Plutarch - Three Selections From Plutarch's Genius of Sokrates (Socrates), Transl Kenneth Sylvan...

7/30/2019 Plutarch - Three Selections From Plutarch's Genius of Sokrates (Socrates), Transl Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie 1904

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THREE SELECTIONS FROM

Who the Genii AreThe Dream of TiinarchurThe Cdwre of the GeniiEnglished by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie, AM*, Ph.D^D,

NEW York.Theosophical Publishing Co.244 LENOX AVENUE.


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Copyright, 1904, by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie.

This is the ^2 x^ Copy of a special limited Edition of J40copies, the type of which was set, and the issue printed bythe Translator, at the Monsalvat Press*


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J' WHO THE GENU ARE jfcND Simmxas said, J' *\think the Genius of So-krates was not a visionof some kind, but thediscernment of a Voice,which reached him insome particular, peculiarmanner; just as in dreams one imagines

hearing other people talk, though hear-ing no real voice. J^ Nevertheless one re-ceives sometimes in dreams a real, dis-tinct experience. J' This may take placebecause while one sleeps the body enjoysa total stillness and rest, while the condi-tion of those who are awake freqentlyprecludes them from apprehending themotions of the unseen Higher Beings. ^For not only the chaos of the passions,but the distractions of very many sorts ofbusiness stun us so thorougly that we canneither hear the warning of the Gods,nor, if heard, centre our attention onthem. ^ But Sokrates, whose pure andpassion-free reason had only so much in-timacy with his body as might have

Who the Genii Are \\\ fromJ* Plutarch's H'he Genius of Sokrates' J*


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been unavoidable, felt every motion ofthe spirit, and was immediately sensitiveto every impression, ^ And these impres-sions were not derived from a mere soundbut from the sigfnal, so to speak, of a Ge-nius who, without voice, affected his rea-son througfh the object itsclt. ^ Fof theVoice migfht be compared to a blow g:iv-en to the Soul through which she Is for-ced by means of the sense of hearing totake notice of the usual human speech. *^But the reason of the Higher Being di-rects Souls that are fitted for this throughthe mere touch of the objects thoughtof, dispensing entirely with the above-mentioned psychic blow.^ And the human Soul generally obeysthese Higher Beings gladly, whether ornot this advance her own desires. ^ Inthis manner her desires are not antagon-ized by contrary passions, permitting her-self to be gently and willingly govern-ed as by a bridle. This need not seem in-credible, when it is considered that a pu-ny rudder turns round the greatest shipsof burden, or that the potte?s disks per-mit themselves easily to be turned aroundby the hand. J' Although these instru-ments have no soul, nevertheless they areso well adapted to turn around that on

Who the Genii Are [2], fromj^ Plutarch's *Thc Genius of Sokrates' ^


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account of theiif smoothness they may beset in motion at the very first touchy J^Likewise the human SottI may be directedeasier than any other instrument becauseshe is held tense as with ropes by num-berless desires* J' Hence, as scon as any-body's mental incidence affects her sheteccives the impulse to move in the direc-tion of the thought* ^ All the passionsand desires reach far down into the think-ing portion of the Soul, so that at thevery first tremor of the thought, theyare, as it were, attracted to it, and pro-ceed to innervate and draw the outerman*J^ This circumstance gives us an insightinto the inherent power of thought. *^Bones and nerves have not the slightestsensation, not even the moist flesh; andthe heavy body-mass composed of thesenormally rests inactively quiet. ^ Butjust let the Soul lay hold on a thought,and direct her efforts towards it, and lo,in a moment this heavy mass is energ-ized, makes its tendons tense, and hastensto execute the mission as with wings. ^For Just as a motive merely thought,without any voice, easily sets the bodyin motion, just in the same manner, me-thinks, it is not impossible that a human

