Showing posts with label Orpheus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orpheus. Show all posts

Wednesday 23 March 2022

Get Up.


Talitha cumi” 


Quod perditum est, invenietur.
Not dead, nor not of the living.
Spirits of the interregnum, I call.
Gods, bind him. Cast his heart from the evil realm.
Te implor, Doamne; nu ignoră aceasta rugăminte!
Nici mort, nici al fiinţei,
lăsa orbită să fie vasul care-i vă transportă sufletul la el.
Aşa să fie! Aşa să fie!
Acum! Acum!

What was lost, shall be found.
Not dead, nor not of the living.
Gods, bind him, cast his heart from the evil realm.
I call on you, Gods, do not ignore this supplication!
Neither dead nor of being.
Let the orb be the vessel to carry his soul to him.
So be it! So be it!
Now! Now!


And He took The Damsel by The Hand 
and said unto her, 
Talitha cumi,” 
which is, being interpreted, 
“Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.”


42 INT. CORDELIA'S ROOM 
AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS 
Cordelia's sitting in her bed when Connor escorts Willow into her room. 

WILLOW 
Hi there. 

CORDELIA 
Long time, no see. (to Connor
It's OK, Connor. I'm fine. 
(Connor leaves the room

WILLOW
 (sits on the bed beside Cordy) How've you been? 

CORDELIA 
Higher power. You? 

WILLOW 
Ultimate Evil. 
But I got better. 

CORDELIA 
You heard about Faith? 

WILLOW (nods
Coma again. 

CORDELIA 
What about Angelus? 
Did you go down to see him yet? 

WILLOW 
I'm way avoidy. 
Too many memories. 
I'm just glad I don't have to be in the same room with him when I re-ensoul him. 

CORDELIA 
Oh, you really think you can pull it off? 
(feels around under her blanket

WILLOW 
Putting his soul back? 
It's the first spell I ever learned. 
I'm not gonna forget that

CORDELIA 
(grabs a knife under the blanket) 
What about the Muo-Ping? 

WILLOW 
The jar holding Angel's soul? 
Therein lies our boneage. 

CORDELIA 
Stolen right from our safe. 
And if we can't get the soul out of the jar, we can't put it back in Angel. 

WILLOW 
Yeah, Question is: 
“How do we get the soul out if we don't know where the jar is?”

CORDELIA 
And apparently, the thing's impervious to magic. 

WILLOW 
Yeah, I know already tried a standard locator spell, but zero joy. 

CORDELIA 
(puts down the knife
Right. Plus, Wesley's shaman says 
there's no way to extract the soul from a distance. 

WILLOW 
Soul trapped in a glass jar, 
impervious to magic. 
It is complicated. 

CORDELIA 
(nods
Tough nut to crack. 

WILLOW 
(gets an idea) 
Are you thinking what I'm thinking? 

CORDELIA 
(grabs the knife again) 
I doubt it. 

WILLOW 
(stands) 
We just break the jar

CORDELIA 
(gestures to her nightstand) 
Can you hand me that drink? 

WILLOW 
(backs to the door, excited
That way we don't have 
to magic the soul out. 
We just break the glass around it! 

CORDELIA 
(impatiently) 
Great idea. I'm really thirsty. 

WILLOW 
And then Angel's soul is still released into the ether, and—and there's something called Delothrian's Arrow. 
We don't even need to know 
where the target is. 
(opens the door

Cordy, this is fantastic! 
We're gonna get him back

(leaves the room

Cordelia throws the knife just as Willow leaves the room. The knife lands in the door at head level. 


43 INT. ROOM AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS 
Lorne's looking after Faith, who's still unconscious on the bed. 

LORNE 
Don't you worry, Princess. 
It'll all be over soon. I—
I've seen lots of girls go through just what you're going through now. 

(sings softly

There'll be another song for me, and I will sing it. 
Oh, there'll be another dream for me, someone will bring it. 

Cut to: 44 INT. DONUT SHOP - NIGHT 
1970's disco music plays as a long-haired Angel walks into the donut shop past Angelus. 

ANGELUS 
(rolling his eyes) 
Bring on the pain! Angel saunters up to the jukebox and selects a song. He stands there grooving as it starts to play. FAITH Mandy, huh? (Angelus sits down in a booth across from Faith) Must k*ll you he's got a jones for the power-ballads. Angelus swats as he hears buzzing sound. ANGELUS Worse were the concerts. (a couple walks out past Angel, who looks at them longingly) You know what that's like? (Angel sits at the counter) Every time he gets close, I feel it. Wanting to tear their flesh apart. The hunger. It's like a blade in my gut. FAITH Only, it's not your gut, princess. Angel's the one that belongs on the outside, not you. The clerk pours Angel a cup of coffee as Angel tries to recover from his temptation. ANGELUS You think it's that cut and dry, don't you? That if Angel gets his soul back— FAITH When he gets it. ANGELUS You'll just hang up your spurs and ride off into the sunset knowing you put the monster back in his cage. But, (disappears and reappears next to Faith) I'm always here, Faithy. Deep in. A man walks into the shop. CASHIER Hi. Can I help you? ROBBER Gimme your money. (sh**ts into the ceiling) Gimme the cash in the drawer. CASHIER (nervous) Oh. OK. ROBBER Open it! CASHIER Oh, all right. I, uh— ROBBER Come on! CASHIER I, uh, I just need to... ROBBER Now! (sh**ts the clerk, then runs out of the shop) ANGEL (goes to the clerk's side) It's gonna be OK. I'll get you to a hospital. You're—you're gonna be OK. All right? It's—everything's gonna be— CASHIER It hurts. ANGEL Yeah, I know. ANGELUS (mockingly) Doc, I think we're losing him. God, I love this episode! (the buzzing sound occurs again; Angelus swats at the air like there's a fly) What is that buzzing? Cut to: 


