Dialogue ~ 49

Recently I asked, “What is the purpose of time? Does time provide a ‘medium or space’ for a person to recognise themselves as (in relationship with) life – and for however long that shift of thought and comprehension takes?”

I considered, “… Even that imagery is flawed, in that it suggests something (time as a medium or as space) exists which is ‘other’ than self. Perhaps time as space IS synonymous with movement of mind? Not quantitative (which is how we are accustomed to measuring time) but qualitative?”

Does qualitative refer to happiness? Certainly, we recognise that time appears to speed up when we’re having fun or to drag when we are not; still, that doesn’t say anything about time per se but our perception of it. Does perception (of time) reveal our relationship with (as) life? Intelligence is more than sensation.

Is space-time synonymous with movement of mind? Is it possible that what we perceive of as time is revealing something about ourselves that we are unable to measure, because in the very moment of mind measuring it, we inevitably lose sight of what had been in our vision?

Greek mythology suggests that humanity has ‘developed’, that is to say it has passed through a series of eras or ‘ages’ (mostly named after metals, with each era being less harmonious than its predecessors) and which were characterised by significant events.  Hesiod described these transitions as follows:

Golden Age: the Titan Cronus/the Roman god Saturn ruled. Humanity lived harmoniously with the Gods/one another. There was abundance, provision for life; effort or travel was unnecessary. Humans had long lifespans and died peacefully.

Silver Age: the Olympian Zeus/the Roman god Jupiter ruled. Humans lived for 100 years as children supported by their mothers and for a short while as adults as they clashed with one another. Seasons and cycles were evident and agriculture came to happen. Humans did not pay tribute to the gods and were struck down by Zeus/Jupiter.

Bronze Age: Humans were tough and warlike and destroyed one another in wars. This era was ended by the flood of Deucalion.

Heroic Age: Great warriors, heroes and demigods were recognised and sung about for centuries afterwards. 

Iron Age: Characterised by destruction, struggle and suffering.  Hesiod believed that he was living in this era. It appeared as if the gods had abandoned them. Humans were impious, selfish, lacked shame and regularly fought with one another. 

Similarly, the biblical story of the Garden of Eden refers to how humanity has transitioned from a state of innocence, bliss and virtue towards struggle, suffering and death.

These transitions suggest that we can only hope or have faith that humanity will redeem itself; in so doing, it will redefine its virtue.

Is the golden age of which Hesiod wrote, one in which humanity collectively practised moral excellence? Is this an innate state of one’s being? Why would humanity lose touch with this quality of being? How did it allegedly ‘sin’?

In the Gospel of Thomas, the disciples are said to have asked of Jesus, “Tell us how our end will be.” Jesus replied, “Have you discovered, then, the beginning, that you look for the end? For where the beginning is, there will the end be. Blessed is he who will take his place in the beginning; he will know the end and not experience death.”

The ‘beginning’ as Jesus is relating to it, is clearly not located in the midst of chronological time; does this indicate that the conventional way by which we perceive events and the happening of life is flawed?

In another verse of the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus is given to have said, “Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man; and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man.”

In this passage, is Jesus referring to the ‘lion’ as chronological time? When we measure time and conceive of ourselves as existing in its midst, are we literally manufacturing an ‘impression’ of self which is further consumed by what is nothing more than an interpretation or measurement of life? From a philosophical perspective, have we quite literally manufactured death?

Plato’s ‘theory of forms’ asserts that the physical world is not really the real world; instead it suggests, an ultimate reality exists beyond our physical world.

If time serves only to provide construct between one meaningful event and another, does it render the notion of truth and for that matter, of the very nature of existence as following a path which is arbitrary? By what determination is progressive?

If a metaphysical reality exists, is it accessible to us and how does the nature of space-time or ‘movement of mind’ reveal our relationship with (as) life? Do we immerse ourselves in science and of an accumulation of knowledge with regards to the material world? Have we embedded ourselves within what is an eternal streaming of ‘Groundhog Day’, presenting opportunities to become wholly conversant with what we are being – much like an image of an ‘Ouroboros’ or serpent that is eating is own tail?

How do the choices that we make in life play out? What can we say that we absolutely know about this? Consider this: if a ball is in motion, what determines its altitude and what decides its spin?

Recently, my writing touched upon an ancient cult of Athens which had grouped together Prometheus, Hephaestus and Athena. I said that I would like to explore this triad or trinity further, but with the deities being representative of: ‘intent, comprehension (through intellect) and consequence’ - effectively this is being-intellect-life. 

