Literary notes about chief (AI summary)
In literature, the term "chief" functions both as a marker of authority and as a qualifier for primacy or essential quality. It is often used to designate a leader or foremost figure—whether a divine commander in epic narratives ([1], [2], [3]) or a principal officer in administrative contexts ([4], [5]). At the same time, "chief" can denote the most important or fundamental component in a broader scheme, as seen in discussions of artistic materials ([6]) or central tenets in philosophy and sociology ([7], [8]). The word also appears in diverse settings, from denoting key figures in religious rites ([9]) to indicating main characters in myth and folklore ([10], [11]), reflecting its versatility in conveying primary importance or rank across literary genres.
- Beholding the fierce thunderbolt about to be hurled by their chief, the celestials all took up their respective weapons.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - " [pg 216] To him the chief: "What then remains to do?
— from The Iliad by Homer - I am Vishnu, I am Brahma and I am Sakra, the chief of the gods.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - The legation party included the chief, Adams, Mitford, who had just been [pg 370] gazetted second secretary, and myself.
— from A Diplomat in Japan by Ernest Mason Satow - (It was here that the chief of police had gone while Lembke was rescuing the feather bed.)
— from The possessed : by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Unfortunately, however, this latter furnishes the chief materials of the imitative arts.
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato - The imagination is not extinct; but its chief function is to devise what may be useful, and to represent what is real.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 2 by Alexis de Tocqueville - But that the reasons alleged do not prove it either to be not-good or the Chief Good is plain from the following considerations.
— from The Ethics of Aristotle by Aristotle - For in the days of David and Asaph from the beginning there were chief singers appointed, to praise with canticles, and give thanks to God.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - As for the stranger, he was Mentes, son of Anchialus, chief of the Taphians, an old friend of my father's."
— from The Odyssey by Homer - This new chief, God, he became unexpectedly conscious of, and he felt embarrassed by him.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo