37. "And poetic inspiration also proves that there is a divine power within the human soul. Democritus says that no one can be a great poet without being in a state of frenzy, and Plato says the same thing. Let Plato call it 'frenzy' if he will, provided he praises it as it was praised in his Phaedrus.1 And what about your own speeches in law suits? Can the delivery of you lawyers be impassioned, weighty, and fluent unless your soul is deeply stirred? Upon my word, many a time have I seen in you such passion of look and gesture that I thought some power was rendering you unconscious of what you did; and, if I may cite a less striking example, I have seen the same in your friend Aesopus.Did rave like one by Bacchic rites made mad
And mid the tombs her Teucer called aloud.The verses are from the Teucer of Pacuvius. Hesione was mother of Teucer.
[80]
It often happens, too, that the soul is violently
stirred by the sight of some object, or by the deep
tones of a voice, or by singing. Frequently anxiety
[p. 313]
or fear will have that effect, as it did in the case
of Hesione, who
1 Plato, Phaedr. p. 244 A.
Cicero: De Senectute De Amicitia De Divinatione. With An English Translation. William Armistead Falconer. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1923.
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