In Greek mythology Chronos the God of Time would eat his own children .
This show us that from a very early age the ancient Greeks had a clear perception of the corrosive nature of Time .
Time , this invisible fiend of reality that is forever present in a subtle but very enduring way in our lives .
I often pondered about the nature of Time . Its benefits and its losses .
Augustine of Hipona was probably the first thinker in western philosophy to discuss the nature of Time. For one of the princes of the Christian church , Time was a big hand filled with nothing . Like sand going through your hands . You only the moment and even this would quickly vanish into the past leaving you nothing . He was also the first to tell us the difference between chronological Time and psychological Time. Depending of our state of mind Time would seem expand and contract .
Already before him , the Romans had this perception of psychological Time . who doesn`t know the famous phrase of the poet Virgil : Tempus Fugit ( Time flies ) ?
The idea that Time is a precious that always escape from us and its the only thing that we can´t get back .
The Irish writer Lord Dunsany , one of the fathers of Fantasy literature , has this curious tale of a King who assembles a powerful army to fight Time , this destroyer of everything that is living .
The army wanders through the kingdom looking for its enemy but never finds it . In the end all the soldiers perish and the king realizes that not only his army but him also were once again defeated by Time .
I do not know what was the idea of Dunsany behind this story but i interpret it as a reminder of the frailty of reality . Nothing remains of all our plans , projects , earthly ambitions . In the end its all carried away by the sandstorm of Time . This is an enemy we cannot vanquish because Chronos is the other face of Thanatos . Time is the Dance Macabre of Death .
Time also not only corrupts our bodies but also the way we look at things .
Things once so vital for us are now laughable and tuck away in the trunk of memory .
That house you once wanted so much , not that you got after years living there seems like its nothing but a hut.
The woman or the man you once loved with passion now it becomes a nuisance, an annoying background rattle .
People, Places , Objects they all lose value to us after a certain Time . What was once amazing now its dull and we will go searching for something amazing until eventually this new wonder fades its glow with Time .
However Time compels us to move forward , do things . Because Time is precious and the need to accomplish something , to leave our footprint in this world, to satisfy our vanity ( " my writings will survive Iron and Fire " - said the poet Ovid ) no matter how futile that is , is so pressing, that without
the cold grip of Time we would have been simply too lazy to do anything . Again the ancient warning Carpe Diem ( Cease the Day ) ! Do something ! Use your time . Do not let it go to waste .
Even though the moon contemplates our achievements with a mocking face as the great Persian poet Omar Khayyám so beautifully put it
“Drink wine and look up at the moon and think of all the civilizations the moon has seen passing by.”
Even the moon itself will one day will be another of Time`s victims .