Greek mythology says that Prometheus stole fire from the Olympian gods and gave it to humanity in the form of knowledge, technology and civilisation.

Whilst exploring the etymology of Prometheus, I wrote, “Breaking down the word Prometheus can offer some interesting information to consider. ‘Pro’ from Latin is ‘in favour of, on behalf of’. What about ‘-metheus’? It sounds similar to Latin ‘matthias’. In looking at the etymology of this word, it is contracted from Mattathias, from Hebrew mattityahu, literally ‘gift of God’. So can Prometheus be interpreted as being ‘in favour/representative of a gift of God?’ This is interesting in context of forethought.”

What about Athena? She was an Olympian goddess of wisdom and the defender of towns (she was the tutelary deity of Athens) and of heroic character. She was associated with weaving, pottery and other crafts. She is depicted as wearing a long robe, the famed ‘aigis’ (a snake-trimmed cape), a crested helm and is holding a shield and spear.

Who or what is Hephaestus? A brief internet search reveals that he was the Olympian god of fire, metalworking and crafts. In classical sculpture he was depicted as a bearded man wearing a craftsman’s cap and holding tools.

In the 5^th century BC, the Greek historian Herodotus wrote (in referring to some form of communal event), “The first rider delivers his charge to the second, the second to the third, and thence it passes on from hand to hand, even as in the Greek torch-bearers’ race in honour of Hephaistos.”

Archaeological excavations on Lemnos have confirmed that initiation rites occurred there from as early as 600 BC, likely part of a mystery cult of the Kabeiroi (Cabeiroi, Cabeiri), said to have been chthonic deities and who were the sons or grandsons of Hephaestus.

Aeschylus wrote a piece called ‘The Kabeiroi’ between 499 and 456 BC, of which three fragments survive. The first reads ‘But I do not treat you as an omen of my journey’. The second pledges to ‘make the house scarce with respect to vinegar’ and the final one reads, ‘That there shall never be a dearth of jars, either of wine or of water, in <this/your> wealthy home’.

My intuitive sense of the nature or workings of Hephaistus is that he implicates an aspect of our nature which has been forgotten (chthonic - possibly as in the cultural stories that we have weaved about ourselves and which serve as projections or genetic memory even as we are born) but which can be engaged with (as would an artisan) so as to restore to an original blueprint.

Similar to the idiom ‘the sins of the father’, consider that Hephaistus represents an ‘historical burden’, that which each is ‘born into’ through this Earth and is called upon to work with. Such might be depicted through the ‘ritual of the riders’ which Herodotus had observed.

In a similar fashion, Athena works with Hephaistus, excepting that she is one who ‘fights in front’, which fits well her depiction as ‘virginal’ or as untouchable by human thought, as well as of her being tireless.

Plato, in his dialogue ‘Critias’ wrote, “In the days of old the gods had the whole earth distributed among them by allotment … Now different gods had their allotments in different places which they set in order. Hephaistos and Athene, who were brother and sister, and sprang from the same father, having a common nature, and being united also in the love of philosophy and art, both obtained as their common portion this land (Athens), which was naturally adapted for wisdom and virtue; and there they implanted brave children of the soil, and put into their minds the order of government; their names are preserved, but their actions have disappeared by reason of the destruction of those who received the tradition, and the lapse of ages."

When Plato wrote of Hephaistus and Athene as ‘put into their minds’ (of the children of Athens) an order of government, was he referring to an ‘innate ability’, that which allows for us to experience what has been referred to as ‘heaven upon earth’ or of what Hesiod had referred to as humanity’s ‘Golden Age’?

No doubt there are scholars who will suggest that Athena served as little other than as a ‘figurehead’ or muse; inspiration for an ancient culture such as Athens to have strived for an excellence of virtue and as justification to preserve its cultural status. Nevertheless, it is worth remembering what Plato said, “whilst their names (of Hephaistus and Athene) are preserved, their actions have disappeared (through tradition and time)”. It is possible that we might have lost touch with ‘the thing itself’ (in terms of governance or right conduct) and replaced it with fabrication after fabrication.

Whatever else we might say about time, it does allow for us to contemplate how we utilise the gifts of humanity that we have been given, particularly in light of ‘intent, comprehension (through intellect) and consequence; effectively being-intellect-life’. It is noble if we aspire to build a great citadel but at the same time we must be willing for it to tumble – to remember that a true artisan appreciates an innate beauty; that one’s official hallmark is not to be found in what one does but is rather to be found in what one becomes.