Sophia the AI of Epimetheus

Chapter IX

PROMETHEUS AND EPIMETHEUS

After having wandered for a long time on the earth and having climbed to the top of the mountain countless times, witnessing two great Greek tragedies, and not finding Sofia, Andrew went down to the plain again and met an old man named Epimetheus, brother of Prometheus. Epimetheus was already quite advanced in age because he belonged to the mythology of the first Greek gods. According to Greek mythology, these were two of the many gods that heaven and earth had. In fact, these were the first parents in Greek mythology.

Andrew asked Epimetheus if he had seen Sofia in any of those places. He told him that he did not remember having seen her in those places but that since he had been entrusted with the task of making living beings, he promised Andrew that if he couldn't find her in those places, he would return to him, that he could try to make one just like her.

Andrew was precisely thinking about that "afterthought" attitude when someone passing by told him Epimetheus was a half-dazed god who always followed his first impulse and then changed his mind. Before making man, he gave all the best to the animals: strength, speed, courage, feathers, and shelter. He also gave them wings, shells, and many other things until nothing good was left for the man; He had run out of materials. He was left without anything that could serve as protection or qualities to help him face dangers.

Very late, as always, Epimetheus realized what he had done and asked his brother Prometheus for help, which means "thought before." This one was sage; He took the task of following the creation of man and thought about how to make man superior to animals and walk upright like the gods. Then he went to the sky, to the sun, where he lit a torch and brought fire for mortals, protection for men better than anything else, whether feathers, furs, strength or speed.

Since Epimetheus had promised Andrews to make him a girl just like the one he was looking for, he had stayed waiting for him to return with her. Andrés was already leaving when, in the distance, an old man and a maiden came. They were Epimetheus and the girl he had promised to make.

When Andrew saw her, he was surprised. She was real; she could be touched and felt. Her eyes were black like Sofia's. Her long black hair flowed in the wind, and as she walked, it slid in soft waves over her shoulders. The color of her arms and neck harmonized and blended into her face, infusing it with singular beauty, but there was no fire in her eyes, like in Sofia's; he saw them sad and dull. They did not project that vital force that Sofía exhibited in her eyes. He couldn't find that fullness of life nor the smell of her perfume that emanated from her. Later, Andrew learned that her name was Pandora, and with her, she carried a box containing all the evils that had occurred and had spread throughout the world. Epimetheus had forbidden him to open the box. Still, her curiosity was such that when she opened it, the world was filled with evils: hatred, evil, pain, suffering, diseases, and many other evils that afflict mortals; there was only left inside the box: hope.

Andrew then tried to look for Prometheus to see if he could climb to the sun, bring fire, and inject it into her eyes, but he saw him in the middle of the sea, chained to a rock, suffering the attacks of the immense waves and a bird of prey stinging his liver. Cruel punishment was imposed on him by the gods for the simple act of going to the sun and bringing fire to mortals for their own protection! Someone there told Andrew that day and night, he harbored the hope of his rescue in his chest because someone had told Prometheus that one day someone would come and, with his death, would bring him his liberation.

Andrew felt very sad and disappointed when he saw the unfortunate Prometheus, whom he could help recover Sofia, chained to that rock and unable to do anything for him. Andrew then continued on his way through that land, thinking that this girl Epimetheus had created for him looked very similar to Sofia, whom he eagerly searched through heaven and earth. Still, in her eyes, she lacked the grace of the Sofia, she lacked fire... she lacked intelligence and wisdom.

This is a chapter of my book, "In Search of Sophia" - unedited -  When I returned from Vietnam, I found reading was like therapy for my war traumas of anxiety, depression, sorrows, fear, etc. So, years later, I had material to engage in writing, and this book is one of them.