| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Euthyphro by Plato: temples are full of them; and notably the robe of Athene, which is
carried up to the Acropolis at the great Panathenaea, is embroidered
with them. Are all these tales of the gods true, Euthyphro?
EUTHYPHRO: Yes, Socrates; and, as I was saying, I can tell you, if you
would like to hear them, many other things about the gods which
would quite amaze you.
SOCRATES: I dare say; and you shall tell me them at some other time when I
have leisure. But just at present I would rather hear from you a more
precise answer, which you have not as yet given, my friend, to the
question, What is 'piety'? When asked, you only replied, Doing as you do,
charging your father with murder.
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Shadow out of Time by H. P. Lovecraft: Probably
all the other victims whose cases were like mine had had a long
and familiar knowledge of the tales I had learned only when in
my secondary state. When these victims had lost their memory,
they had associated themselves with the creatures of their household
myths - the fabulous invaders supposed to displace men's minds
- and had thus embarked upon quests for knowledge which they thought
they could take back to a fancied, non-human past.
Then, when
their memory returned, they reversed the associative process and
thought of themselves as the former captive minds instead of as
Shadow out of Time |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Divine Comedy (translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) by Dante Alighieri: Whence Beatrice, who stood somewhat apart,
Smiling, appeared like unto her who coughed
At the first failing writ of Guenever.
And I began: "You are my ancestor,
You give to me all hardihood to speak,
You lift me so that I am more than I.
So many rivulets with gladness fill
My mind, that of itself it makes a joy
Because it can endure this and not burst.
Then tell me, my beloved root ancestral,
Who were your ancestors, and what the years
The Divine Comedy (translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) |