45 INT. CORDELIA'S ROOM AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS Cordelia's holding the crystal in her hand, trying to contact Angelus. CORDELIA Hear me, Angelus. Heed my warning. Awaken at once. Return from the darkness. Or just lay there and let that red-headed meddler put your soul back. Whichever! Cut to: 


46 INT. LOBBY AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS Wesley and Willow are preparing a spell. There's a bubbling jar in front of Willow. WILLOW Look, it's working. WESLEY I thought Delothrian's Arrow was used to protect good magicks. WILLOW It is. WESLEY So, how can you use it to break the jar? The Muo-Ping is a sacred object. It's holy. WILLOW It's glass, therefore crunchable. The sacred's what's inside. "All life a container..." WESLEY "...For the heart of all life." You've studied the Daharim. WILLOW It had to be something specific. There's lots of jars in the world—can't shatter them all. I mean, you could, but good things come in jars. Peanut butter, jelly, those two-headed fetal pigs at the natural history museum. (Wes doesn't respond) Come on, everybody loves fetal pigs. WESLEY (leans forward) Sorry. I think my sense of humor's trapped in a jar somewhere. WILLOW Does seem like you've given in to the grumpy side of the force. WESLEY A lot's happened. Not just Angelus. I've been—I've changed. I've seen a darkness in myself. I'm not sure you'd even begin to understand— WILLOW I flayed a guy alive and tried to destroy the world. WESLEY Oh. So... (stands, doesn't make eye-contact) WILLOW Darkness. Been there. WESLEY Yeah. Well, I never flayed... (seems sickened) I had a woman chained in a closet. WILLOW Hey. WESLEY That doesn't compare. WILLOW No, dark. That's dark. You've been to a place. WESLEY You seem exactly the same as when I left. No other major changes I'm not up on? WILLOW (shrugs) Just little things. So, uh, Fred. What's her story? 




Cut to: 47 INT. DONUT SHOP - NIGHT Angel is squatting next to the clerk. ANGEL God, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. The clerk dies. Angel stands and backs away, staring at the clerk. ANGELUS So, who's your big hero now? FAITH Wasn't even his fault. God, does the guy gotta pay for everything? ANGELUS Choices, little girl. The ones you make with your heart of hearts. (Angel goes to the door, but stops and locks the door) Uh-oh. What's gonna happen? FAITH He won't. Angel walks back to the clerk. ANGELUS I'm deep in, Faith. Soul or no soul. Angel vamps out and lifts the clerk. FAITH Angel! (Angel bites the clerk) Ugh. Faith's neck starts to bleed. FAITH He was gonna save him. ANGELUS Or did he choose to be a little slow on the draw? Whoops! Dinner by armed robbery. Look at him, Faith. You're a m*rder*r. You know just how good that blurry line tastes. You didn't think my hell was private, did ya? Angel screams. Fade to black. ACT III: 48 INT. ROOM AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS Lorne dabs away tears from Faith's face. Connor's sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, watching her. LORNE She's in the barrens now. They cry for a while. Quiet mostly. Like they're letting go of everything that meant something. CONNOR How long...'til...? LORNE Not long. You can hold her hand. Connor stands, but Wesley walks into the room. CONNOR Wesley, you did the right thing. She was brave, and she died in battle. WESLEY (staring at Faith) It's time. Cut to: 49 INT. LOBBY AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS Fred walks around the lobby in a circle carrying a lit white candle and ringing a bell. WILLOW (touches Fred's chin, lifting it higher, smiling) You're good. Good bells. (walks up to the front desk; to Gunn) OK, now all I gotta do is contact the spirit world, harness the Delothrian ebb, and focus it through my little marble of doom here. (holds out a small metal ball) And we'll restore the Muo-Ping's entropic equilibrium. GUNN The jar goes smash? WILLOW Smash-o-crash. GUNN All I need to know. I'll be downstairs in case the Prince of Darkness wakes up. (leaves the room) WILLOW OK. WESLEY (walks up to Willow) You ready? WILLOW (nods) Should be a snap. A bolt of orange energy hits Willow and sends her sliding across the floor. BEASTMASTER (V.O.) Stay your hand, witch! (show Cordelia is holding the crystal again, saying the words of the Beastmaster) You will not interfere with what must come to pass. WILLOW (stands, covers her head with her hands and weakly mumbles) Invadoria disparu! BEASTMASTER (V.O.) You think to banish me? 
WILLOW 
(to Wesley) 
There's somebody in my head. 

CORDELIA (as Beastmaster) 
As long as the soul is under my protection, it will never be freed. 

WILLOW 
(to the sky) 
Vetsche invadoria disparu! CORDELIA (as Beastmaster) I'th bid my thongue. WESLEY He's enormously powerful. It's the dead Beast's master. He contacted Angelus the same way. FRED He wants to stop us from getting the soul. 
WILLOW 
(black-eyed, holding her hand out, the marble in it floats and starts to glow) 
Open the window. Fill this stone. 
Inside, outside. Two made one. 

CORDELIA (as Beastmaster) 
You wanna go, Glinda? We'll go

Willow's knocked down by another bolt of energy from the Beastmaster. 

