I can’t stop getting emotional about how tenderly a shepherd caresses his dog’s face on this marble sarcophagus from the third century
The dog’s face is just so lovingly crafted and it’s much more finely detailed than some of the other animals in the piece. The expression is pure contentment and devotion. This scene is a tiny portion of a huge elaborate sculpture but I really feel like the artist was trying to capture a specific emotion with these two. The way that you feel when you look at your dog is thousands of years old.
An extract from
Cynegeticus [On Hunting (with Dogs)], by the Greek writer Arrian (86-160 CE), about his dog, Horme [Dash]:
While I am at home she remains by my side, and accompanies me when I go out, following me to the gymnasium, and, while I am exercising, sits by
me. On my return home, she runs in front of me, often looking to see
whether I had turned off the road; and as soon as she catches sight of
me, shows symptoms of joy, and again, turns and trots in front of me. If
I am going out on any government business, she remains with my friend,
and treats him exactly the same. If she has not seen either of us for a
short time, she jumps up repeatedly by way of greeting, and barks with
joy. At meals she pats us, with one foot and the other, to remind us to
feed fer.
Having been beaten with a whip as a puppy, if anyone, even to this day,
mentions a whip, she will come up to the speaker cowering and begging,
and will jump up and hang on their neck, applying her mouth to theirs as
if to kiss them, and will not let go until she is appeased.
Now really I do not think that I should be ashamed to write the name of this dog; so that it may be left to posterity.
[I] had a greyhound named Horme, who was of the greatest speed and intelligence and, was altogether excellent.
If I may once again dip my toe into the discourse surrounding Greek Mythology, a lot of people like to rewrite or reframe the story of Medusa, and that’s great! Highly encourage it. But, DON’T YOU DARE GO AND DEMONIZE MY BOY PERSEUS!
Perseus isn’t some vile misogynist who hunts down and murders Medusa for the hell of it. He’s a scared kid who’s trying to save his mom from a forced marriage (whom herself has been a victim of terrible abuse from her father) to a creepy evil king and gets duped by the Gods into cleaning up their mess for them. He’s not the villain, he’s just another pawn. So if I see one more motherfucker trying to make him out to be the “real monster” I will throw hands.
You know what would be way more interesting?! Medusa sees Perseus rolling up to her crib and freaks out cause ‘holy shit this is a fucking kid. a fucking toddler with a sword and shield.’ and they hash it out and then TEAM UP to kill the evil kind trying to force marry Perseus’ mother! Think of the dynamics that you could write! The interactions that could occur. I mean, one of ‘em is gonna have to wear a blindfold but hey, minor problems.
What I’m saying is, gimme a buddy cop movie where Perseus and Medusa team up to fight evil in Ancient Greece.
I’m just picturing Perseus as this fairly well built sixteen year old kid, who looks a little underfed, and he’s like ‘ma’am I’m so sorry, I have to bring your head back to save my mom’ and medusa is like ‘okay, start over. We can work with this’ and compare trauma over some watered wine.
Danae and Medusa can get married and Perseus can have TWO Badass Moms
Okay but consider: Perseus regretfully tells Medusa he has to bring back her head to save his mother from a forced marriage and Medusa cocks her head and says “did the bastard say the rest of me couldn’t be attached?” and long story short Perseus rocks up with a Lady-Gaga-esque entourage of men carrying this gigantic silver platter with a giant metal cloche on top of it and announces it to his mother’s tormentor as the head of Medusa, and dude lifts it up and Perseus finishes, “and also the rest of her” and fucker turns to stone.
Chronos refers to time as we usually mean it: a sequence of equal parts. There are twenty-four hours in a day, and each hour is the same length of time. It’s what a clock measures, basically.
Kairos refers to how certain moments are more important or influential than others. A clock can’t measure that, but it’s undeniable that some times are much more significant than others.
Twenty-fours in your average day. Are they all spent equally? Do they all present equal opportunities? Many of them simply disappear. We look at the clock, and two hours have passed while watching TV or chatting. While other moments in your day are much more noticeable. Those where time seems to pass slower, or where - if you do the right thing - there can be significant consequences, for good or bad.
This is what kairos refers to those crucial moments which are *not* equal to other, less critical moments. An obvious example is a birth of one’s child, an exam, getting married, or a job interview.
But kairos doesn’t just refer to those life-altering, memorable occasions. It’s about the fluctuation of events and circumstances which create opportunities. Kairos measures the *importance* of a particular moment in time rather than its duration.
Try thinking about your day in terms of kairos, not chronos. Which moments are the most important? Which moments are the most useful? Which moments allow you to do something consequential?
But remember: kairos is ever-changing because events and circumstances and people are ever-changing. You can’t control it, just like you can’t control chronos time. But you can *act*. You can take the opportunities to which kairos draws your attention. A very familiar feeling to all of us is when, after an argument or debate or conversation, you suddenly realise what you *should* have said but didn’t. That moment when you had the chance to say *just the right thing*? That’s kairos.
Everybody knows that not all minutes, hours, days, or moments are equal. Kairos puts a name to that fundamental truth.