"Who the Genii Are [3], fromj^ Plutarch's The Genius of Sokrates' J*


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reason might tsc led by a Higcr Reason,a human Soul by a Diviner Soul* ^ Thismigfht take place by a sort of externaltouch, illustrated by the manner in whichanswers and questions intermingle in aconversation, and by the interminglingof light and reflection, n^ For ultimatelywe recognize another's thought by thehelp of his voice, just as if we were grop-ing in the dark, ^ But the thought ofthe Genii have a certain splendor, so tospeak, which of itself streams out uponthe worthily receptive, without the in-termediation of words or symbols suchsymbols as humans are forced to employone to another; which are therefore onlypictures or silhouettes of the thoughts^These themselves are not generally per-ceived clearly, except of course by thosewho possess a certain portion of the Div-ine Light.j^ The process by which the Voice itselfreaches tis may also inspire us with con-fidence. ^ The Voice is, as it were, con-ducted into the soul of the hearer by theair that at first is only thrown into vi-brations by the single articute sounds,and later is transmuted into voice andspeech. ^ What wonder then that thisair also, which so easily assumes every

Who the Genii Are [4], fromj^ Plutarch's *The Genius of Sokrates* c^


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form anci shape, should in like mannerreceive the thoughts of Higher Beings,and expresses the meaning of thethoughts of the Divine Being or Superi-or Divine Human Being* ^ The blowsand knocks of soldiers who are 6\.%%'a:\%mines may be noticed easily by the re-verberation of the htsizen shields, becausethe sound proceeding upward from thedepths is able to throw these into vibra-tion, although remaining unnoticed inany other manner, n^ This is exactly thestate of affairs with the utterances of theGenii. J^ They elicit no response, nor a-wake any sympathetic vibration in anyexcept those few whose nature is a quiettemperament and a passionless mood,and whom therefore we call properly Ho-ly and Divine Men.Jt It is usually supposed that the Geniusof a man gives his revelation in sleep on-ly, and it is usually supposed ridiculousand incredible that He should by thesame process impress those who are intheir waking condition, in their full nor-mal consciousness. J^ Such a suppositionwould find analogy in an artist whoshould play upon a lyre whose stringswere loose, but who were unable to per-form on one strung tense, and attuned*

"Who the Genii Are [5], from3 Plutarch's *The Genius of Sokrates *Jf>


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f2^ Evidently the teal cause of non-recep-tion is the unrest, the inharmoniousnessof the human breast of all of which outfriend Sokratcs was entirely free, ^ In-deed, this had already been prophesiedof him as a child, in the Oracle receivedby his father*^ For the Oracle commanded that thefather should permit Sokratcs to carryout any idea that came into his mind,without forcing; him to, or hindering himfrom anything* ^ He was to leave hima free rein to his dcskcs, and do for himnothing more than to make vows in hisbehalf to Zeus of the Market-places, andto the Muse;^ but beyond this to take noanxiety whatever about his son, inas-much as he possessed already within him-self a Path-finder through his life, whichwas better than a thousand teachers**^ **This, O my dear Phidolaos, is the o-pinion I have always held about the Ge-nius of Sokratcs, both during his life-time, and since his decease paying noattention whatsoever to those who ac-cepted a sneeze, or any such thing as adirect revelation from the Gods*^

Who the Genii Are [6], fromJ^ Plutarch's The Genius of Sokrates 'J^


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Jfc II ^>THE DREAM OF TIMARCHUS j

ND yet^ continued Son-mias, ^as to that whichI have heard Timarchtisof Chetonea relate abotstthe matter might easilybe considered a fairy-tale, so it may fee better

to refrain from saying: anything furtherab3iit it/3* *No, no' cried Theocritus, 'fairy-talessometimes hit the truth, more than a lit-tle. But, to begin with, tcll tts who thisTimarchus was I never heard of theman/3* *No wonder, dear Theocritos,* rejoin-ed Simmias, 'lor he died a very youngman. J^ Before his death he hcggcd So-krates to have him buried next to his sonLamproklcs, one of his friends and equal-a5:ed companions.j^ 'This Timarchus was a youth of loftythought who had been but of late initi-ated into Philosophy. ^ He longed mostearnestly to understand the real natureof the Genius of Sokrates.

