Prometheus and the eagle
(black-figure kylix, 560–550 BCE)
A wise blindness, abrogating
Promethean chariness, Rilke
recommends*—that fire burns too hot!
It's to Epimetheus† that we should turn,
the patient recollection of things past,
officered by a saving Afterthought,
so as to perfect our malleable lives,
scorning all convertible values
and the usury that purchase entails.
The Old Ones knew this; why else
would they have invented those two figures,
chaining Prometheus to a Caucasian rock,
with an eagle to devour his liver,
continually, time without end?
Pandora’s jar is only there to be rejected—
temptation put in our path on purpose.
Epimetheus has another daughter
—Metameleia,‡
whose name signifies repentance.
It's on her that we best ought place our bet.
* "Not chariness , but rather a wise blindness. . . . Instead of laboring to acquire a dumb, slowly mounting possession pile, an ongoing discarding of all convertible values."—Rainer Maria Rilke, "On Art" [Keine Vorsicht , sondern eine weise Blindheit. . . . Kein Erwerben eines stillen, langsam wachsenden Besitzes, sondern ein fortwährendes Vergeuden aller wandelbaren Werte.—Rilke, “Über Kunst”].
† Whereas the Titan Prometheus (Forethought, viz., science) is penetrating and ingenious, his brother Epimetheus (Afterthought) is an instinctual poetic klutz.
‡ Metanoia. A portmanteau name derived from the Greek preposition μετά (after, beyond) and the verb μέλω (to care, be concerned). See also James Warren, Regret: A Study in Ancient Moral Psychology (OUP, 2021).
Monday, March 10, 2025
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