The Perversity Of Hope

It was a calm, sunny morning on Mount Olympus. Hera, an astute goddess, correctly interpreted the lack of thunder and lightning as suspicious, and so went to check on her husband. For his part, Zeus was busy laboring away in his workshop, cheerily engaged in his favorite pastime:

Torturing humans.

“Good morning darling” Hera cooed, gently kissing him on the cheek. “What deviltry are you up to today?” Zeus was surrounded by all manner of monsters, which he was gleefully shoving into a large, earthen jar.

“G’morning honey” Zeus replied. “I’m preparing a wedding gift for Pandora.”

“But my love” Hera said “you hate humans.”

A large reptilian beast wrapped itself around Zeus’ arms, biting and snarling as Zeus stuffed it into the jar. “A god’s gotta entertain himself somehow” Zeus countered. “You’d prefer I turn myself into a bull?”

“Point taken” Hera said, fully aware of his penchant for philandering. By this time, Hera had begun to recognize the monstrosities Zeus was gifting to Pandora: sorrow, disease, vice, violence, greed, madness, old age, death. “Darling” she asked facetiously “won’t these gifts increase the humans suffering?”

“That’s the best part” Zeus chuckled. “The instructions on the gift are to never open it.”

“And because humans are curious” Hera said, completing his thought “they won’t be able to resist opening the jar, thus bringing these troubles on themselves.” It was at this point Hera noticed a small, harmless looking creature, quietly waiting its turn to be added to the gift. She picked up the tiny beast, and it smiled at her, purring in delight. “Surely” Hera said, as she nuzzled the adorable furball “you’re not confining this cutie-pie in the same prison as those other monstrosities.”

“You mean elpis? Zeus asked. “Of course I’m sending elpis.”

The queen of the gods was not easily taken aback. “Hold on” she replied. “You’re sending the humans, Hope?”

Zeus took the tiny creature from his wife and held it in his hands, where it instantly transformed into a hideous, malformed demon, its eyes glowing red. “Eplis, is expectation” Zeus explained. “It can manifest as Hope, but that’s entirely dependent on who wields it. By itself, Hope is nothing. It’s an infinite force-multiplier. It has no loyalty to good or evil. Hope” Zeus continued “amplifies the desires of one’s heart.”

“Zero times zero is zero” Hera correctly observed. “Unless it’s combined with some kind of action, it’s useless.”

“Not so” said Zeus. “Humans are willful. If you try to squash their spirits, they resist. If they understand the power of hope and combine it, with say, resolve, it will give them immeasurable power. Without action, Hope acts as an opiate. It will make them feel good, luring them into complacency, while accomplishing nothing. Without Hope” Zeus concluded “disappointment cannot exist.”

Hera now saw the insidiousness of his plan. “They will cling to hope” she said “each successive disappointment creating micro-fractures in their spirit. And when they’ve given everything to Hope and find their dreams shattered:

Then and only then will they realize: Hope is not a plan.”

Zeus smiled. “That is one possible outcome.”

“You’re a sadist” Hera said, kissing her husband’s cheek. “You do realize, some good humans will learn to harness the power of Hope and become undefeatable.”

“That’s exactly why Hope is my gift to humanity, along with these other evils” Zeus said slyly. “I’m not locking Hope into a box with monsters.

“I’m locking monsters into a box with Hope.”