The Dream of Timarchus, [J] fromJ* Plutarch^s 'The Genius of Sokrates' j*


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f^ *And with this purpose in view, without informing any one but me and Ke-bes, he descended into the Cave of Tro-phimus, in the Boetian city of Lebadaea,after he had carefully observed all theceremonies usual in the Temple of thisOracle, j^ He staid in the Cave twontgfhts and a day, J' The greater num-ber already considered him lost, and hisrelations already mourned him as dead,when, in the morning, he came out hap-py and in good spirits. J^ He expressedgratitude to the Divinities, and after hehad torn himself loose from the surround-ing crowds, he related to us many mar-vels he had seen and heard.J' 'After he had climbed down to the O-racle, he found himself at first, as he toldus, in a deep darkness* ^ He addressedsupplications to the Gods, and for a cert-ain period of time lay without being ex-actly conscious, whether he was awakeor dreaming. ^ It seemed to him, how-ever, that a sort of blow had struck hishead, through which the sutures of hiscranium relaxed, so as to afford egress tohis Soul. ^ She immediately swung her-self upwards, and after having, to hergreat delight, disported herself by com-mingling with the circumambient pure

The Dream of Timarchus [2], fromJ^ Plutarch's HThe Genius of Sokrates' ^


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piste and tfanspafcnt aif, she seemed torefresh herself from the life-long oppres-sion to which she had been subjected inthe body; and then she began to growlarger, just as a sail filled by the wind*3^ Hereupon he heard, passing over hishead, a charming rustling sound* Look-ing up, he failed to perceive the Earthany more, but a multitude of Island?, il-luminated by a serenely radiant effulg-ence, revolving cyclically in an oceanshimmering with variegated tints of ce-rulean hlisz, thus producing the Aeolianharmony that so delighted Timarchusas to make him understand these werethe Isles of the Blest-^ But as he looked beneath himself, heSAW a monstrous Abyss, round in form,as if it had been cut out by the falling ofa balL j^ It was horribly deep, and fullof thick darkness, which whirled aroundrestlessly, seemingly endeavoring to over-flow the crater. ^ Timarchus was al-most terrified by the sounds which pro-ceeded thence a thousandfold groanmgand howling of living beings, a loudmoaning of children, a mingled plaint ofmen and women, a chaos of screams,which rose up in a horrible roar from thevery entrails of the Abyss*

The Dream of Timarchus [3], fromj^ Plutarch^s *The Genius of Sokrates* J^


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j Aftcf some time, without seeing any-body, Timarchus heard the words *Tim-archus, what desirest thoo to know?'^Everything r rejoined he qtiickly. *Btfirst, what is that mass of Stars whichare flitting arotind the Abyss, some dip-ping into itf others rising out of it acfain?'*Then yoti do not know,' said the Invis-ible, ^that yoti are beholding the Genii?Let me explain to yoa the condition ofaffairs.J* *Every Soul, as such, is partaker ofthe Divine Reason; and there is not oneof them entirely devoid of Reason orThought. J* Only that part of a Soulwhich mingles itself with the flesh andthe passions suffers a transformation, anddegenerates through appetites or suffer-ing into stupidity. ^ Nevertheless, notevery Soul mingles itself in the samemanner. *!^ Some of them sink into thebody in their totality, and through pas-sion are entirely corrupted and destroyeddut'iiig life. ^ Others mingle themselvesonly partially, and their purest part re-mains outside the body, and will in nowise permit itself to be drawn down intothe flesh. ^ It swims on the surface ofthe Man, so to speak, touching only hishead, acting like an upper anchor for the

The Dream of Timarchus [4], fromj Plutarch's *Thc Genius of Sokrates' >


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portion sunfc m the body, and which canact as a platform on which the Soul mayfrom time to time refresh herself, in themeasure that she is docile, and does rotpermit herself to be quite overwhelmedby the passions* J' That part which issunk in the body is usually called *SouI%and that part which remains free fromdanger, the greater part of men call'Reason', and imagine it inheres in them,just as if the objects reflected in a mirrorinhered in it. ^ But the Wise believe ith located outside the man, and call it his*Genius*^ *Now, as to the Stars you sec, youmust know that those that seem to growdim are souls which are just now sinkingthemselves entirely into the body; thosewhich are growing brighter again, andshine from above, just as if they wereswinging themselves up from the depths,and are shaking off from themselves asort of dark mist like dust, are such soulsas are, after death, swimming back outof their bodies. Finally, those which arehovering on high, are Genii of wise anddiscerning humans.^ *Make an effort, and see whether youcan become conscious of the tie by whicheach of them \s, united to its Soul.'