CONNOR 
Are you sure she can handle it? 

WILLOW 
(black-eyed, focused on the glowing ball in front of her
Alesh ashtoreth! 

The ground starts shaking. 

WESLEY 
I think she can hold her own. 


Cut to: 50 INT. ROOM AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS 

Lorne's talking to Faith while the building shakes around them. 

LORNE 
It's OK, Faith. It's OK. 
You just wait. They'll get Angel back,
 and... (trying to convince himself) 
it'll all be worth it. It'll all— 

(Faith gasps and sits up

Cut to: 51 EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT Faith finds herself in a dark alley full of trash. ANGELUS (O.S.) It'll all be worth it. Is that what you try to tell yourself, Faithy? Is that the nastly little lie that kept those thighs nice and warm in your prison bunk? FAITH (looks around, trying to find Angelus) You kiss your mama with that mouth? ANGELUS (shows up behind her, lying on the ground) No, but I ate her with it. (stands without bending his body) And now for a poem. "Faith goes gently into that good night." You're fading fast, baby. I can feel it. FAITH All the same, I hear this holler in the distance. Cut to: 51a INT. LOBBY AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS Still casting the spell, defying the Beastmaster. WILLOW Semsa nahl eresh a'lahm! Cut to: FAITH Tells me you're about to get what's coming to you. ANGELUS Or not. I've got friends in high places. (further down the alley, Angel stumbles around, knocking over garbage cans) Him, not being one of 'em. Angel grabs a rat and eats it. FAITH Ugh. When is this? ANGELUS When isn't it? Twenty years after that stupid donut shop, and his fingers never smelled of anything but rat! "I'm so sorry. I give up. I'm gonna live in a sewer!" FAITH He's paying for what he did. ANGELUS He's hiding from what he is—which may be a big Psych 101 revelation for you, cupcake, but I already know this crap, so why do I have to go through it again? ANGEL Maybe 'cause it's not about you, (stands) jackass. Cut to: 52 INT. LOBBY AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS The ground is shaking in the hotel. Wesley, Connor, Fred, and Willow are in the lobby. WESLEY Do you feel that? CONNOR There's something evil rising in the hotel. Cut to: 52a INT. CORDELIA'S ROOM AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS White-eyed Cordelia is chanting in front of the Muo-Ping. CORDELIA Seiza jai n'hast engai... Seiza jai n'hast engai... Cut to: 52b INT. BASEMENT AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS Gunn feels the ground shake as he guards Angelus in the cage. Cut to: An apparition of a huge demonic head floats above the gang in the lobby, growling and shrieking. CONNOR What the hell is that? WILLOW (to Connor) Ignore it. (to the glowing ball in front of her) Find your target. Leave my side. Cut to: 52a INT. CORDELIA'S ROOM AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS Cordelia is sitting in front of the muo-ping, talking to herself. CORDELIA OK, then. Huge floaty head not enough to scare you? Then why don't we try— (the glowing ball Willow sent comes straight toward the Muo-Ping; Cordelia puts up a hand to stop it, concentrating hard) And now she is on my last nerve! Cut to: WILLOW Geth na haroth castellum tol. Cut to: 52a INT. CORDELIA'S ROOM AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS Cordelia's concentrating hard on keeping Willow's magic marble from getting to the jar. CORDELIA If only this were a few weeks later. Cut to: WILLOW Break the glass FRED (looks around) Where's Connor? WILLOW Let loose the soul! Cut to: 52a INT. CORDELIA'S ROOM AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS Connor tries to burst into Cordelia's room, but it's barricaded. CONNOR (banging into the door) Cordy! Are you OK? CORDELIA (startled, breaks her concentration) Ah! (the marble breaks the Muo-Ping, releasing Angel's soul into the ether, Cordelia turns to look) Oh sh— Cut to: 53 EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT Angel, Angelus and Faith are talking in the alley. Angel is filthy, covered in dirt and grime, wearing a longish hair style. ANGELUS I don't believe this! You're the one behind this whole true-Hollywood sob-story? FAITH Angel, it's good to see you. (Angelus chuckles) Hate the hair. ANGEL Faith, why are you still here? FAITH Just waiting to see this pervert get stuffed back into the deep, crazy ground he came from. ANGEL Then what? After that, what happens? Angelus kicks Faith, knocking her down. ANGELUS Probably something like that. I had a feeling the rules have changed. ANGEL She's not who you're after. ANGELUS No kidding, rat boy. The slayer will just be gravy once I finish you off. BOTH (ANGEL & ANGELUS) I've been waiting a long time for this. Angel and Angelus start fighting. Fade to black. ACT IV: 54 EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT Angel and Angelus are fighting. ANGEL Faith, get up! Are you listening? FAITH (weakly) Angel, I'm dying. ANGEL Yeah. It's a lot easier than redemption, huh? (kicks Angelus) ANGELUS (grabs Angel by the neck) Always so concerned with the human condition. (throws Angel down the alley) It's no big mystery, man. They suffer, they die. That's what they're there for. ANGEL (lunges at Angelus) I'm not perfect, Faith. Even with a soul, I've done things I wished a thousand times I could take back. ANGELUS Yeah, like those Manilow concerts. (throws Angel across the alley) Son of a bitch! Cut to: 55 INT. CORDELIA'S ROOM AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS Connor bursts into Cordelia's room, pushing the barricade of furniture away from the door. CONNOR Cordy! I'm coming in. Cordelia bangs Connor over the head with a ceramic vase that shatters. CORDELIA Oh, Connor, I'm so sorry. I thought it came back. (cries) That horrible floaty head. CONNOR Did it hurt you? Is the baby...? CORDELIA (high-pitched voice) We nearly got k*lled. CONNOR Willow's spell must've opened a gateway to something. CORDELIA Evil. If she keeps at it, there's no telling what will happen. She's already let hell itself into this hotel. CONNOR I know. I've seen it. It's not safe for you here. I'm gonna make her stop. CORDELIA Connor, you can't! She's too powerful. But you can stop it. The reason for all of this. (whispers) You have to k*ll Angelus. Cut to: 56 INT. LOBBY AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS Fred, Wesley and Willow are lighting candles and incense in the lobby. FRED (looking around) So... now Angel's soul is just floating around out there? WILLOW Yeah, until I can channel it into the Orb of Thessulah. FRED Connor shouldn't have run off like that. WESLEY I'm sure he's just worried about Cordelia. FRED Do you ever think their relationship is maybe a little bit...icky? Cut to: 57 INT. CORDELIA'S ROOM AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS Cordelia's talking to Connor. CORDELIA You have to k*ll your father. You have to. Now, before anything else goes wrong. 

