Quo Vadis

'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.

Push off, and sitting well in order smite

The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds

To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths

Of all the western stars, until I die.

It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:

It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,

And see the great Achilles, whom we knew



Lately I have been thinking about this poem. Not that I harbor any delusions of grandeur to compare myself with Odysseus (or Frasier Crane for that matter), but sometimes I think the heroes of yore had it easy; go out in search of a quest, a definable, unambiguous noble adventure, which made it far easier to face the trials and tribulations associated with it. Not to mention, it almost always involved a siren or nymph of some sort. But woe to this post modern world with its moral relativism. Today there is no clear definition, or guide to what constitutes a noble undertaking, and what is truly the price for the pursuit of said quest? Maybe it,s just me and others probably have a far more solid framework to operate within; for me I think I just have to hobble along as best I can.