[616] “First heaven.” _Qu._ iv. 7. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. THE SPHERES AND THE FOUR ELEMENTS. The pure region of the spheres, “il paese sincero,” is immortal as the spirits themselves;[617] but below the lowest celestial sphere (“la celestial c’ha men salita” _Par._ iv. 39) all is mortal and transitory, as the Greeks and the Latin poets had said. This is expressed in the Letter to Can Grande, when Dante contrasts the spheres (cœlum) and the elements, and says: “illud incorruptibile, illa vero corruptibilia sunt.”[618] It is also implied in Virgil’s address to Beatrice: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [617] _Par._ vii. 130-132 compared with 67, 68. See also _Par._ i. 64 and 76. [618] _Ep._ x. 435-437. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ “O donna di virtù, sola per cui L’umana specie eccede ogni contento Da quel ciel che ha minor’ li cerchi sui.”[619] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [619] “O Lady of Virtue, thou alone through whom The human race exceedeth all contained Within the heaven that has the lesser circles.” _Inf._ ii. 76-78. (_Longfellow_). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It is only through the spiritual teaching which Beatrice symbolizes that the human race can rise above all that is comprised within the heaven of the smallest sphere. And it is taught by Beatrice herself when, in the heaven of Mercury, she discourses on the mysteries of the creation and redemption. The angels, the souls of men, and the spheres, were created directly by God, she says, and are therefore immortal, but the elements, water, fire, air, earth, and all things that are formed out of them, also the souls or living principles of all animals and plants, were created through intermediate instruments and are mortal. These intermediate instruments are the heavenly bodies. Pure or inchoate matter was created at the beginning by God, and a power infused into the stars to give it form.[620] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [620] _Par._ vii. 124-143. Compare with Plato’s account of the creation of living beings (Part I., _Plato_). ------------------------------------------------------------------------