Toot…

According to the mythology, Prometheus (Foresight) and Epimetheus (Hindsight) were entrusted with the responsibility to create animals and distribute different traits to those newly created animals. Prometheus was in charge of creating animals out of clay while Epimetheus had the responsibility of distributing the traits. When Epimetheus was giving the traits to Man, lacking foresight, he found that there were none left. This obviously accounts for mankind’s apparent and interesting traits…

Prometheus was said to be the one who stole fire from the mighty Zeus and gave it to mankind so that the fire would keep mankind safe from wild animals and shine our ways during the night. I think, with foresight in his favour, Prometheus would have known that his action would anger Zeus and that Zeus would punish Prometheus for his action. Indeed, Zeus bound Prometheus to a stone, where his liver was eaten by an eagle. Prometheus, being a Titan and hence an immortal, could not die and his liver regrew every night, only to be eaten again by the eagle the next day.

In his anger, Zeus and other Olympians created Pandora as a wife for Epimetheus. Even though Prometheus, with the power of foresight, warned Epimetheus never to accept any gifts from the Olympians, Epimetheus fell in love with Pandora and accepted her as a gift. Pandora brought with her a pithos (a jar, but mistranslated in to a box, hence Pandora’s Box), of which Hermes told her never to open. However Hermes gave Pandora curiosity, and it prompted Pandora to open the pithos. Unknown to her, the pithos was filled with all the misery, misfortune, sickness that will ever befall mankind. Knowing her mistake, Pandora closed the pithos, just in time to keep Hope in, and hence mankind would always have hope, even in times of trouble.

It seems to me that the myth somehow portrayed Epimetheus as the stupid one, and Prometheus as the brilliant, intelligent one. But in reality, hindsight is as important to us as foresight is. Foresight keeps us away from making mistakes, while hindsight keeps us from repeating it. Without hindsight, I think, we will never have foresight.

I agree nobody is flawless. However, with foresight and hindsight in our favour, we should strive to be a better than those before us. History provides as insights to issues of morality, so that we can pass judgement to the actions of our forefathers, may them be right or wrong. History links up a series of events so that we can understand how an event acted as a catalyst for future events, be it a revolution or a downfall. George Santayana said “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. I say, those who lack the ability of hindsight are condemned to repeat past mistakes.

Sometimes, letting my mind wander into my past, I think I would have done a lot of things differently. How I wish I had the foresight then, but I sure hope that my hindsight is making me a better person. Perhaps, making me a much more pain in the arse for some other people……

Recent events happening in my country certainly have been quite upsetting for those who even care to care. How these events were handled must have become quite a joke in the eyes of other country. I hope that this is the kind of heat we feel before a refreshing rain. At least we should hope that things will turn for the better, as Hope is perhaps the only good thing in Pandora’s pithos.