conceptual elements evident in Greek thought, particularly in Plato, that
were then modified through the establishment of Christianity in the West
and the development of the modern world. These five elements aremantikeor
possession by something divine and immortal;enthousiasmosor the mental
and emotional state of being thus possessed;techneor craft, skill;daimonor a
more personal tutelary spirit or muse, distributed distinctively to some
individuals; and demiourgousor a divine principle that brings about the
creation of the world.^5 Possession by one’s personaldaimonor muse, putting
one in a state of enthusiasm that results in an upsurge of productive power,
itself then mediated by craft, results in distinctively artistic making, which is
analogous to the divine creation of the world out of nothing. With the advent
of Christianity, the image in the Gospel of John of divine creation as self-
realizinglogosdisplaces the image of the demiurge, but the conception of
artistic creativity as involving these five elements is largely continued. Pet-
rarch’s possession by Laura, Dante’s inspiration by Beatrice, Shakespeare’s
captivation by the Dark Lady, Milton’s prayer to the Muses, and Words-
worth’s invocation of Milton as precursor all show something of this constel-
lation of ideas.
With the slow development of modernity, these ideas are significantly
naturalized and internalized, subjected to what Gould calls“the somewhat
paradoxical secularization of the divine, without which the idea of genius is
impossible.”^6 Genius is seen as an internal gift of nature, a special and
specially distributed talent or election that occurs naturally in some but that
cannot be explained. Interwoven with the development of the modern con-
ception of genius and creativity is the development of the modern system of
the fine arts. As Gould notes, the fine arts such as painting, poetry, and music
are now distinguishedasfine or high arts from craft, domestic, or industrial
arts;expressionof inner productive power displaces imitation as a principal
aim of art; the creator of art who manifests expressive power is seen as more
important than any traditional rules, forms, or genres; and creative artists
are seen as or as likesublimeforces of nature: raging torrents of creative(^5) Ibid., p. 288A–B.
(^6) Ibid., p. 288B. Gould notes that this secularization and internalization are already to some
extent present in Socrates. On the theme of internalization of creative possession by the
divine, see also Northrop Frye, “The Drunken Boat,” inRomanticism Reconsidered,
ed. N. Frye (New York: Columbia University Press, 1963), pp. 1–25.
116 An Introduction to the Philosophy of Art