Literary notes about artificer (AI summary)
The term "artificer" is used in literature to evoke a range of meanings from a master craftsman to a metaphorical creator of natural or human destiny. In some works, it has a literal sense, denoting a skilled worker or trade expert—whether that means the ingenious designer of a tent-like structure ([1]), the engine-room specialist ([2]), or even the daedal creator of a labyrinth ([3], [4]). In other writings, the word adopts a more abstract or elevated tone, symbolizing a divine or natural force that fashions order and beauty, as when nature itself is cast as the ultimate artificer ([5], [6]), or when destiny is seen as the handiwork of one’s own creative power ([7]). This versatile usage reflects the rich connotation of technical mastery and creative genius that the word has carried from ancient mythic traditions to modern discourse.
- [for so were they framed by the artificer,] they covered it, as under a tent, or a cupola.
— from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus - This is my job," said the first-class engine-room artificer.
— from Traffics and Discoveries by Rudyard Kipling - DAEDALUS The labyrinth from which Theseus escaped by means of the clew of Ariadne was built by Daedalus, a most skilful artificer.
— from The Age of Fable by Thomas Bulfinch - DÆDALUS The labyrinth from which Theseus escaped by means of the clew of Ariadne was built by Dædalus, a most skilful artificer.
— from Bulfinch's MythologyThe Age of Fable; The Age of Chivalry; Legends of Charlemagne by Thomas Bulfinch - Nature here, the artificer of the object as well as of the percipient, hath suited them to each other with great accuracy.
— from Elements of Criticism, Volume I. by Kames, Henry Home, Lord - What artificer but nature, whose direction is incomparable, could have exhibited so much ingenuity in the formation of the senses?
— from Cicero's Tusculan Disputations by Marcus Tullius Cicero - For if all my fortunes depend upon my former conduct, I am the sole artificer of my destiny.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana
