Like the Hebrew giant they carry their prison doors with them to the mountains.
But still the same refrain is repeated, and will be, no doubt, for a long while to come: "Follow the rules! Copy the models! It was the rules that shaped the models." One moment! In that case there are two sorts of models, those which are made according to the rules, and, prior to them, those according to which the rules were made.

Now, in which of these two categories should genius seek a place for itself?
Although it is always disagreeable to come in contact with pedants, is it not a thousand times better to give them lessons than to receive lessons from them?
And then--copy! Is the reflection equal to the light?
Is the satellite which travels unceasingly in the same circle equal to the central creative planet?
With all his poetry Virgil is no more than the moon of Homer.
And whom are we to copy, I pray to know?
The ancients?
We have just shown that their stage has nothing in common with ours.

Moreover, Voltaire, who will have none of Shakespeare, will have none of the Greeks, either.

Let him tell us why: "The Greeks ventured to produce scenes no less revolting to us.

Hippolyte, crushed by his fall, counts his wounds and utters doleful cries.