Hope

January 19th, 2023

Chorus: Did you perhaps go further than you have told us?

Prometheus: I caused mortals to cease foreseeing the doom.

Chorus: What cure did you provide them with against that sickness?

Prometheus: I placed in them blind hopes.

from “Prometheus Bound” by Aeschylus

Who am I to question a Titan of Greek myths and a hero of mankind who sacrificed himself or rather accepted Fates to be correct and incorruptible and allowed Gods to sacrifice him to perpetual torment (foreshadowing another much-better known religious sacrifice victim by a thousand years)? I am just a mere mortal who has never been to Greece and doesn’t speak a lick of Greek, not to mention have any knowledge of ancient Greek. And yet I know all Greek myths front and back from all different interpretations starting from Hesiod to modern scholarly compilations Also, ancient Greek history and geography and topography and internal politics are my forte and one of my wonderfully irrelevant and useless interests. The same with ancient Greek histories and tragedies and comedies and philosophical works and of course poetry — I guess it started with expected knowledge of classics in elementary school and I just kept going reading and learning more and more.

But I digress…and disagree —

Hope is never blind. Hope serves a purpose, no matter how fleeting or misguided it is. Hope is never blind, it can be blinding and cover the reason and reality, but still, it will serve its purpose — to give strength and drive to go forward. To help break out of the tight bonds of despair. To provide nourishment for the soul and mind. To help grow beyond the ordered or expected place in life. To help fight for the betterment and reason to strive for the one who hopes and others who need it. There is nothing blind about it. It is an evolutionary need that arose from the despondency of knowing our lives and ultimate mortality. We all have it. And there is no such time when hope is gone completely, any loss of hope is only temporary. Hope can be regained and cherished anew — I am the best and living example of it. And once regained, it can be used for and with the purpose of making life better and consciously examined. If that was the gift from Prometheus as told in Greek myths, that makes him above any god or goddess or deity or spirit ever worshiped. That makes me want to believe in him.