Cut to: 58 INT. LOBBY AT HOTEL 
/ ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS 
Willow and Fred are holding books. 

WILLOW (to Fred) 
Ready when you are. 

FRED 
(reading) 
Quod perditum est invenietur... 
WILLOW (reading) 
Nisi mort. Nisi al finitei. Te invoc, spirit al trecerii... 

Cut to: 59 INT. CORDELIA'S ROOM AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS Cordelia's talking to Connor. CORDELIA You know I have fought harder than anyone to save Angel's life, but there comes a time when you have to weigh risk versus reward. And as much as I love Angel...as a friend... k*ll*ing Angelus now is the only way to guarantee our family's safety. Cut to: 60 INT. CORDELIA'S ROOM AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS Gunn's still guarding the unconscious Angelus. CORDELIA (V.O.) I know it in my heart now. You're not just protecting me. You're protecting the world. 

Cut to: 61 INT. CORDELIA'S ROOM 
AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS 
Lorne's looking after the unconscious Faith. 

CORDELIA (V.O.) 
Sometimes one death can spare infinite pain. 

Cut to: 62 EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT 
While Angel and Angelus are fighting, Faith's lying unconscious against the alley wall. 

ANGEL 
Faith, wake up! 

FAITH 
(wakes) 
I've rolled the bones. 
You for me. 

ANGEL 
(walks away from the fight with Angelus to talk to Faith) 
I used to think that. That there'd be a point when I'd paid my dues. 

ANGELUS 
(knocks out Angel from behind) 
Anybody notice a battle with your alter-ego going on here? 

Cut to: 63 INT. HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS 
Connor's walking purposefully down the hallway. 

CONNOR (V.O.) 
What will I tell the others? 

CORDELIA (V.O.) 
They can't stop you if they don't know? 

CONNOR (V.O.) 
What about the sanctuary spell? 

CORDELIA (V.O.) 
I can fix it. We're Special, Connor. 

Willow's still working on the spell 
to re-ensoul Angel in the lobby. 
She's chanting, facing the Orb of Thessulah. 
Connor looks over at them

WILLOW 
Te implor doamne. 
Nu ignora accasta rugaminte lasa orbita 
sa fie vasul care-i va transporta sufletul la el. 

CORDELIA (V.O.) 
Special

Cut to: 64 EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT 
Angel and Angelus are fighting in the alley again. 
Angel leaves the fight and goes over to Faith's side, 
holding her up in his arms. 

ANGEL 
Faith, listen to me. You saw me drink
It doesn't get much lower than that. 
And I thought I could make up 
for it by disappearing

FAITH 
I did my time. 

ANGEL 
Our Time is never up, Faith. 
We pay for everything

FAITH 
It hurts

ANGEL 
I know. I know. 

Cut to: 65 INT. LOBBY AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS 
Willow's still working on the spell 
to re-ensoul Angel in the lobby. 
She's chanting, facing the Orb of Thessulah. 

WILLOW
Este scris aceasta putere 
este dreptul poporuil 
meu de a conduce. 

Cut to: 66 INT. BASEMENT AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS
Connor walks down the stairs into the basement. 

CONNOR 
Hey, Gunn, you should know...
(punches Gunn, knocking him out) 
they haven't finished the spell yet. 

Cut to: 67 EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT
Angel's talking to a weakened Faith. 

ANGEL
Get up! You have to get up now. 
Faith, you have to fight. 
I need you to fight. 
Do you understand what I'm saying? 

Angelus sneaks up behind Angel 
and knocks him out with a metal pipe. 

ANGELUS 
What won't I miss? The moralizing. 
Soul's already in the ether, boyo. I can smell it. 
How 'bout I send it off to that big puppy rescue in the sky.

FAITH 
(from behind
Arf arf, psycho. 

ANGELUS
Faith. Getting back into The Game. 

FAITH
I guess I am. 

ANGELUS 
(swings the pipe at Faith, but she disappears
Hey! 

Cut to: 68 INT. ROOM AT HOTEL 
/ ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS 
Faith wakes with a start, and without missing a beat, 
she runs out of the room. 

