Necessity, Goddess supreme,
Mother of Adrasteia,
Daughter of Fate,
descend with Amalthea’s horn.
You move the Universe and the Aether;
grant us now the gifts of Peace
at this final hour.
Goddess Necessity,
you rule over us;
to run and never catch up,
to do this and hasten to do the other.
War fills us with anxiety.
Necessity for our daily bread,
for one to become wealthy,
for the sick to enter the hospital,
for the elderly to go to the pharmacy.
The mother’s care for her children—
we all live with hope.
Few know the “I know nothing,”
and you, Pelopidas, may become Croesus or Midas.
The penniless dines from the bin,
the homeless spends the night in a sleeping bag.
Let what is at home not be exposed in the public square—
dreams in sleep and in waking.
To manage everything,
to earn and to produce—
in anxiety the mind grows dark,
to do this and not neglect the other.
Socrates calmly drank the hemlock
and said, “I depart.”
In the past, needs were few;
foods were natural,
we rejoiced in festivals,
and families were united.
Energy sources were natural, most of them;
few machines,
manual labor prevailed.
Trains with steam engines,
a horse with a wooden plow instead of a tractor.
Now everything demands energy;
without it nothing functions.
The mobile phone and the watch stop;
without them, your memory seems to fade,
and traffic will irritate you.
Blessed are the moderate,
the healthy and the prudent.
Struggles do not frighten them—
rather, they inspire them.
The Furies do not devour them.
At night they lie down in peace
and at dawn they look with optimism.
Necessity, almighty goddess—
“Even the gods yield to Necessity.”
She governs us unseen and serene;
necessity requires prudence and wisdom.
It is necessary to stop wars.
Necessary to cleanse the Earth.
Only with Peace shall we live in harmony;
with friendship and cooperation let the peoples act.
Necessary to humanize AI.
Necessary to elevate and philosophize our humble life.
Necessary for the citizen to assume responsibility,
and for the foolish politician to understand his role.
Necessary for the elderly to keep walking,
and for the disabled to be able to move freely.
Let not the beast of our era’s speed
bring you to your knees with its burden.
And if you are strained, do not lose heart;
someone younger will help you.
Struggle hard—but do not fall ill.
Sweet is life, one and unique—
for no reason should you waste it,
nor become self-destructive through evil.
Time passes and is lost;
life is one and unique—it does not repeat.
It is time to work, to envision, and to create,
that you may be rewarded
and your homeland may honor you.
And if you earn money and grow rich,
and meet your needs,
help your neighbor stand upright as well.
Offer something good to be done,
that your name may endure forever
for a work worthy of remembrance.
We are all children of necessity,
of violence, struggle, and toil;
in a world of illusion we live,
and in the end Death reaches us.
If we were to see the Truth,
it might drive us mad.
(1/3/26)
Amphiktyon – Major General (ret.) Konstantinos Konstantinidis
Writer, Member of the Hellenic Literary Society
http://www.amphiktyon.blogspot.com
amphiktyon.org