Taylor - Eleusianian and Bacchic Mysteries.pdf - Platonic Philosophy

JBacchic Mysteries. 39body, to descend into matter,* and be ivhollysubjected~byit ; and after departing thenceto lie there till it shall arise and turnits face away from the abhorrent filth.This is what is meant by the falling asleepin Hades, of those who have come there" \* Greek oXfj, matter supposed to contain all the principles thenegative of life, order, and goodness.tThis passagedoubtless alludes to the ancient and beautifulstory of Cupid and Psyche, in which Psyche is said to fall asleepin Hades ;and this through rashly attempting to behold corporealbeauty and the observation of Plotinus will enable the profound:and contemplative reader to unfold the greater part of the mysteries contained in this elegant fable. But, prior to Plotinus,Plato, in the seventh book of his Republic,asserts that such asare unable in the present life to apprehend the idea of the good,will descend to Hades after death, and fall asleep in its darkabodes.fO^ av \vf\ syg o^op .aasO-a . TO> XOY>,V too aY a ^"wsav, y.a ( .u>j7ipltov, fts v.ata oo^av aXXa v.rxt ooo:coro Ttov ocXXu>v/s V, ev Tiaoi TOUTOIC aitttoT . T(OXOY<O ota~opOY]taODTS aot.,ouosv ;aXX siouosv cpYjGci?e .Ssvai TOV OUT(O^ syovta, GOT* aXXo aY aTCY]ei5u>Xoo TIVO^ etpaTCTSTa 1 ., ^^xa: TOV vov (B.ovovttpOKoXoo /ta, v.a: uTtvioiovTa, icp .vY 50 ^1* 5 -^ aoo jicpotspov acpixo/xsvov ttXsto?ui. e. He who is nots-waTaoapfl-avsiv able, by the exercise;of his reason, to define the idea of the good, separatingit from allother objects, and piercing, as in a battle, through every kindof argument ; endeavoring to confute, not according to opinion,but according to essence, and proceeding through all these dialectical energies with an unshaken reason; he who can notev