The Dream of Timarchus [5], fromJ' Plutarch's 'The Genius of Sokratcs' j*


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^ TxmarchttS, payiitgf closer attention,noticed that the Stars swayed, some moresome less, just as one sees corks swayingon the water-surface, serving as indicat-ors of the nets beneath* ^ Some, indeed,swayed as much as shuttles do, and couldnot make any motion in a straight lineon account of the unequal, self-confusedburden they upheld^ J* The Voice in-structed Timarchus on this point :J* 'Those whose motion is straight andorderly have docile souls, with whom thesub-rational part has, through nourish-ment and education, been prevented frombecoming hard and rough* j* But thosewhich flit up and down in a disorderlyfashion, behaving as if \\s%%z6^ by a ropeare those who have to do with a contra-ry and poorly-reared nature* jf' At onetime They win the victory, taming theSouls by enforcement on them of higherleadings; but soon, sucked back by theold habit of sinning, the Souls are oncemore contrary* ^ For whenever the Qz-nius pulls the cord with which the ani-mal part of the Soul is, as it were, har-nessed, this effects what v& known as theRepentance of Sins, and Sincere Shameconcerning the lusts, ^z;^ixcst and motionsof the flesh*

The Dream of Timarchus [6], from^ Plutarch's *The Genius of Sokrates' J*


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^ These are the chastisements fcy whichthe nobler part holds the Soul in check,as with a bridle, until by repeated pun-ishments, like a tamed animal, she final-ly becomes so meek as to be obedient toeach nod and signal of her Genius with-out blows or suffering* But such Souls arebrought back to their duty very slowlyand very lat^ but those which prove do-cile to their Genius from birth constitutethat class of men known as Soothsayers,whose prayers the Gods respect.3* Of such a kind was the soul of Her-modorus the Klazomenian, which aban-doned the body at will, both by day andnight, wandering anywhere, and return-ing after having seen and heard all sortsof things, at all distances. ^ This she didcontinually until, through treachery ofhis own wife, his enemies seized his soul-forsaken body, and burned it togetherwith his house* ^ But this is not quiteaccurate: the Soul never entirely aban-doned his body; but at times yielding tothe Genius, loosened and lengthened theconnecting bond, so that she was enabledto travel around the world in such amanner as to report all she had seen andheard outside* ^ They however, who,during sleep, destroyed his body, are yet

The Dream of Timarchus [7], fromJ^ Plutarch's The Genius of Sokrates' j^


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being punished therefor in Taftaftis ^J' *Yoa will understand all this far moredearly in three months, O youthsJ' 'Now you may return/J' **As the Voice ceased, Timarchus in-tended to turn around, to see Who hadbeen conversing with him; but he sud-denly felt a racking pain in the head, asif it were being pressed together violent-ly, and now he no longer saw or heardaught of what was transpiring aroundhim* Shortly, however, he came to him-self, lying near the entrance of the Caveof Trophonius, just where he had firstlain down*^ **This is the Dream of Timarchus. ^He returned to Athens, and 6^1^ threemonths later, as the Voice had prophesied;but when we, marvelling, recounted thisDream to Sokrates, he chode with usthat we had told him nothing of it du-ring the life-time of Timarchus, fromhe would have liked to get the detailsmore exactly.''^ Hereupon Theanor said, '^t seems tome that this Story of Timarchus shouldbe considered sacred, and be preservedunahered as dedicated to the Divinities;and I should be much astonished if any-body should doubt what we have heard.'*