Cut to: 69 INT. LOBBY AT HOTEL 
/ ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS 
Willow's still working on the spell to re-ensoul Angel in the lobby. She's chanting, facing the Orb of Thessulah. 

WILLOW
Asa sa fie, acum. 

Cut to: 70 EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT
Angelus and Angel start to glow and combine into one being. 

Cut to: 71 INT. BASEMENT AT HOTEL 
/ ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS 
Chained Angel is mumbling to himself 
with Connor kneeling over him. 

ANGEL 
(mumbling) 
I need you to fight. 

CONNOR 
I'm pretty clear about what you need.
(rears his hand back, revealing that he's got a stake in it

FAITH
(grabs Connor's wrist, stopping him from staking Angel
Break me off a switch, son. 
(throws Connor against the cage wall
There's about to be a whoppin'. 

Faith and Connor fight. 

LORNE 
(runs into the basement, followed by Fred and Wesley
She's alive. It's a miracle! 
Faith continues to kick Connor's butt across the room. 
When he lands near the cage, 
Angel grabs his neck through the bars. 

ANGEL 
Connor, it's over. It's me. Really

Cut to: 72 INT. GARDEN AT HOTEL 
/ ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS 
Faith comes outside to talk to Angel. FAITH Hey. (leans forward on the rail) ANGEL How're you feeling? FAITH Like I did mushrooms and got eaten by a bear. ANGEL That about sums it up. FAITH Yep. ANGEL And now you're going to Sunnydale. FAITH I think I prefer the bear, but the way Willow talks it up, that's where I'm needed. ANGEL Never stop fighting. (leans on the rail beside Faith) FAITH Hey, I was gonna, but someone got all pep-talky on me. ANGEL Yeah. I'm sorry I didn't get to see you. Our little brain tour notwithstanding. FAITH (smiles) Another time. ANGEL (stands) I have a lot to thank you for. FAITH Well, that vice is plenty versa. I even start, it's only gonna lead to hugging, and... (shrugs, smiles) ANGEL Right. We can't have that. FAITH No. They walk inside. Cut to: 73 INT. LOBBY AT HOTEL / ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS Faith and Angel walk inside to see Connor sitting on a couch with Gunn standing in front of him with his arms crossed. CONNOR All right. I get it. I messed up. FAITH Hey, cheer up, punk. That just makes you one of us. GUNN You headed out? FAITH Yeah, no tears, big guy. (gives Gunn a high-five) GUNN Nah, I'm good. I just wish I could've seen you kicking the crap out of junior, here. FAITH It was pretty funny. Wes. WESLEY Faith. FAITH See. Brits know how to say goodbye. Angel here wanted a hug. ANGEL No, I didn't. FAITH Been a good show. GUNN Yeah, sit back and let the girl do all the heavy lifting. WESLEY That's pretty much it. FRED (walks out of the office with Willow, who's holding a book) I think that volume's outdated. You'd know better than me, but there's some interesting stuff about hellmouth. Might help. WILLOW This is great. FRED (extra smiley) I have to say, someday I'd love to bend your ear about the Pergamum Codex. I—I think some of the really obscure passages are actually Latin translated from a demonic tongue, and they're kind of a hoot. (giggles) All this stuff about Bacchanals and spells and—actually, I think it's probably funnier in Latin. You know how that is sometimes. WILLOW I'm seeing someone. FAITH Time goes by, Will. WILLOW OK. Good. Wagons west. See you guys. ANGEL Willow... FAITH He's going to tell you how much he owes you. WILLOW Aw, don't mention it. I got a slayer out of the deal, so we're even-steven. (hugs Angel) I'll tell Buffy you said hi. ANGEL Good. Thanks. WILLOW (starts to walk out, but stops, turn to them) Oh, um, next time you guys resurrect Angelus, call me first, OK? Willow and Faith walk out the front door. Angel turns to face the gang. ANGEL So, we're back. WESLEY It would seem. 
ANGEL Look, I know things have been— 

CORDELIA (walks down the stairs) Sorry, Angel. But if this is the speech about how the worst is behind us, you may want to save it for later. Cordelia's wearing a trampy outfit that reveals her pregnancy to the gang. Cut to:



As the orb is round in nature, as the earth, is round in nature 
and the heavens are round in nature, 
so is the soul. 

Return from whence you were banished, 
using this orb as your guide — 
penetrate every ounce of the flesh, 
every sinew of the body and every tissue of the heart. 

Make what lays before you more than the empty vessel that is animal, that is beast — make it man as God created when he separated the firmament of the heavens from the earth.
Come forth now, return, return. As the orb burns, let life burn.

Tuesday 19 January 2021

Plato’s Caveman




IAN: 
It's an •illusion•. 
It MUST be.

Old Grandfather : 
What is he talking about now?

SUSAN: 
What are you doing here?

Old Grandfather : 
You don't understand, so you find excuses. 

Illusions, indeed? 

You say you can't fit an enormous building into one of your smaller sitting rooms.

IAN: 
No.

Old Grandfather : 
But you've discovered Television, haven't you?

IAN:
Yes.

Old Grandfather : 
Then, by showing an enormous building on your television screen, you can do what •seemed• impossible, couldn't you?

IAN: 
Well, yes, but I still don't know —

Old Grandfather : 
Not quite clear, is it. 

I can see by your face that you're not certain, you don't understand —

And I knew you wouldn't. 
Never mind. 

Now then, which switch was it? No. No, no. 
Ah yes, that is it. The point is not whether you understand. What is going to happen to you, hmm? 

