"Euripides Just Might Be On To Something Here”

 

 

05/29/13

 

 

 

“Quen deus vault perdere, dementat prius”

                                   Euripides, ancient Greek

                                   Poet, and playwright.

                                   Approx.. 480-406  B.C.E.

 

(‘Those whom the Gods would destroy, first they drive mad’)

 

 

To my very, very dearest friends, and loyal readers,

 

 

The ancient Greeks lived—for the most part—uncertain, and unsettled lives.

 

 

There was—of course—near-endless warring among Greek City States, plus occasionally having to ward-off attacks from the Persians, the Babylonians, and an assortment of other, ‘mongrel hoards’.

 

 

For their defense, they relied upon the Greek warrior nation of Sparta, who could be a handful all by themselves.

 

 

For further confusion, the ancient Greeks believed in a wide and highly specified Pathology; for every event in daily life: births, deaths, the success of the harvests, etc. Offerings were given-up to whatever God was appropriate; so one can imagine just how important (and crucial!) it was to choose the correct God, in hopes of not offending the others!

 

 

For the ancient Greek Pantheon was filled to bursting with Gods who were mercurial, vicious, vengeful, and given to frequent adolescent rages.

 

 

 

To them, the Greeks were as mere playthings for Gods who—frankly—couldn’t seem to leave them alone.

 

 

These were powerful Gods who regularly sought after, and enjoyed all the delights of mortal flesh, but without any of the approbations.

 

 

And when angered, were quite capable of nasty, little tricks inflicted upon the Greeks.

 

( I give you: Arachne; Caliban; the Medusa; and—last, but not least Polyphemus, the son of Neptune! )

 

It would seem that more Greek citizens were turned into stone, rather than into lovers!

 

 

 

About three-some-odd weeks ago (as the crow flies), I was spending a fairly pleasant Saturday evening I front of my computer

 

I gradually became aware of feeling some light sensation of pain in my left eye; this quickly turned into blurry vision, accompanied by a dull headache. Soon, my eye became watery with objects like horse’s tails floating across the surface.

 

 

It was irksome, but because the hour was late, I decided to close-up shop for the night, and lumber-off to bed, thinking—really—no more of it.

 

 

I awoke—next morning—to discover that I had no sight in my left eye.

 

After visiting two eye doctors, one, a ‘Retinologist’, it was determined that the retina in my left eye had detached, leaving me functionally blind in that eye (all I had was vision from the right eye, which has always been my worst).

 

 

We humans have long become accustomed to our have binocular vision; we use it to determine sharpness, distance, balance…LOTS of things. So that when we suddenly no longer have it everything seems to come as a surprise, everything’s a shock.  And the whole misfortune sets life on its ear, and then kicks it in the ass.

 

 

I would ask of you my very dearest friends to try this experiment: simply place a gauzed bandage over either eye (not too tightly), just enough to block out most of the light and then try to conduct affairs common to your situation.

 

 

And then—if you might be so kind as to leave your experiences in the comment section, below.

 

 

Now…my dearest friends, some of you will doubtless say, “Well hell, how much bother can it be, no more than a prolonged blink of the eye?”

 

With only one, ‘bad’, eye to fall back on, I have become so unsteady that I have begun to take falls in the house again. Quite a few of them; I now feel as if I have re-fractured every rib fracture I ever had, so, even trying to lean over the kitchen sink merely to wash a dish has proven to be an utter agony.

 

 

I constantly clip corners, and bump into furniture sending books and, ‘knick-knacks’, flying to the floor.

 

 

Along with unsteadiness comes nausea, with a, ’mal-de-mere’, that causes me to sometimes lose my food.

 

 

Sleep has always been difficult, now, it is with only the greatest of luck that I can find a side to sleep on, without howling in pain; and yes…I sometimes cry, too.

 

 

My Retinologist, Dr. Minowsky believes that some of the vision may yet be saved, and that—in time—I might only require much stronger lens on my glasses.

 

 

For now—anyway—extreme in heat or cold threaten the eye, as—strangely enough does wind, or intensely, bright colors.

 

_______________________________________

 

 

So in addition to my, ‘Daisy worries’, (who—by the way—seems maybe to be gaining weight slightly), my ever-present, ‘money worries’, and all the rest of life’s problems which indeed have never left, is this one—as yet small concern.

 

 

And that is… when I was seen by my Primary, this morning, she said that was not much else she could so for me, except…authorizing my admission into a group A.L.F.

And that—my very, very dearest friends--scares me ever so more than even would the permanent loss of sight in my left eye.

 

 

I cannot more firmly avow, my precious friends:

 

Always cling most tightly to those who love you and care for you; please do not for one idle instant to disregard them or take their love for granted, for—in the shattering of time as brief as that of an eyelash, heralding blindness, or a thousand, other assorted, nasties—what may remain of your safe, ordered, and secure world can be obliterated, leaving you lost, alone, and cold!

 

 

My dearest, dearest friends, please know that I think of you often, and love you dearly!

 

 

‘Zahc’/Charles