Dialogue ~ 46

Previously I wrote, “Consider that the myth of Prometheus is representative of ‘first thought or an idea’ in real time as it is emerging from ‘what is’ (is knowable, in truth and just). As these ideas which are grounded in one’s knowing emerge, they are connected together as if forming an ‘adamantine’ chain of one’s truth.

If one’s truth is abandoned, that is to say, if one fails to discern between ideas of ‘what is’ and opinions ... Epimetheus (hindsight) has become the guide of one’s way … Effectively it is to enter into the toil of coming to know ‘what is’ (one’s truth) through an ‘extended journey’ - a circuitous route (of time).”

The ‘great abyss’ of one’s truth (to infer from Parmenides) ‘is to fail to discern between ‘what is’ and opinions. If 'what is' is less than clear for us, does it follow that we are hapless victims of our fate? Do we orient ourselves towards ‘progress’ and be indoctrinated into a ‘brave new world’, effectively making our truths as we go? Or is there a (cosmic) guide that is available, providing that we learn how to attune? 

We are informed from texts that Epimetheus was the brother (or syzygy) of Prometheus and that together, they were Titans who acted as representatives (helpers) of humanity. We are also informed that Prometheus was the clever one, whilst Epimetheus was foolish.

Prometheus’ name is typically given as meaning 'foresight', although I have suggested that it is 'representative of ‘first thought or an idea’ in real time as it is emerging from ‘what is’ (is knowable, in truth and just).’ Epimetheus’ name is typically given as meaning 'hindsight’.

It might be helpful to explore the name of Epimetheus to see if it is possible to gather information as to what it represents.

The etymology of ‘epi-‘ is from ancient Greek ἐπί ‘on top of’ or ‘above, over’. μή is from Proto-Hellenic *mḗ, from Proto-Indo-European *meh. Cognate with Old Armenian մի  (mi), Sanskrit  मा (mā), Old Persian (m-a /mā/) and Albanian mos (not, or negative in clauses expressing will, wish or thought). Θεός or theós (divine, a deity, goddess), from Proto-Hellenic *tʰehós (whence also Mycenaean Greek  (te-o)), Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s, from *dʰeh₁ (to do, to put, to place) + *-s, cognate with Phrygian δεως (deōs ‘to the gods’). 

What is interesting is that with reference to ‘Θεός or theós’ of Prometheus and Epimetheus, we find that the Greek goddess Theia or Θεία (also known as Euryphaessa or in ancient Greek Εὐρυφάεσσα), is such that the name Theia Euryphaessa effectively means ‘wide or far shining/brightness of light’.

Is it possible that Prometheus represents a state of ‘for/towards’ (as in Latin ‘pro’) the wide shining light of ‘what is’, whilst Epimetheus is that of ‘going beyond’ (as in to overlay one’s own truth upon something – as in Protagoras’ relativism of ‘man is the measure of all things’)? Is it the ‘directionality’ of one’s will (as in being) which the goddess was referring to when she said to Parmenides that ‘mortals wander in two minds’?

What can we know about the goddess Theia? She is given as being the eldest daughter of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (Sky). What can ‘daughter’ be referring to, particularly one that is associated with light? Given as we experience ourselves within cycles of time, is it possible that Theia is referring to the illumination (wisdom) of an ‘aeon’, possibly the first aeon of our planet to have emerged? Homer portrays her as the mother of the sun, the moon and the dawn, whilst the Roman poet Catullus describes these lights as ‘Theia’s illustrious progeny’.

Pindar said of Theia, “… for your sake men honour gold as more powerful than anything else; and through the value you bestow on them, o queen, ships contending on the sea and yoked teams of horses in swift-whirling contests become marvels.”

There is the recognition of reciprocity within Pindar’s words, in that as one orients oneself so as to recognise the eminence of the divine, so does the beneficence of that ‘which is’ provide blessings upon oneself. Theia represents ‘the highest good’ of all that is visible through the material world. This concurs with an understanding that I was once given of ‘I am to you as you are to me: we are one’.

Theia was said to be the consort of Hyperion and the sister of Rhea and Cronus. Cronus (or Cronos, Kronos) was said to have ruled within the ‘Golden Age’ of humanity until he was overthrown by Zeus and imprisoned in Tartarus.  Cronus was identified with the Roman deity Saturn (god of time, regeneration and liberation). An etymology of Rhea as embodied in Plato and in Chrysippus, connected her name with ῥέω (rhéo, 'flow, discharge'). It is interesting that we often use the term ‘flow of time’ as if intuitively associating the coupling (or syzygy) of Rhea and Cronus – perhaps they are representative of an aeon as it is existing within Theia – a wheel within a wheel?

The daughter of Rhea and Cronus was Demeter, the law-giving mother. There is conjecture as to the etymology of her name, but it is interesting that her name includes (de) as in away from, méh₂tēr (possibly ‘meh’ as in the negative in clauses expressing wish, will or thought) and ‘ter’ as in thrice? Demeter was associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries and regeneration of life – interestingly, her Egyptian equivalent was Isis.

What can we comprehend from Parmenides’ revelation of the goddess as ‘that which is’ (is just and in truth), the ‘wide shining brightness’ or ‘highest good’ of Theia and the sacred laws of Gaia? If there is teleology of our earthly existence, is it that of light which knows itself through form?