They'll tell everybody about The Ship now.

IAN: 
Ship?

Old Grandfather : 
Yes, yes, Ship. 

This doesn't roll along on •wheels•, you know....


Oh, you think Darkness is your ally. 
But you merely adopted The Dark, I was born in it. 
Molded by it. 

I didn’t see the light until I was already A Man.
By then it was nothing to me but blinding!

The Shadows betray you, 
because they belong to me!






“Next,” said I, “compare our nature in respect of education and its lack to such an experience as this. Picture men dwelling in a sort of subterranean cavern 1 with a long entrance open 2 to the light on its entire width. Conceive them as having their legs and necks fettered3 from childhood, so that they remain in the same spot, [514b] able to look forward only, and prevented by the fetters from turning their heads. 

Picture further the light from a fire burning higher up and at a distance behind them, and between the fire and the prisoners and above them a road along which a low wall has been built, as the exhibitors of puppet-shows4 have partitions before the men themselves, above which they show the puppets.” 

“All that I see,” he said. 

“See also, then, men carrying 5 past the wall [514c] implements of all kinds that rise above the wall, and human images

1 The image of the cave illustrates by another proportion the contrast between the world of sense-perception and the world of thought. 

Instead of going above the plane of ordinary experience for the other two members of the proportion, Plato here goes below and invents a fire and shadows cast from it on the walls of a cave to correspond to the sun and the “real” objects of sense. 

In such a proportion our “real” world becomes the symbol of Plato's ideal world. Modern fancy may read what meanings it pleases into the Platonic antithesis of the “real” and the “ideal.” It has even been treated as an anticipation of the fourth dimension. 

But Plato never leaves an attentive and critical reader in doubt as to his own intended meaning. there may be at the most a little uncertainty as to which are merely indispensable parts of the picture. 

The source and first suggestion of Plato's imagery is an interesting speculation, but it is of no significance for the interpretation of the thought. Cf. John Henry Wright, “The Origin of Plato's Cave” in Harvard Studies in Class. Phil. xvii. (1906) pp. 130-142. Burnet, Early Greek Philosophy, pp. 89-90, thinks the allegory Orphic. Cf. also Wright, loc. cit. pp. 134-135. Empedocles likens our world to a cave, Diels i.3 269. Cf. Wright, loc. cit. Wright refers it to the Cave of Vari in Attica, pp. 140-142. Others have supposed that Plato had in mind rather the puppet and marionette shows to which he refers. Cf. Diès in Bulletin Budé,No. 14 (1927) pp. 8 f. The suggestiveness of the image has been endless. The most eloquent and frequently quoted passage of Aristotle's early writings is derived from it, Cic.De nat.deor. ii. 37. It is the source of Bacon's “idols of the den.” Sir Thomas Browne writes in Urne-Buriall: “We yet discourse in Plato's den and are but embryo philosophers.” Huxley's allegory of “Jack and the Beanstalk” in Evolution and Ethics, pp. 47 ff. is a variation on it. Berkeley recurs to it, Siris, 263. The Freudians would have still more fantastic interpretations. Cf. Jung, Analytic Psych. p. 232. Eddington perhaps glances at it when he attributes to the new physics the frank realization that physical science is concerned with a world of shadows

2 Cf. Phaedo 111 Cἀναπεπταμένους

3 Cf. Phaedo 67 E.

4 H. Rackham, CIass. Rev. xxix. pp. 77-78, suggests that the τοῖς θαυματοποιοῖς should be translated “at the marionettes” and be classed with καινοῖς τραγῳδοῖς(Pseph.ap.Dem. xviii. 116). For the dative he refers to Kuehner-Gerth, II. i. p. 445.

5 The men are merely a part of the necessary machinery of the image. Their shadows are not cast on the wall. The artificial objects correspond to the things of sense and opinion in the divided line, and the shadows to the world of reflections,εἰκόνες.

[515a] and shapes of animals as well, wrought in stone and wood and every material, some of these bearers presumably speaking and others silent.” “A strange image you speak of,” he said, “and strange prisoners.” “Like to us,” I said; “for, to begin with, tell me do you think that these men would have seen anything of themselves or of one another except the shadows cast from the fire on the wall of the cave that fronted them?” “How could they,” he said, “if they were compelled [515b] to hold their heads unmoved through life?” “And again, would not the same be true of the objects carried past them?” “Surely.” “If then they were able to talk to one another, do you not think that they would suppose that in naming the things that they saw1 they were naming the passing objects?” “Necessarily.” “And if their prison had an echo2 from the wall opposite them, when one of the passersby uttered a sound, do you think that they would suppose anything else than the passing shadow to be the speaker?” “By Zeus, I do not,” said he. “Then in every way [515c] such prisoners would deem reality to be nothing else than the shadows of the artificial objects.” “Quite inevitably,” he said. “Consider, then, what would be the manner of the release3 and healing from these bonds and this folly if in the course of nature4 something of this sort should happen to them: When one was freed from his fetters and compelled to stand up suddenly and turn his head around and walk and to lift up his eyes to the light, and in doing all this felt pain and, because of the dazzle and glitter of the light, was unable to discern the objects whose shadows he formerly saw, [515d] what do you suppose would be his answer if someone told him that what he had seen before was all a cheat and an illusion, but that now, being nearer to reality and turned toward more real things, he saw more truly? And if also one should point out to him each of the passing objects and constrain him by questions to say what it is, do you not think that he would be at a loss5 and that he would regard what he formerly saw as more real than the things now pointed out to him?” “Far more real,” he said.
“And if he were compelled to look at the light itself, [515e] would not that pain his eyes, and would he not turn away and flee to those things which he is able to discern and regard them as in very deed more clear and exact than the objects pointed out?” “It is so,” he said. “And if,” said I, “someone should drag him thence by force up the ascent6 which is rough and steep, and not let him go before he had drawn him out into the light of the sun, do you not think that he would find it painful to be so haled along, and would chafe at it, and when

