these myths should he strictly interpreted; so to interpret them would, he thinks, "be the task—and not a very enviable one—of some person who had plenty of time on his hands."[1]
We have no means of telling how far these Myths are the creation of Plato's own prolific fancy, or how far they are compiled from the ancient Mysteries of his own country, from Pythagoræan tradition, or from oriental legends. But whatever their source may be, his genius has given them a character and beauty of their own; nowhere is his style so grand and impressive as in these fictions, on which he lavishes, as on some "rich strand," all the treasures of his mind.
THE CREATION OF MAN.
(From the "Timæus.")
The world we live in, says the astronomer Timæus, being visible, tangible, and perishable—unlike the world of eternal Ideas—must have been created, and if created, must have been the work of some great First Cause or Architect, who fashioned it after an eternal pattern; "for the work is the fairest of creations, and he is the best of causes." Of this indeed we can have no certain knowledge, but only belief or conjecture, since after all we are but mortal men.
The Creator, being goodness himself, wished that his work should also be good like him; and thus he brought order out of Chaos, and "put intelligence in soul and soul in body, and framed the universe to be
- ↑ Phædras, 229.
