Natasa said -
>This occured to me while I was watching 'Orac' - I noticed that Ensor has a
>mechanical bird in his lab. OK, he's a nice guy who doesn't want to keep a
>real bird in a cage - but is there anything more to it? Then I realized it
>wasn't exactly a bird. It has the body of an animal and the head and wings
>of a bird. It could be a griffin.
>
>That made me think, and I realized that the whole imagery of this episode
is
>suggestive of ancient Greece.
This reminds me of one of my favourite poems, Sailing to Byzantium, by Yeats
Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy emperor awake
Or set upon a golden bough, to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come
Alison