[He laughed a little, delighted by her bluntness.]
But I think it must be so! Because men change and evolve over time, while the gods are stuck in their station, eh? See: nature! Nature is very great, and very powerful, and unchanging. The storm may sink the sailor, that it may! And the sailor will never build a boat as grand enough to stop the most powerful storm, not even Noah. But you see, the man may try. And we go from longboats, to mast ships, to steamboats! And to turtles, even.
[He crinkled his expression at her merrily. After all, weren't most of the mythical gods used in explanation for nature?]
And then, all of that failing, bah! The man quits at being a sailor, and becomes a monk, let us say. And learns to be beyond fear, and jealousy.
But! The storm must always be the storm. It must always lash out. It does not make a new invention of itself. Therefore, it is grander than the steam boat, but less great. The sun-god must always bring about the sun; if he quits at it, he is no longer the sun god. He cannot become a monk. Therefore, the sailor who quits is not grand, but is greater in choice. The gods are always jealous, are they not? The man may learn to transcend it. Yes! I say that the gods are grander than men, but they created man to right their little wrongs, and so man must become greater than gods. It is our duty to them, I believe.
[Otherwise, why should they have created suffering, and plague, if not to have man defeat it? What need for their to be doctors, were that the case! They should have done away with all the madness in general. Little follies!]
Of Calypso? But, my dear, you must bore of hearing me speak? I am a terrible teller of tales. Calypso was the daughter of a Titan, who detained the hero Odysseus on the island Ogygia; yes? Out of love. But alas! He was already quite married. Not that it has stopped men before.
no subject
[He laughed a little, delighted by her bluntness.]
But I think it must be so! Because men change and evolve over time, while the gods are stuck in their station, eh? See: nature! Nature is very great, and very powerful, and unchanging. The storm may sink the sailor, that it may! And the sailor will never build a boat as grand enough to stop the most powerful storm, not even Noah. But you see, the man may try. And we go from longboats, to mast ships, to steamboats! And to turtles, even.
[He crinkled his expression at her merrily. After all, weren't most of the mythical gods used in explanation for nature?]
And then, all of that failing, bah! The man quits at being a sailor, and becomes a monk, let us say. And learns to be beyond fear, and jealousy.
But! The storm must always be the storm. It must always lash out. It does not make a new invention of itself. Therefore, it is grander than the steam boat, but less great. The sun-god must always bring about the sun; if he quits at it, he is no longer the sun god. He cannot become a monk. Therefore, the sailor who quits is not grand, but is greater in choice. The gods are always jealous, are they not? The man may learn to transcend it. Yes! I say that the gods are grander than men, but they created man to right their little wrongs, and so man must become greater than gods. It is our duty to them, I believe.
[Otherwise, why should they have created suffering, and plague, if not to have man defeat it? What need for their to be doctors, were that the case! They should have done away with all the madness in general. Little follies!]
Of Calypso? But, my dear, you must bore of hearing me speak? I am a terrible teller of tales. Calypso was the daughter of a Titan, who detained the hero Odysseus on the island Ogygia; yes? Out of love. But alas! He was already quite married. Not that it has stopped men before.