1 Cf. Parmen. 130 c, Tim. 51 B, 52 A, and my De Platonis Idearum doctrina, pp. 24-25; also E. Hoffmann in Wochenschrift f. klass. Phil. xxxvi. (1919) pp. 196-197. As we use the word tree of the trees we see, though the reality (αὐτὸ ὃ ἔστι) is the idea of a tree, so they would speak of the shadows as the world, though the real reference unknown to them would be to the objects that cause the shadows, and back of the objects to the things of the “real” world of which they are copies. The general meaning, which is quite certain, is that they wold suppose the shadows to be the realities. The text and the precise turn of expression are doubtful. See crit. note.παριόντα is intentionally ambiguous in its application to the shadows or to the objects which cast them. They suppose that the names refer to the passing shadows, but (as we know) they really apply to the objects. Ideas and particulars are homonymous. Assuming a slight illogicality we can get somewhat the same meaning from the text ταὐτά. “Do you not think that they would identify the passing objects (which strictly speaking they do not know) with what they saw?” Cf. also P. Corssen, Philologische Wochenschrift, 1913, p. 286. He prefers οὐκ αὐτά and renders: “Sie würden in dem, was sie sähen, das Vorübergehende selbst zu benennen glauben.”

2 The echo and the voices (515 A) merely complete the picture.

3 Phaedo 67 Dλύειν, and 82 Dλύσει τε καὶ καθαρμῷ. λύσις became technical in Neoplatonism.

4 Lit. “by nature.” φύσις in Plato often suggests reality and truth.

5 The entire passage is an obvious allegory of the painful experience of one whose false conceit of knowledge is tested by the Socratic elenchus. Cf. Soph. 230 B-D, and for ἀπορεῖνMeno 80 A, 84 B-C, Theaet. 149 A, Apol. 23 D. Cf. also What Plato Said, p. 5123 on Meno 80 A, Eurip.Hippol. 247τὸ γὰρ ὀρθοῦσθαι γνώμαν ὀδυνᾷ, “it is painful to have one's opinions set right,” and 517 A, 494 D.

6 Cf. Theaet. 175 B, Boethius, Cons. iii. 12 “quicunque in superum diem mentem ducere quaeritis”; 529 A, 521 C, and the Neoplatonists' use of ἀνάγειν and their “anagogical” virtue and interpretation. Cf. Leibniz, ed. Gerhardt, vii. 270.

[515a] and shapes of animals as well, wrought in stone and wood and every material, some of these bearers presumably speaking and others silent.” “A strange image you speak of,” he said, “and strange prisoners.” “Like to us,” I said; “for, to begin with, tell me do you think that these men would have seen anything of themselves or of one another except the shadows cast from the fire on the wall of the cave that fronted them?” “How could they,” he said, “if they were compelled [515b] to hold their heads unmoved through life?” “And again, would not the same be true of the objects carried past them?” “Surely.” “If then they were able to talk to one another, do you not think that they would suppose that in naming the things that they saw1 they were naming the passing objects?” “Necessarily.” “And if their prison had an echo2 from the wall opposite them, when one of the passersby uttered a sound, do you think that they would suppose anything else than the passing shadow to be the speaker?” “By Zeus, I do not,” said he. “Then in every way [515c] such prisoners would deem reality to be nothing else than the shadows of the artificial objects.” “Quite inevitably,” he said. “Consider, then, what would be the manner of the release3 and healing from these bonds and this folly if in the course of nature4 something of this sort should happen to them: When one was freed from his fetters and compelled to stand up suddenly and turn his head around and walk and to lift up his eyes to the light, and in doing all this felt pain and, because of the dazzle and glitter of the light, was unable to discern the objects whose shadows he formerly saw, [515d] what do you suppose would be his answer if someone told him that what he had seen before was all a cheat and an illusion, but that now, being nearer to reality and turned toward more real things, he saw more truly? And if also one should point out to him each of the passing objects and constrain him by questions to say what it is, do you not think that he would be at a loss5 and that he would regard what he formerly saw as more real than the things now pointed out to him?” “Far more real,” he said.
“And if he were compelled to look at the light itself, [515e] would not that pain his eyes, and would he not turn away and flee to those things which he is able to discern and regard them as in very deed more clear and exact than the objects pointed out?” “It is so,” he said. “And if,” said I, “someone should drag him thence by force up the ascent6 which is rough and steep, and not let him go before he had drawn him out into the light of the sun, do you not think that he would find it painful to be so haled along, and would chafe at it, and when

1 Cf. Parmen. 130 c, Tim. 51 B, 52 A, and my De Platonis Idearum doctrina, pp. 24-25; also E. Hoffmann in Wochenschrift f. klass. Phil. xxxvi. (1919) pp. 196-197. As we use the word tree of the trees we see, though the reality (αὐτὸ ὃ ἔστι) is the idea of a tree, so they would speak of the shadows as the world, though the real reference unknown to them would be to the objects that cause the shadows, and back of the objects to the things of the “real” world of which they are copies. The general meaning, which is quite certain, is that they wold suppose the shadows to be the realities. The text and the precise turn of expression are doubtful. See crit. note.παριόντα is intentionally ambiguous in its application to the shadows or to the objects which cast them. They suppose that the names refer to the passing shadows, but (as we know) they really apply to the objects. Ideas and particulars are homonymous. Assuming a slight illogicality we can get somewhat the same meaning from the text ταὐτά. “Do you not think that they would identify the passing objects (which strictly speaking they do not know) with what they saw?” Cf. also P. Corssen, Philologische Wochenschrift, 1913, p. 286. He prefers οὐκ αὐτά and renders: “Sie würden in dem, was sie sähen, das Vorübergehende selbst zu benennen glauben.”

