224: MYTH AND SCIENCE. 



Plato holds that matter is not the body, but that 

 which may become the body by the plastic action of 

 the idea, as Weber well expresses it; matter con- 

 sidered in itself is the indefinite (apeiron), the in- 

 definable (aoriston}, and the amorphous, and it 

 is co-eternal with ideas, and inert ; from the union 

 of ideas and matter the cosmos had its origin, the 

 image of the invisible deity, God in power, the 

 living organism (Zooii), possessing a body, sense, a 

 definite object, a soul. The body of the universe has 

 the form of a sphere, the most beautiful which can 

 be conceived ; the circle described in revolving is also 

 the most perfect motion. 



The stars first had their source in the Idea of 

 Good ; first the fixed stars, then the planets, then the 

 earth, created deities; the earth produced organized 

 beings, beginning with man, the crowning work and 

 object of all the rest; the fruits of the earth were 

 made to nourish him, and animals were made to 

 become the abode of fallen souls. Man, the micro- 

 cosm, is reason within a soul, which is in its turn con- 

 tained in a body. The whole body is organized with 

 a view to this reason. The head, the seat of reason, 

 is round because this is the most perfect form. The 

 breast is the seat of generous passions, while the 

 bestial appetites are found in the belly and intestines. 



The human soul, like the soul of the world, con- 

 tains immortal and mortal elements ; the intelligence 

 or reason, and sensuality. The immortality of the 



