The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer.

The winner of the Stadion race could justifiably be called the fastest man in the Greek world. According to legend, Herakles, whose feet were 0·32 meters (12·7 inches) long, stepped-off the Stadion at Olympia. Since he chose a distance of 600 “feet”, this made the race at Olympia 192 meters. Herakles staged a race for his brothers, the Kouretes, and crowned the victor with a branch of wild olive. Although the Greek Stadion race was always 600 feet, other Greek gods had “feet” of different lengths. This caused the length of the Stadion race to vary slightly from stadium to stadium. This list of Olympic victors compiled by Hippias in about 400 B.C. lists the Stadion race as the only event in the first 13 Olympic games. Coreobus of Elis, a cook, was the victor in the Stadion race in 776 B.C. and thus the first recorded Olympic victor.

Conversely, expecting is, as we say, ecstatic. The ecstasy mentioned here, stepping out itself (ἔκστασις) is to some extent a raptus [rapture]. … And we therefore call these three basic phenomena the ecstases of temporality.

He was explaining to her things about the air service. . . . Isn't it rather dangerous work? she asked. She felt it was a footling question even as she asked it.