The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Symposium by Plato: Athens. Although he had not been present himself, he had heard them from
the best authority. Aristodemus, who is described as having been in past
times a humble but inseparable attendant of Socrates, had reported them to
him (compare Xen. Mem.).
The narrative which he had heard was as follows:--
Aristodemus meeting Socrates in holiday attire, is invited by him to a
banquet at the house of Agathon, who had been sacrificing in thanksgiving
for his tragic victory on the day previous. But no sooner has he entered
the house than he finds that he is alone; Socrates has stayed behind in a
fit of abstraction, and does not appear until the banquet is half over. On
his appearing he and the host jest a little; the question is then asked by
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Merry Men by Robert Louis Stevenson: We must make allowances, we must sacrifice our feelings.'
'I trust, my dear, you have never found me averse to sacrifices,'
returned the Doctor very stiffly.
'And you will let me go and tell him that you have agreed? It will
be like your noble nature,' she cried.
So it would, he perceived - it would be like his noble nature! Up
jumped his spirits, triumphant at the thought. 'Go, darling,' he
said nobly, 'reassure him. The subject is buried; more - I make an
effort, I have accustomed my will to these exertions - and it is
forgotten.'
A little after, but still with swollen eyes and looking mortally
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