It takes a lot of courage to do what is right. Especially if one knows that it will come at a price. You need to start a fire within your soul, that will allow you to stand up and speak unwanted truth. You need a fire to light a torch that will show others the way.
According to good ol' Greeks, it would not be possible without the Prometheus. I am not talking about physical fire only, but about this existential fire that pushes us up and towards unknown. It is told that he put some sparks from Helios' chariot into humans, shaping their souls. He showed us how to start a fire, how to make use of it - for cooking, metal smelting and forging, for house building, and then how to read and write. Without it, culture and civilization could not arise.
By doing that, he disobeyed the current ruling power. He become political enemy - as he undermined total control over existence, and allowed beings with free will walk Earth, beings that were not the same as Olympic gods. This impacted existing balance, and he had to pay a price that was more valuable that his life. Endless suffering, with liver eaten daily by a bird. Chained to a rock, somewhere in the mountains, where noone should find him.
Did Prometheus knew what will happen? I doubt he knew exactly. But he was, as his name tells us, forethought, therefore I am convinced that he anticipated what is waiting for him. And he still took the chances. He still stood up for others, and did what was right.
This is not an attitude that you will find easily in our world. Especially, not on that scale. But let's scale our expectations a bit - we are not the Titans, we are just humans. So what could we do, to become similar to Prometheus in any way?
There is a concept of heroic virtue. It was introduced by Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics; its also known as superhuman virtue or godlike virtue. Basically, it is all about doing more that you can, to be heroic, in whatever good you currently do. If someone or something is trying to stop you from doing something good - here is your opportunity to practice your virtue in a heroical manner. Even if it is something small.
All of us cannot be Prometheus. But could we become him just a bit? Could we altogether build our own Prometheus from the sparks we are hiding in our souls?
Yes.
Yes, Prometheus suffered enormously - but he did what he should do. He did what was good, what was right. He shared the secret that should be know, and most importantly - he was heroic in his goodness. And if we'd apply ancient measures, Prometheus could become the one that shared the Truth and pushed it to the limit, the one that presented virtues in heroical way - a saint.
Yes, we can be saints as well.
Photo 1: taken by a friend a long time ago during a scouting meeting - I was about sixteen then. I recall that I was taking my friend, who is using a wheelchair, to the fireplace - operating the wheelchair in rough terrain for few hundred meters. Now I am self-licensed wheelchair operator, and my friend always has a smile when recalling the event. That day I was just a bit like the Prometheus.
Photo 2: dinner in one of albergues in Poland during my Camino. Old man, father of local priest, brought me the tea and the lamp. He gave me light and heat. It was exactly what I needed in that very sad day, when my grandma was born for Heaven. She was old, and sick. All her life she was afraid of everything, always worrying. And she was always preparing a tea for my grandpa, and a cocoa for us. She was heroic in her cooking; it was her way to bring goodness to the world. She was my Prometheus all my childhood.
Other posts from the series:
Saint Atlas - on taking responsibility and being pillar for others
Saint Sisyphus - on accepting what is given and self-development through hardship
