MINERVA:
Your pride, well-placed pride as a god, caused this. No one can fault you for honouring our shameful tradition of causing unthinkable mortal suffering. We all know Prometheus, punished by my terrible father Zeus, for rising above the will of the gods and bringing back the gift of fire to the mortal realm. Yes, this single act caused embarrassment to Zeus, justifying - as any whim of any god may be justified - his decision to sentence Prometheus to an eternity chained to a mountain, where he would endure the daily torture of having his liver eaten by birds of prey. Unthinkable. I must confess too, that I, being challenged in my domain of power, wisdom, by a mortal have more than once taken life. It is the truth of our legends that the mortals are so often god-like themselves, that it displaces our image of being powerful. One thinker, a long time ago, had become too well-thought, his speeches so clever, his writing: the stuff of divine genius - had challenged me so directly, or so it felt, that I manipulated the governing powers to kill him. I employed the help of the terrifying Morpheus, god of dreams, to implant the idea that this great philosopher, Socrates, was guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens and general impiety - in the minds of the Athenian court... I will never forget the shame I felt when, about to drink his appointed chalice of poison, Socrates, even at the precipice of life, spoke a final lesson to his listeners: “Never fear death.” Ah! The court of Athens killed him so easily, so fearful of his brilliance - and I was the instigator. Janus, this time-honoured tradition... If the gods could die, humans would have killed us for the lack of need. Deep down, we know this and so must love and fear the other for it. Punishment and reason have never truly been in partnership. You will forgive yourself. Farewell.
Your pride, well-placed pride as a god, caused this. No one can fault you for honouring our shameful tradition of causing unthinkable mortal suffering. We all know Prometheus, punished by my terrible father Zeus, for rising above the will of the gods and bringing back the gift of fire to the mortal realm. Yes, this single act caused embarrassment to Zeus, justifying - as any whim of any god may be justified - his decision to sentence Prometheus to an eternity chained to a mountain, where he would endure the daily torture of having his liver eaten by birds of prey. Unthinkable. I must confess too, that I, being challenged in my domain of power, wisdom, by a mortal have more than once taken life. It is the truth of our legends that the mortals are so often god-like themselves, that it displaces our image of being powerful. One thinker, a long time ago, had become too well-thought, his speeches so clever, his writing: the stuff of divine genius - had challenged me so directly, or so it felt, that I manipulated the governing powers to kill him. I employed the help of the terrifying Morpheus, god of dreams, to implant the idea that this great philosopher, Socrates, was guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens and general impiety - in the minds of the Athenian court... I will never forget the shame I felt when, about to drink his appointed chalice of poison, Socrates, even at the precipice of life, spoke a final lesson to his listeners: “Never fear death.” Ah! The court of Athens killed him so easily, so fearful of his brilliance - and I was the instigator. Janus, this time-honoured tradition... If the gods could die, humans would have killed us for the lack of need. Deep down, we know this and so must love and fear the other for it. Punishment and reason have never truly been in partnership. You will forgive yourself. Farewell.