The Dream of Timarchus [8], fromo* Plutarch's *The Genius of Sokrates' Jf*


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^ m j^ THE CARE OF THE GENH ^W it is not lincommon

to speak of the divinityof Nature, and of swansand serpents, and dog^s,and horses; why shouldwc then hesitate to assertthat Man is divine, andmay become a favourite of the Divinities,the more especially as it is granted thatthe Divinity is the Father of all ?J* A horse-fancier does not, merely on

accotmt of his being siich, extend his careto all specimens of the genus Horse indis-criminately; he selects the best one obtai-nable, separates it from the rest, tends it,cherishes it^ and loves it particularly*^ Just so do the Higher Beings deal withUs: They impress their Mark only onthe Best, whom They separate from thecommon herd, endow with peculiar andmore excellent training, and govern themnot indeed with bit and bridle, but bytheir reason, through certain signs, ofwhich the common herd does not evenhave the faintest conception.

The Care of the Genii [t\ fromj^ Plutarch's 'The Genius of Sokrates' J*


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3* Not all dogs know the signals of thehunters; nor indeed all horses know thesignals of the riders ; only they who haveb^n properly trained comprehend thetask at the first whistle or chirrtip, andgladly carry it out.^ Even Homer seemsto be acquainted with this difference be-tween men* J* Some of the soothsayershe calls augurs, othe^ priests; and of somehe thinks that they converse with theGods, and prophesy future events; so,^ ^Yet the decision reached by the Gods^ ^1n council, was perceived in the spirit^ ^'By Helenos, Priam's son***Also, ''For I have heard^ **The Voices of the immortal Gods***Kings and generals publish their ordersby beacons, by the public crier, or by thesound of trumpets; but to their intimatesand friends they announce decisions per-sonally by word of mouth*J^ Just so the Divinity converses peraoa-ally only with a very few, and that ra-rely; but He announces decisions to thecrowds by signs and omens, wherefromhas arisen the whole art of augury*^ Sothere are never but a very few at anytime whom the Divinities single out bysuch favours, and whom it is Their pur-pose to make blessed and really divine*

The Gire of the Genii [2], from^ Plutarch's *The Qzmxxs, of Sokrates' J*


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3> But those soals which have freedthemselves from generation, who haveno further commerce with the body, andnow enjoy unbounded freedom, thesenow become Genii, who, as Hesiod says,care for the weal of Humanity*^ Like Athletes,who even when forcedby age to discontinue training, do notnecessarily cease struggling for fame andbodily perfection, but rather enjoy thespectacle of others exercising, encourag-ing them, and persistently standing bytheir side just like these athletes is itwith those Souls who, after liberationfrom the battles of this life, have been,on account of their former virtues, or ra-ther by them, promoted to the conditionand dignity of Genii* j^ Because of thistheir promotion. They do not necessarilyscorn or ignore the conversations, circum-stances and efforts of men; rather. Theyshow kindliness to all who are strugg-ling after the same end, support them intheir zeal for virtue, and spur them onthe more continually by encouragementsthe closer they seem to be to the goal oftheir hopes, or indeed, behold them alrea-dy nearly touching it*

The Gire of the Genii [3], fromjfc Plutarch's *The Genius of Sokrates' J^


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3* Fof the Genii do h6tf JncJisctiminately,accept the charge of anybody* J^ Whenpersons are swimming in the ocean, farfrom the land, and are battling with thewaves, by-standers on the shore can dono more than look on silently; but thosewho are near the shore can be met in thewater by persons running through thesurf, to help them with hand and voice,and restore them to life, ^ My friend, theGenii do likewise, J^ "When they see usdive into the floods of business, seizinghold of one thing after another as a hopeof salvation, they leave us fight it out a-lone, that we may learn endurance, andmay through our own vim reach port.^ When however a soul through manybirths has endured willingly and success-Eully heavy battles, and when, at the endof her course this soul courageously de-Eies danger, and even in the face of de-feat struggles, with extreme exertions, toclimb upwards, then the Divinity doesnot dislike to see that the soul's Geniushelps her, so the Genius's good offices aregiven full freedom, ^ Each Genius hashis own soul, which he tries to save byencouragements, .^ She, being near him,and hearing him is saved; but she whodoes not, is abandoned to misfortune*

The Care of the Genii [4], fromj^ Plutarch's *The Genius of Sokrates' J^


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