Eros

Eros

“So, Eagle of Zeus that comes to feed on my liver today, what news have you of men and the Olympians?”

“Strange things, My Lord, Prometheus, for two nights Eros had run away from Psyche and only on the second day, with the help of your man, Socrates, and our daughter, Athena, did she re-find him.”

“Tell me more, my friend, as you feast, for this interests me greatly.”

“As I said, two days ago Psyche awoke to find Eros gone from their chambers. For a while she didn’t worry but later it occurred to her that he had been absent for a great deal of time. Searching throughout the earth she came upon Socrates and asked his help in finding Eros: Socrates said, “In order to find him, Psyche, we must first know his nature. From what I know, it seems that Eros may be described generally as the love of the everlasting passion of the good. Would you say this is true, Psyche?”

She replied, not to naively, “Eros has always searched for the good and what king would give up the good once he has found it?”

“None.” Socrates agreed, “Then, having determined this, we ask what would he be doing through out his life? Why, of course, he would collect what is good and hold it in his grasp so as to stop the jealous gods from taking it. He would hide his goods like any protective lover.”

“No, no.” said Psyche, shocked at the conclusion, “My Eros would never hide the good. If he had the good, he would certainly share it; for sharing good is itself a good. Unfortunately, in further defense, he seems rarely to find the good.”

“But when he does find the good, does he always share it with you?”

Psyche told him “The goods he finds some he shares with me, these are those which I can understand with my mind and the logics of which I can perceive; but others he does not tell me about. He seems to finds goods in say the bark of a tree while I only see the woodiness of the zylem. These feelings he does not share with me too often. Even when he does attempt it, he usually fails. I once felt the goodness of the warmth of the sun at dawn, but I believe he meant more than that.”

“He tells you the intellectual goodness, but not the emotional?” Socrates asked.

“Yes, that is the way of Eros and Psyche.”

“Then it seems he has found some feeling which he can not share with you. So profound, indeed, that he cannot share it with anybody. If we can determine what this is, we might find him. Would you not say, Psyche, that such a profound goodness, would be very important to him?”

“It would be illogical for it not to be,” replied Psyche, “after all, it is in his nature to love the good. He can only love more the more good.”

Socrates continued, “What would Eros hold above all things?”

“Of all things, the most logical good is truth and the knowledge of truth. So, Eros must have found a truth. Then your next question, Socrates, is where would one find the truth? The answer, of course, is in Athena’s temple. Let us hasten, Socrates, to find my Eros!”

“By all means, Psyche, let us be off!”

And so, they went to the temples of Athena and they found him not. Both Socrates and Psyche were lost at what to do. Socrates, dumbfounded at the failure of his technique, asked of Psyche, “But this is illogical, what could possibly be a higher good than truth? Psyche, what would Eros hold higher than truth?”

Here, Psyche broke down, and cried out, “Ok, Socrates, I know not! I am the wrong one to ask. This is why I have come to you! All I know is that I love Eros.”

Socrates, also unable to answer the question, seeing the unresolved state of Psyche, looked to the statue of Athena and called out “Oh, daughter of Zeus, why have you forsaken us now, when we need you most!”

“My lord, Prometheus, imagine the shock on Socrates force when Athena suddenly appeared and said that she had not forsaken them.”

“My eater, Eagle of Zeus, do not stop now! Tell me, what did the Goddess of wisdom say?”

“But first a tasty morsel of suspense, my friend.”

“Eagle, eat my liver, but not my patience!”

“Well said, well said. Well enough said. Yes, Socrates was quite aghast when Athena appeared, specially when she scorned him by saying, “Socrates, you call yourself a philosopher, a lover of wisdom, but you have forgotten that wisdom is not intellect alone. Take Psyche’s crying. Why does she cry?”

Socrates replied, “Because it makes her feel better, it does her good.”

“But, that, Socrates is illogical. She loses moisture by crying where is the good in that? Said Athena.

“It is not in the moisture, it is in the expression of her sorrow to others. No, there too, nothing is being done to resolve the problem. Then it does her no good to cry. Yet, the feeling is that if there is nothing else one can do then at least one can cry.”

“But Socrates, crying does do something. Psyche’s tears wash her of her own nature and allow Psyche to feel something foreign to the intellect. What did she say last when she cried?”

“She said, ‘All I know is that I love Eros? If I remember correctly.”

“Good. Now you say that love may be described generally as the love of the everlasting possessions of the good. Then how can Psyche love Love, itself? She can not unless love is a good in itself”

“Are you saying, Athena,” interrupted Socrates, “Love is the highest good?”

“No, no. Think! What is Psyche’s highest good?”

“Truth”

“Is truth a good in itself?”

“Of course”

“What if you know truth but can’t do anything with it? If you knew that Psyche were to die tomorrow would you not attempt to save her? Would it be good if the gods stopped you from trying, irrespective of success?”

“If the gods chose, there must be a reason, and if I have the truth then I can accept any situation.”

“You know that you will die in the future. Then why do you preserve your life?

“Because I value it.”

“But is it not foolish to value something that you will have for a very short time, since it is not yours? You say Love seeks immortality. Therefore, does not that love give value to your life? Even though the phsycial is only lent you, you seek immortality through procreation and fame. Love is the validity to life.”

“Yes, Athena. I understand. If I value my life from Love, how can I so easily give up life for truth? There seems to be a conflict between Love and truth here. Love would have me do something that Truth ridicules. What is the resolution?”

“No, Socrates. You forget, Truth ridicules the attempt to save Psyche because it is pointless. Suppose, instead, your acts could change the truth.”

Socrates was beginning to see Athena’s point and sat for a moment thinking. He concluded, “So the highest good for Eros is Free Will. But where can we find free will? Where would Eros find free will?”

Psyche finally returned from her weeping to remind the two, “I love Eros.”

Socrates, thinking aloud, said, “But where can we find free will?”

Psyche realized what had happened and cried out, “In freeing thought from superstitions and control from other sources.”

“With that, Psyche flew away and Athena returned to Olympus, My food. Socrates was left there pondering the idea of achieving free thought. Athena says that Psyche found Eros not too far from here, half starved and half dead.”

“My eater, you bring me good news.”

“Prometheus, Psyche and I come to free you. Away, eagle of Zeus, we are Eros and Psyche; and if you would have none love you, interfere with our plans.”

“You see, my eater, I am Prometheus, fore-thought. Eros learned that I give free will by defying the gods, that I can act independent of the gods if I chose. Eros was half starved because he can not exist without Psyche. Together, they have the strength to free me from the gods.

Note the words of Eros, ‘If you would have none love you, interfere with my plans.’ The only way the gods have power is through our love of them; but if you interfere, it is not our’s but your own reflected. The freedom of Love and Thought are the highest good. Of course, there is still the question of what to do with free will, but those decision and the chains that they yield are our own.”