Among the many immortals with whom ancient myth peopled the spiritual
spheres of humanity are some figures which draw to themselves a more
profound tenderness than the rest. Not Aphrodite rising in beauty from
the faery foam of the first seas, not Apollo with sweetest singing,
laughter, and youth, not the wielder of the lightning could exact the
reverence accorded to the lonely Titan chained on the mountain, or to
that bowed figure heavy with the burden of the sins of the world;
for the brighter divinities had no part in the labor of man, no such
intimate relation with the wherefore of his own existence so full of
struggle. The more radiant figures are prophecies to him of his destiny,
but the Titan and the Christ are a revelation of his more immediate
state; their giant sorrows companion his own, and in contemplating them
he awakens what is noblest in his own nature; or, in other words, in
understanding their divine heroism he understands himself. For this in
truth it seems to me to mean: all knowledge is a revelation of the self
to the self, and our deepest comprehension of the seemingly apart divine
is also our farthest inroad to self-knowledge; Prometheus, Christ, are
in every heart; the story of one is the story of all; the Titan and the
Crucified are humanity.
If, then, we consider them as representing the human spirit and
disentangle from the myths their meaning, we shall find that whatever
reverence is due to that heroic love, which descended from heaven for
the redeeming of a lower nature, must be paid to every human being.
Christ is incarnate in all humanity. Prometheus is bound for ever within
us. They are the same. They are a host, and the divine incarnation
was not spoken of one, but of all those who, descending into the lower
world, tried to change it into the divine image, and to wrest out of
chaos a kingdom for the empire of light. The angels saw below them in
chaos a senseless rout blind with elemental passion, for ever warring
with discordant cries which broke in upon the world of divine beauty;
and that the pain might depart, they grew rebellious in the Master's
peace, and descending to earth the angelic lights were crucified in men.
They left so radiant worlds, such a light of beauty, for earth's gray
twilight filled with tears, that through this elemental life might
breathe the starry music brought from Him. If the "Fore-seer" be a true
name for the Titan, it follows that in the host which he represents
was a light which well foreknew all the dark paths of its journey;
foreseeing the bitter struggle with a hostile nature, but foreseeing
perhaps a gain, a distant glory o'er the hills of sorrow, and that
chaos, divine and transformed, with only gentle breathing, lit up by
the Christ-soul of the universe. There is a transforming power in the
thought itself: we can no longer condemn the fallen, they who laid aside
their thrones of ancient power, their spirit ecstasy and beauty on
such a mission.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account