Above the clouds : Hope

The Greek word we translate “hope” is elpis, ἐλπίς (noun), or elpizo, ἐλπίζω (verb). In classical Greek literature, elpis can be used as an expectation of the future in either a positive or a negative way, as opposed to our usual understanding when we use the term “hope” in English (anticipating something positive). Elpis is actually the name of the Greek goddess for hope, or at least for expectation.

In Greek mythology, Pandora, a myth found in Hesiod’s Theogony, was the first human woman created by the gods. Zeus ordered her to be molded out of earth as part of humanity’s punishment for Prometheus’ theft of the secret of fire. According to the myth, Pandora opened a jar (in modern accounts often mistranslated as “Pandora’s box“) releasing all the evils that visit humanity like pain and suffering, leaving only hope (expectation) inside once she had closed it again. She could have kept them contained in the jar, but…she didn’t. Therefore, a bunch of torments and miseries were unleashed on the world, plagues and diseases, silently assailing humanity, taking human beings out of an idyllic past into an uncertain and tormented future where life is short and hopeless.

“Only Hope was left within her unbreakable house,

she remained under the lip of the jar, and did not

fly away. Before [she could], Pandora replaced the

lid of the jar. This was the will of aegis-bearing

Zeus the Cloudgatherer”

Hope is the belief that circumstances in the future will be better. It's not a wish that things will get better, but an actual belief, even when there may be no evidence that anything will change. There are many obstacles in life. Having goals, sometimes is not enough. One has to keep getting closer to those goals, amidst all the inevitable twists and turns of life.

On the other hand the German philosopher Nietzsche concluded that hope is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs the suffering of people and Aristotle called it a dream that we see awake. Even though hope can have a positive impact on our life, it can also lead us to inertia and make us credulous and timid, if we let it dominate our dreams. While hoping, we might end up watching our life pass us by while we are waiting for a person or a god to change our luck, while convincing ourselves that we are weak and dependant on external factors. “The strong have will, the weak have hope” which  expresses exactly the opinion of the ancient Greeks when they talked about “a dream that we see awake”.