2 The echo and the voices (515 A) merely complete the picture.

3 Phaedo 67 Dλύειν, and 82 Dλύσει τε καὶ καθαρμῷ. λύσις became technical in Neoplatonism.

4 Lit. “by nature.” φύσις in Plato often suggests reality and truth.

5 The entire passage is an obvious allegory of the painful experience of one whose false conceit of knowledge is tested by the Socratic elenchus. Cf. Soph. 230 B-D, and for ἀπορεῖνMeno 80 A, 84 B-C, Theaet. 149 A, Apol. 23 D. Cf. also What Plato Said, p. 5123 on Meno 80 A, Eurip.Hippol. 247τὸ γὰρ ὀρθοῦσθαι γνώμαν ὀδυνᾷ, “it is painful to have one's opinions set right,” and 517 A, 494 D.

6 Cf. Theaet. 175 B, Boethius, Cons. iii. 12 “quicunque in superum diem mentem ducere quaeritis”; 529 A, 521 C, and the Neoplatonists' use of ἀνάγειν and their “anagogical” virtue and interpretation. Cf. Leibniz, ed. Gerhardt, vii. 270.

6a] he came out into the light, that his eyes would be filled with its beams so that he would not be able to see1 even one of the things that we call real?” “Why, no, not immediately,” he said. “Then there would be need of habituation, I take it, to enable him to see the things higher up. And at first he would most easily discern the shadows and, after that, the likenesses or reflections in water2 of men and other things, and later, the things themselves, and from these he would go on to contemplate the appearances in the heavens and heaven itself, more easily by night, looking at the light [516b] of the stars and the moon, than by day the sun and the sun's light.3” “Of course.” “And so, finally, I suppose, he would be able to look upon the sun itself and see its true nature, not by reflections in water or phantasms of it in an alien setting,4 but in and by itself in its own place.” “Necessarily,” he said. “And at this point he would infer and conclude that this it is that provides the seasons and the courses of the year and presides over all things in the visible region, [516c] and is in some sort the cause5 of all these things that they had seen.” “Obviously,” he said, “that would be the next step.” “Well then, if he recalled to mind his first habitation and what passed for wisdom there, and his fellow-bondsmen, do you not think that he would count himself happy in the change and pity them6?” “He would indeed.” “And if there had been honors and commendations among them which they bestowed on one another and prizes for the man who is quickest to make out the shadows as they pass and best able to remember their customary precedences, [516d] sequences and co-existences,7 and so most successful in guessing at what was to come, do you think he would be very keen about such rewards, and that he would envy and emulate those who were honored by these prisoners and lorded it among them, or that he would feel with Homer8 and “‘greatly prefer while living on earth to be serf of another, a landless man,’” Hom. Od. 11.489 and endure anything rather than opine with them [516e] and live that life?” “Yes,” he said, “I think that he would choose to endure anything rather than such a life.” “And consider this also,” said I, “if such a one should go down again and take his old place would he not get his eyes full9 of darkness, thus suddenly coming out of the sunlight?” “He would indeed.” “Now if he should be required to contend with these perpetual prisoners

1 Cf. Laws 897 D, Phaedo 99 D.

2 Cf. Phaedo 99 D. Stallbaum says this was imitated by Themistius, Orat. iv. p. 51 B.

3 It is probably a mistake to look for a definite symbolism in all the details of this description. There are more stages of progress than the proportion of four things calls for. all that Plato's thought requires is the general contrast between an unreal and a real world, and the goal of the rise from one to the other in the contemplation of the sun, or the idea of good, Cf. 517 B-C.

4 i.e. a foreign medium.

5 Cf. 508 B, and for the idea of good as the cause of all things cf. on 509 B, and Introd. pp. xxxv-xxxvi. P. Corssen, Philol. Wochenschrift, 1913, pp. 287-299, unnecessarily proposes to emend ὧν σφεῖς ἑώρων to ὧν σκιὰς ἑ. or ὧν σφεῖς σκιὰς ἑ., “ne sol umbrarum, quas videbant, auctor fuisse dicatur, cum potius earum rerum, quarum umbras videbant, fuerit auctor.”

6 Cf. on 486 a, p. 10, note a.

7 Another of Plato's anticipations of modern thought. This is precisely the Humian, Comtian, positivist, pragmatist view of causation. Cf. Gorg. 501 Aτριβῇ καὶ ἐμπειρίᾳ μνήμην μόνον σωζομένη τοῦ εἰθότος γίγνεσθαι“relying on routine and habitude for merely preserving a memory of what is wont to result.” (Loeb tr.)

8 The quotation is almost as apt as that at the beginning of the Crito.

9 On the metaphor of darkness and light cf. also Soph. 254 A.