Immortality
I was looking at the stars last night. Usually you can't really see them because of all the light pollution, but last night many of them shone brightly, and as I gazed upon their faint flickering forms I remembered Alexander the Great, and how he wept when he heard that there were no more lands to conquer. Maybe he didn't weep because of that. Maybe he wept because he saw the stars, and realised that there were so many worlds to conquer, but only one lifetime to accomplish it.That's what I think, at any rate. But it is a fact that people throughout the ages have been obsessed with the concept of living forever, because let's face it, who would not desire to have all the time in the world to do everything you ever wanted? Especially so for those who have an empire to run. Legend has it that Qin Shi Huang sent scouts through known and unknown lands to find an elixir of life, so that he may live forever and rule China for all eternity. Another legend regards the Philosopher's Stone. When alchemists still existed, they believed that the Philosopher's Stone was the missing catalyst for converting mercury and sulphur into gold. It was also believed that the Stone could generate an elixir that granted eternal life. Ancient Egyptian pharaohs were mummified and entombed with treasures and artifacts and had grand statues erected in their likeness, in the hope that they too could live forever in the afterlife.
But immortality is elusive. Qin Shi Huang never got his elixir, the Philosopher's Stone remained the stuff of imagination and wishful fantasy, and the tombs of the pharaohs were plundered by grave-robbers. Yet even today we still seek immortality. Medical technology can keep us alive far longer than we could hope for, but even then, it is only delaying the inevitable.
Why do men seek immortality so relentlessly? Is it the fear of death, that fear that what we deserve will finally catch up with us? Or is it the fear of finality that comes with death? Or is it the desire to live, to spread ourselves so far across time that everyone will know who we are, past, present and future? I think that men seek immortality because we fear being forgotten, doomed to be lost in the mists of time, becoming just another name in the pages of history, and all chance of rising above our mediocrity has slipped away.
You may think, "since no one has succeeded in living forever, then what chance do I, a mere insignificant like the other few million people, have?" Ah, but you know who Alexander the Great is. You know that a person called Qin Shi Huang existed. And you know that the Pharaohs of Egypt ruled one of the greatest ancient civilisations ever. They have been immortalised in our memories, and will continue to live forever, as long as they are remembered. Their formula to immortality is really quite simple. They had the will to do something so grand, so great, that people had no choice but to remember them.
Tolkien will be remembered for writing The Lord Of The Rings. Spielberg will be remembered for directing E.T. Even people like Osama will be remembered for his infamous terrorist attacks. Now, what will you be remembered for?
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home