flight, at last settles on the solid
ground—there finding a home, she receives an earthly
frame which appears to be self-moved, but is really moved
by her power, and this composition of soul and body is
called a living and mortal creature. . . . The reason why
the soul loses her feathers should be explained, and is as
follows:
“ The \ving is intended to soar aloft and carry that
which gravitates downwards into the upper region, which
is the dwelling of the gods ; and this is that element of
the body which is most akin to the divine. Now the
divine is beauty, wisdom, goodness, and the like ; and
by these the wing of the soul is nourished and grows
apace. But when fed upon evil and foulness and the
like, wastes and falls away. Zeus, the mighty lord,
STUDIES IN GREEK ART.
the winged horses and the charioteer of the gods are all
of them noble and of noble breed, while ours are mixed;
and we have a charioteer who drives them in a pair, and
one of them is noble and of noble origin, and the other is
ignoble and of ignoble origin, and, as might be expected,
there is a great deal of trouble in managing them. I
will endeavour to explain to you in what way the mortal
differs from the immortal creature. The soul or animate
being has the care of the inanimate, and traverses the
whole heaven, in divers forms appearing—when perfect
and fully winged she soars upward and is the ruler of
the universe, while the imperfect soul loses her feathers
and, drooping in her flight, at last settles on the solid
ground—there finding a home, she receives an earthly
frame which appears to be self-moved, but is really moved
by her power, and this composition of soul and body is
called a living and mortal creature. . . . The reason why
the soul loses her feathers should be explained, and is as
follows:
“ The \ving is intended to soar aloft and carry that
which gravitates downwards into the upper region, which
is the dwelling of the gods ; and this is that element of
the body which is most akin to the divine. Now the
divine is beauty, wisdom, goodness, and the like ; and
by these the wing of the soul is nourished and grows
apace. But when fed upon evil and foulness and the
like, wastes and falls away. Zeus, the mighty lord,