Harpies : daughters of Electra, the sea nymph, & Thaumas, they were born with woman’s head & body, & bird’s wings & claws. Ministers of divine vengeance, they punished criminals such as Phineus whom they tortured for impiety; or caught criminals & handed them over to the Erinnyes for punishment.
... were, each with its own physical surroundings, that I long to forget but cannot. Some of them recalled strangely, not in detail, but in kind, Greek Tartarus and Catholic Inferno. I was the prey of harpies, I was hunted and torn and devoured, I experienced the agonies of the men I had sent to the deliberate and brutal torture of our jails or beggared of their honour or their property. I renewed the successes ...
... quality - even the vices - of mankind were personified as a deity, usually in human form and animating power. Every craft, profession and art had its divinity and in addition, there were demons, harpies, furies, gorgons, sirens, nymphs almost as numerous as the mortals of Earth.” (Will Durant, History of Civilizations - Vol II) This animism, which corresponds to the subtle perception that no plan ...
... you because you were drawing back from the vital view of things—the vair ā gya was only an outward and negative sign of that withdrawal. It is not a time to fall back into the clutches —of this harpy of self-distrust. Get back into the light of the coming dawn which was upon you—above your head still, but there! Page 379 November 29, 1933 I am very glad to get your letter ...
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