Hope

“The gods keep hidden from men the choicest parts of life. Because Prometheus the crafty had deceived him, Olympian Zeus in the anger of his heart hid fire, planning sorrow and mischief against men; but the noble son of Iapetus stole again for men from Zeus the counselor, concealing fire in a hollow fennel-stalk, so that Zeus who delights in thunder did not see it. But afterwards Zeus who gathers the clouds said to him in anger: “Son of Iapetus, surpassing all in cunning, you are glad that you have outwitted me and stolen fire – a great plague shall be upon you for it. But I will give to men as the price for fire an evil thing, in which they all may be glad of heart while they yet embrace their own destruction.” So said the father of men and gods, and laughed aloud. And he bade famous Hephaestus make haste and mix earth and water and to put in it the voice and strength of human kind, and fashion a sweet, lovely maiden-shape, like to the immortal goddesses – the first woman. And he called this woman Pandora, All-Giving, because all those who dwelt on Olympus each gave her a ‘gift’ for men: a plague on all who eat bread. Zeus the son of Cronos sent Hermes, the swift messenger of the gods, to take the hopeless snare to Epimetheus son of Iapetus. And Epimetheus did not think on how Prometheus had forewarned him, bidding him never take a gift of Olympian Zeus, but to send it back for fear it might prove to be something harmful to men. But he took the gift, and only afterward, when the evil thing was already his, did he understand. For ere this the tribes of men lived freely on earth, remote and free from ills and hard toil and heavy sicknesses which bring the Fates upon men; for in misery men grow old quickly. But the woman Pandora shortly took off the great lid of the jar and scattered all her gifts across the face of the earth, and she and all that she brought caused sorrow and mischief to men. Only Hope remained there in an unbreakable home within under the rim of the great jar, and did not fly out at the door; for ere that, the lid of the jar stopped it, by the will of Aegis-holding Zeus who gathers the clouds. But the rest, countless plagues, wander amongst men; for earth is full of evils, and the sea is full. Of themselves diseases come upon men continually by day and by night, bringing mischief to mortals silently. So is there no way to escape the will of Zeus.”

—From Hesiod, Works and Days, 7th century B.C.

This is the story of origins, the origins of three key facets of man’s existence: those of woman, toil, and hope. Let me begin with woman, and pass through toil to hope, and hope shall bring us in the end back to toil and woman. According to Hesiod’s mythology, man was created in an Edenic state, without toil, and without woman. But due to an attempt to seize more blessings than were due him, he was punished by the greatest god of the pantheon, Zeus. This is a god who can be tricked and defeated in minor matters, and only minor matters, for he always gives worse than he takes. And in this case his retribution comes in a form which man willingly receives and embraces to his own hurt – woman. I will leave it to others to debate whether Hesiod spoke from (bad) experience, or from true wisdom. For it may be that for a man without a care in the world, love of a woman verily brings with it anguish and suffering both in and through its highest pleasures, without a countervailing material gain. In the end, who can say that relationships and their inherent grace and strife are valuable in the same way that honest work is valuable? But the answer, if it could be made, would be irrelevant, for woman was made, and man desires her.

This first woman, Pandora, brought with her all the curses which drove men from the Golden Age, from the Edenic state. When we consider that Hesiod, in this poem, was primarily concerned with work and the appropriate times for labor, these curses can be understood to consist of all unnecessary drudgery, all occasionless pains, all senseless decay; in short, all unpreventable increases in entropy. Man does not resent valuable tasks, but toil, pain, and death. These curses, summing up all that is wrong with the world, can be equated with the Biblical Jehovah’s curse on the first man, Adam: “Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.” And as with Adam, it can be fairly said that woman, in coming to man, released these curses, more or less intentionally, if not with full knowledge of the consequences.

But Hesiod does not stop there. He immediately goes on to mention one ‘gift’ of the gods, hope, which did not escape from the jar into the world. But what does it mean for hope to be constrained to the jar? Is hope to be included with the other curses, or is it a mollifying blessing, contributed by some benevolent god? What is even meant by ‘hope’? Is this attribute with respect to only the curse of toil, or does it refer to any and all of man’s hopes? Is hope, by being kept back in the jar, prevented from besetting man along with the other curses, or preserved and ennobled within men’s hearts, or is it thence for womenfolk only? Does it make a difference whether hope is constrained (as to one’s intellect, to uplift but not to distract) or whether it buffets and befuddles man from outside, along with the rest of the vagaries of life?

