The second author we are interested in is William Shakespeare, who, in his Roman plays of argument, it is widely Plutarkians of the narrative. Below is an excerpt from Act IV, Scene III of Antony and Cleopatra.
Alexandria. Before the palace Enter CLEOPATRA
a company of soldiers
FIRST SOLDIER. Brother, good night. Tomorrow is the big day
SECOND SOLDIER. The decisive day. Good luck. Did you hear something strange in the street?
FIRST SOLDIER. No. What?
SECOND SOLDIER. Maybe just a noise. Good night.
FIRST SOLDIER. Good night, sir. [They meet other soldiers] SECOND SOLDIER
. Money, make good guard.
FIRST SOLDIER. You too. Good night. [...] [You hear music under the stage] SECOND SOLDIER. Shut up, what's that noise?
THIRD SOLDIER. Hear, hear!
SECOND SOLDIER. Play!
THIRD SOLDIER. Music in the air.
FOURTH SOLDIER. And beneath the earth.
THIRD SOLDIER. It 's a good sign, is not it?
FOURTH SOLDIER. No.
THIRD SOLDIER. Hush, I tell you! What does this mean?
SECOND SOLDIER. And 'the God Hercules, Antonio worshiped, He's leaving.
THIRD SOLDIER. Come, let's see if other people feel what we feel on guard, too.
SECOND SOLDIER. Altolia, gentlemen!
SOLDIERS. [Talking together] Altolia! Altolia! You will feel?
FIRST SOLDIER. Yes, it is not strange?
THIRD SOLDIER. Do you hear, gentlemen? Do you hear?
FIRST SOLDIER. We follow the noise until we can, we will see how to stop.
SOLDIERS. Okay. It 's weird. Exeunt
Some notations:
Shakespeare setting the scene described by Plutarch among soldiers in a military context, it is primarily a general Mark Antony, the next day, in battle, will be played fortune and life;
for the same reasons, probably identifies the patron god of the manly Hercules Antonio instead of the effeminate, jolly, asian Dionysus / Bacchus;
music, which, as the wind of the Spirit in the Gospel of John, do not know where it comes from and where it goes, is in the air and under the earth, is a phenomenon chthonic and divine, which Eliot refashion further.
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