Also known as "The Golden Chain," it is the Greek concept that there is a linking or "chain" of living beings. At one end are the highest of deities, moving down to lesser deities, heroes, then sages, ordinary people, and then lower animals, etc. Each "link" in the chain inspires and teaches the links below it on the chain, resulting in the transmission of concepts such as love, wisdom, and knowledge of the universe and its secrets.