To approach this question, we must first have considered the point of the entire work. The moral of Hesiod’s tale is that strife is bad, but striving is good; or, if you prefer, that honest labor will survive and defeat injustice. That is why he does not curse the gods and die – a way has been left open to overcome, or at least subjugate, toil. By wisdom and by foresight, by effort and by perseverance, by work and by days, one may have a good life, and thus a good death. Zeus is just, not spiteful. Man must be punished for his effrontery, in order that he shall not aspire too high, but he need not be abased beyond reason. Thus the retribution matches the crime, and the convenience of fire is matched with the inconvenience of work. And the answer to the question is ‘it depends’ – depends on how one responds, how one chooses to work.

The ancient Greek word for hope, ἐλπίς, can mean expectation of good, or occasionally expectation of bad. In the same way, hope can be good or bad, beneficial or harmful, depending on its object and effect. Later in his poem, Hesiod writes that “the idle man who waits on empty hope, lacking a livelihood, lays to heart mischief-making; it is not a wholesome hope that accompanies a needy man when it makes him loll at ease while he has no sure livelihood.” Conversely, a (valid) expectation of evil, causing a man to cease trying and despair, is also unwholesome. Any hope that is not subject to reason, leading to laziness, is a curse, while a hope which strengthens and encourages becomes a blessing.

But of what value is striving if all work is toil and all hope is hopeless? Nietzsche, philosophizing on this passage, said that hope, in combination with the curse of futility, increases and prolongs its torment. And so it does, if the cursing is permanent, and no end of striving may be seen. But I have been taught, by hope, to believe in more than futility. Hesiod concludes his poem by saying that “man is happy and lucky who knows all these things and does his work without offending the deathless gods; who discerns the omens and avoids transgression.” Even those who hope in this life only find the good to outweigh the bad. Three hundred years earlier King Solomon had written “It is good and fitting to eat, to drink, and to enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which one toils under the sun.” Not even Nietzsche committed suicide.

Whether hope was intended as a blessing or curse by almighty Zeus, by capturing and keeping it in her jar, Pandora was able to counteract the other curses and enable man to rise above them. Hope inspires man and gives him spirit to strive against futility, thus turning a potential curse into a ennobling attribute. And I am sure the gods approved. But I am not satisfied with this answer. Hope may encourage, strengthen, and even give meaning in life. But if that is all it does, it is still a vanity of vanities. “If a man should live many years or few, let him rejoice in them all, nonetheless remembering the days of darkness, which will be many. For everything that is to come is futility” (Solomon again). And here we must leave Hesiod behind, as Dante abandoned Virgil, having passed from reason to faith in our approach towards the beatific vision.

For true hope is founded not on expectations, but on trust. “It is not defeated by the ways of the world, for it does not come from experience, but from our nature and first being.” And this hope requires something and someone to hope on – someone in our past, and in our future. The first woman brought more than hope to man: she was hope, for without woman, there can be no seed. “He shall bruise you on the head, but you shall bruise him on the heel.” Through woman, man was cursed, but through her seed, man had hope. Hope for redemption from the curses of toil, disease, and death; from futility. And that redemption infinitely transcends any earthly anguish, transforming the fall from the Edenic state into a resurrection to eternal blessedness. And woman, the All-Giving one, rather than being the source of curses which she might have been, becomes the source of the greatest gift of all. And that is where we must conclude our saga – with hope.

Weekdays

It is indicative of the current state of engineering design, that when I stopped by the supply room last week to ask for some mechanical pencils, I discovered that they were out of them, and did not even know when they would have them back in stock. And, I've been able to make do without. Thankfully they did have plenty of highlighters.

Later I was comparing two floorplans on my computer, and noticed that one line changed color, representing a change in properties. And as I flipped back and forth I noticed that it changed location as well. But that was wrong - it should not have moved. Then, when I checked the coordinates of the two lines, I found that they were identical! it was driving me crazy until I realized that the colors were on opposite sides of the spectrum, and that the line was shifting half a pixel width! Honestly people, when are computer monitors going to come in decent resolutions? I mean, anti-aliasing is a necessary travesty.

Weekends

Two weeks ago I went to Sean and Maura's wedding back at college; I don't have any pictures to post, but it was very beautiful and an excellent time, although too short. Last weekend my brother came to visit, and we went exploring, and had some great adventures (below). This weekend I'm not planning anything big, and that's good too. Next weekend? We'll see.