When the ancient Greek philosophers speak of motion they don't primarily mean the motion of objects - as in Newtonian motion. They mean it in the sense that if you see something that resonates with you emotionally you might say 'my soul was moved by seeing that thing'. Or 'I saw an unjust act and I was moved to do something about it.'
The feeling of being moved to do something is closer to the ancient idea of the source of motion. The cause of motion. It is a natural thought for the ancients to believe the mind of nature works in a similar but vastly bigger way to our own minds. Our internal motions of soul motivate us to act and are apriori to any physical movement. They carry intentionality, unlike the motion of physical objects which require a force to act upon them before they move (or are forced to stop). We moderns tend to believe all motion originates in blind forces.
The Greek philosophers consider all physical motion to imply a first movement of the soul. In the natural world there is the soul of nature or the gods which is the beginnings of all motion; birth, death, decay, the changing seasons etc. Our own personal mindfulness and the mindfulness of nature overlap because our minds are a small piece of the mind of nature. This is how we can have knowledge of the combined mind/matter of nature and enquire into its ultimate goals. Modern science believes the study of the end goals of nature is a hopeless pursuit because the results simply aren't there to be studied. To sum up: we moderns see motion and change as the result of blind material or physical forces, whereas the ancients believe motion and change originates in mindfulness.
In the current working draft of Solon's next adventure there is a character called Polymetis who is a metal worker. He works in a forge in a cave that uses the heat from volcanic activity. There are small echoes of the god of metal-working, Hephaestus (Vulcan in Roman mythology).
Polymetis tells us about the first moment he lay eyes on his wife. You barely have rational knowledge of such an intense moment, he says. You are too 'in the moment'. Instead, we need contemplation or recollection to turn these experiences into knowledge. He does this in his metal work.
Polymetis's wife has passed away so this act of creation from recollection is inseparable from his sense of loss. He finds ingenious ways of creating motion with the metals he works on, so much so, it adds enormous value to the objects he creates. His beautiful creations stirs the souls of others but the added-value of his skills fuels a cult of luxury that has taken over Pergamon.
For his greatest final piece, he wants to create a large mechanical moving statue. It will be a 'clockwork' effigy of his wife, not to bring her back to life, but to capture the intense motion of his soul he experienced when he first laid eyes on her. He believes something of her true essence and the essence of his future son lives in that moment. He wants to understand this first moment. He wants to be able to touch it because he also believes that these stirrings of the soul reflect something of both the true nature of reality and its creative origins. Hence, recreating this emotion will lead to true knowledge of why his wife and child came into his life. He will see into the face of destiny.
But a mechanical moving statue is simply a mechanical moving statue. It is a mere signifier of his feelings, not identical to them and not even the feelings he thinks it represents. It is certainly representative of something - powerfully so - but most likely his deep sense of loss. What he gains reminds him of what he has lost.
Yet the mechanical statue will have an effect on the viewer. If it is particularly beautiful and wondrous then it will have a big effect. By transferring both his feelings and his skills into the statue, Polymetis turns it into a cache, a kind of collective vault that can store and enliven the powerful feelings of many, not just his own.
The mechanical statue is a personal mission for Polymetis. It is something he needs to 'get out of his system'. He doesn't particularly want to make it public nor monetise it. The added value, however, is ripe for money-making which is where our nemesis, Quintus Mercado, comes into the frame. He lets the demon rip through Pergamon.
The feeling of being moved to do something is closer to the ancient idea of the source of motion. The cause of motion. It is a natural thought for the ancients to believe the mind of nature works in a similar but vastly bigger way to our own minds. Our internal motions of soul motivate us to act and are apriori to any physical movement. They carry intentionality, unlike the motion of physical objects which require a force to act upon them before they move (or are forced to stop). We moderns tend to believe all motion originates in blind forces.
The Greek philosophers consider all physical motion to imply a first movement of the soul. In the natural world there is the soul of nature or the gods which is the beginnings of all motion; birth, death, decay, the changing seasons etc. Our own personal mindfulness and the mindfulness of nature overlap because our minds are a small piece of the mind of nature. This is how we can have knowledge of the combined mind/matter of nature and enquire into its ultimate goals. Modern science believes the study of the end goals of nature is a hopeless pursuit because the results simply aren't there to be studied. To sum up: we moderns see motion and change as the result of blind material or physical forces, whereas the ancients believe motion and change originates in mindfulness.
In the current working draft of Solon's next adventure there is a character called Polymetis who is a metal worker. He works in a forge in a cave that uses the heat from volcanic activity. There are small echoes of the god of metal-working, Hephaestus (Vulcan in Roman mythology).
Polymetis tells us about the first moment he lay eyes on his wife. You barely have rational knowledge of such an intense moment, he says. You are too 'in the moment'. Instead, we need contemplation or recollection to turn these experiences into knowledge. He does this in his metal work.
Polymetis's wife has passed away so this act of creation from recollection is inseparable from his sense of loss. He finds ingenious ways of creating motion with the metals he works on, so much so, it adds enormous value to the objects he creates. His beautiful creations stirs the souls of others but the added-value of his skills fuels a cult of luxury that has taken over Pergamon.
For his greatest final piece, he wants to create a large mechanical moving statue. It will be a 'clockwork' effigy of his wife, not to bring her back to life, but to capture the intense motion of his soul he experienced when he first laid eyes on her. He believes something of her true essence and the essence of his future son lives in that moment. He wants to understand this first moment. He wants to be able to touch it because he also believes that these stirrings of the soul reflect something of both the true nature of reality and its creative origins. Hence, recreating this emotion will lead to true knowledge of why his wife and child came into his life. He will see into the face of destiny.
But a mechanical moving statue is simply a mechanical moving statue. It is a mere signifier of his feelings, not identical to them and not even the feelings he thinks it represents. It is certainly representative of something - powerfully so - but most likely his deep sense of loss. What he gains reminds him of what he has lost.
Yet the mechanical statue will have an effect on the viewer. If it is particularly beautiful and wondrous then it will have a big effect. By transferring both his feelings and his skills into the statue, Polymetis turns it into a cache, a kind of collective vault that can store and enliven the powerful feelings of many, not just his own.
The mechanical statue is a personal mission for Polymetis. It is something he needs to 'get out of his system'. He doesn't particularly want to make it public nor monetise it. The added value, however, is ripe for money-making which is where our nemesis, Quintus Mercado, comes into the frame. He lets the demon rip through Pergamon.
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