THE HARMONY OF VIRTUE

298 The Harmony of VirtueWe see then the appropriateness of the Hetaira as a materialform into which the vague idea of sensuous beauty in the worldmight run. For the charm of the Apsara even when working onthe plane of the mind, is still vital and sensational; it does notbelong to the more rarefied regions of the spirit. Now vital andsensational charm in seeking its fulfilment demands that the pursuitof sensuous beauty shall be its sole object, that it shall be withoutcheck as without any side-glance or after-thought; it doesnot seek to be immoral, but simply rejects all moral tests; it recognizesno law but the fulfilment of its own being. This is thevery spirit of the Hetaira. The beauty of nakedness sculptured,painted or shaped into words, is not immoral. For the momentwe apply the test of morality, it becomes clear that we must eitherrule it out as not belonging to the world of morality or ruleout morality itself for the moment as not belonging to the worldof beauty, which is essentially a world of nakedness, in the sensethat dress there is an occasional ornament, not a necessary covering;not because there is any essential opposition between them,but because there is no essential connection or necessary pointof contact. Ideals of all the plastic and sensuous arts fall withinthe scope of the Apsara; she is actress, songstress, musician,painter. When they arose from the waves neither the gods northe demons accepted them as wives; accepted by none they becamecommon to all; for neither the great active faculties of mannor the great destructive recognize sensuous delight and charmas their constant and sufficient mistress, but rather as the joyand refreshment of an hour, an accompaniment or diversion intheir constant pursuit of the recognized ideal to which they arewedded. Moreover sensuous beauty has a certain attraction andsplendour which seem to some minds finally, and occasionallyto most, fairer and brighter than that other ideal which by dailyoccupation with it, by permissibility and by sameness, grows stalefor some, fades into homeliness and routine for others and preservesits real, undying, unageing and unforsakeable freshnessand delight only to the few constant and unswerving souls, whoare the elect of our human evolution. In all this the idea of theApsara coincides with the actuality of the Hetaira. In choosingthe Hetaira therefore for the Apsara's earthly similitude, the