men,—the communication of one nature to another, the impressions bestowed and received, the reciprocal appreciation of character.
According to Hesiod, the Graces were Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia. In place of the latter Goethe substituted Hegemone (one of the two Graces revered by the Athenians), perhaps for the reason that the name of Thalia is better known as that of a Muse.
26. The Parcæ.
As in the Graces we have the activity of beneficent social qualities, so now, in the Parc, we find those forces of order, restraint, and control, without which there could be no permanence in human intercourse. Hartung considers that they represent the “necessities” to which Life must submit, and Düntzer calls them the embodiment of “moral limitations”—but these are simply different forms of the same solution.
Goethe has purposely changed the parts of Atropos and Clotho. The former carefully spins a soft and even thread, warning the maskers that it must not be stretched too far, even in enjoyment. Clotho, the youngest of the Fates, announces that the shears have been given to her, because Atropos prolonged useless lives and clipped the threads of the young and hopeful, and she, therefore, thrusts the shears into the sheath, in order to make no similar mistakes. I confess I am unable to explain the exact significance of this action. Some find in it a hint that the ancient gloomy, inexorable idea of Fate is banished from modern society; others that the needful moderation and self-control will make the threatening shears unnecessary.
The task of Lachesis is evidently to arrange and twist together the separate threads into an even, ordered chain,—a symbol which requires no further explanation.
27. They are The Furies.
Here we have the activity of evil forces in society. Goethe changes the Erinnys of the Greeks, who were represented as fierce, baleful figures, with snakes and torches in their hands,
