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I recently finished Zachary Mason's book, The Lost Books of the Odyssey, which reimagines some of the stories Homer recounted - and invents legends which Homer left out.
It's not always an easy read - Mason bounces around chronologically, which can be confusing, and I had to rely on my seventh-grade son for a Greek mythology refresher- but the writing is often luminous and the author's creativity remarkable.
One story in particular stands out in my mind: King Agamemnon summons his warriors -- Odysseus, Palamedes and Nestor-- and asks them to go find the single sentence that "contains the sum total of all wisdom."
After years of searching, Agamemnon's men come up with this answer: "And this, too, shall pass."
It spoke to me immediately: everything is ephemeral. Nothing sustains. It could be a deflating message, or one that liberates. If it's true that everything is transient, if happiness, suffering, success, and missteps are fleeting, we should learn to savor what we hold in our hands, because it's ultimately all there is. We should live a little more freely, speak a little more truthfully, choose a little more passionately. It's not necessarily dispiriting to know that the worst pain will ultimately lessen and the greatest joy can't buoy us forever. It reminds me that we get through everything, and also can't hang onto anything. It's again a reminder to really be in this moment because "This, too, shall pass." Or to let go of this moment, because "This, too, shall pass." Don't give the tough times too much weight and angst because they're temporary. Don't take the best times for granted because they're evanescent.
I'm sure we could debate forever whether this is the one sentence that distills the truth of the world, but it's one that gets to the heart of every moment - no matter how blissful or painful. Everything and everyone moves on, nothing stays: "This, too, shall pass."
