A Luminous Halo

"Life is not a series of gig lamps symmetrically arranged; life is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end." --Virginia Woolf

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Location: Springfield, Massachusetts, United States

Smith ’69, Purdue ’75. Anarchist; agnostic. Writer. Steward of the Pascal Emory house, an 1871 Second-Empire Victorian; of Sylvie, a 1974 Mercedes-Benz 450SL; and of Taz, a purebred Cockador who sets the standard for her breed. Happy enough for the present in Massachusetts, but always looking East.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Human Reproduction and Development According to Aristophanes


From a speech of Aristophanes:

"The sexes were not as they are now...the primeval man...had four hands and four feet, one head with two faces...Terrible was their might and strength...and they made an attack upon the gods...Zeus said: 'Methinks I have a plan which will humble their pride and improve their manners; men will continue to exist, but I will cut them in two...' After the division of the two parts of man, each desiring his other half, came together, and throwing their arms about one another, entwined in mutual embraces, longing to grow into one..."

--Plato Symposium