Read the passage from of the wisdom of the ancients. now the philosophy of the greeks, which in investigating the material principles of things is careful and acute, in inquiring the principles of motion, wherein lies all vigour of operation, is negligent and languid; and on the point now in question seems to be altogether blind and babbling; for that opinion of the peripatetics which refers the original impulse of matter to privation, is little more than words—a name for the thing rather than a description of it. which phrase from the passage best states its central idea?

The excerpt concerns the the concept of matter and its comprehension from the point of view of Greek philosophy. We can observe the explanation for the principles of the matter and the conclusion by Peripatetics. The latter claims that not the principles of the matter, but the name of it is important. The lines of a name for the thing rather than a description of it show the central idea of this small excerpt.

byron utilizes literary techniques to emphisize the illustration of the woman in the poem “she walks in beauty”.

for instance, he uses alliteration to use repetitive consonant sounds when he is writing a word at the beginning of a phrase. he uses personification to give personality to a thing or action. he uses imagery when he is describing the woman. we also can find metaphors to better compare a moment.

these techniques add to the reader’s experience of beauty when the author describes the woman physical beauty and the purity of her mind, using imagery.  

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the narrator is saying that the old lady made her feel uncomfortable. you know this because they say "i found that rather irksome", "perhaps it was her being so upright and trim", and "i don't think it was that, because i thought that quaintly pleasant." hope this !