Kairos

1
Kairos

• God of the fleeting moment

2
Opportunity Knocks

• According to ancient Greeks, Kairos, the youngest
  son of Zeus, was the god of the fleeting
  moment, a favorable opportunity opposing the
  fate of man.
• Such a moment must be grasped (by the tuft of
  hair on the personified forehead of the fleeting
  opportunity) otherwise the moment is gone and
  cannot be recaptured (personified by the back of
  the personified head being bald).

3
http//www.sikyon.com/sicyon/lysippos/lysip_egpg07
.html
4
http//www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/KairosAbso
luteAstronomy.com
5
Statue by Lysippos

• "Kairos" (opportunity, time, chance).The
  original bronze allegoric statue made by the
  famous Greek sculptor Lysippos stood at his home,
  in the Agora of Hellenistic Sikyon. The following
  epigram by Poseidippos, on the statue of Kairos
  by Lysippos

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• "Who and whence was the sculptor? From
  Sikyon.And his name? Lysippos.And who are you?
  Time who subdues all things.Why do you stand on
  tip-toe? I am ever running.And why do you have a
  pair of wings on your feet? I fly with the
  wind.And why do you hold a razor in your right
  hand? As a sign to men that I am sharper than any
  sharp edge.And why does your hair hang over your
  face? For him who meets me to take me by the
  forelock.And why, in Heaven's name, is the back
  of your head bald? Because none whom I have once
  raced by on my winged feet will now, though he
  wishes it sore, take hold of me from behind.Why
  did the artist fashion you? For your sake,
  stranger, and he set me up in the porch as a
  lesson."

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Kronos or Kairos
In the midst of the ordinary time (kronos),
extraordinary time (kairos) happens.

• Ancient Greeks had two words for time
• Kronos (aka Cronos or Chronos) refers to the
  quantitative or sequential property of time
• Kairos refers to the qualitative property of time

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Kronos (Chronos)

• When we think of chronos, we think of words like
  chronicle or chronological or anachronism.
  
• All of these words refer to arrangement of events
  according to their order or occurrence in
  timethe actual, temporal sequence of past
  events.
• Anachronism refers to something which is out of
  place in that sequencelike an alarm clock in
  Shakespeares play, Julius Caesar.

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Kairos

• With regard to Aristotles proofs, kairos is the
  time and space context in which the proof will be
  delivered.
• A passing instant when an opening appears
  which must be driven through with force if
  success is to be achieved (E. C. White,
  Kaironomia, p. 13).

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A Kairos Moment

• Kairos refers to the right or opportune moment.
  Such moments require proactivity to achieve
  success.
• A kairos moment is significant and decisive.
  These moments transcend kronos, stirring emotions
  and realities to cause decisive action. It is not
  an understatement to say that kairos moments
  alter destiny.
• To miscalculate kronos is inconvenient.
• To miscalculate kairos is lamentable.

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Carpe Diem

• Kairos can be understood in the context of the
  Latin phrase, carpe diem, which means seize the
  day.

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Dead Poets Society

• In a scene from Dead Poets Society, Professor
  John Keating challenges his boarding school
  English class. They sheepishly stand in front of
  the trophy case peering inquisitively into the
  photographs of alumna. The professor speaks with
  a deliberate tone about the boys in the faded
  black and white photographs

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• They're not that different from you, are they?
  Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you.
  Invincible, just like you feel. The world is
  their oyster. They believe they're destined for
  great things, just like many of you their eyes
  are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait
  until it was too late to make from their lives
  even one iota of what they were capable? Because,
  you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing
  daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can
  hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on,
  lean in. Listen do you hear it?

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• Carpe! Hear it?
• Carpe! Carpe diem! Seize the day boys. Make your
  lives extraordinary.
• Why does the call to live extraordinary lives
  ring so loudly for some that they are compelled
  to follow it with a zealous passion? What causes
  the same call for others to become merely a drone
  to ignore amidst all the other noises of life? No
  matter where one falls on this continuum the call
  remains the same for every human being. Carpe
  diem! Literally, pluck the day Choose to live
  in such a way that reflects the extraordinariness
  of your life. Position yourself to get caught up
  in the great drama. You have been destined to
  make an impact.

From Dead Poets Society
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SOURCES

• AbsoluteAstronomy.com. 2010.  18 March 2010
  lthttp//www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Kairosgt.
• Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales The
  Monk's Tale.
• Doherty, Mick. "Kairos Layers of Meaning." Dept.
  of English, Texas Tech University.
• Malory, Thomas. Le Morte d'Arthur, Chapter XVII'.
• Papakyriakou/Anagnostou, Ellen. 15 Feb 2010. 18
  March 2010 lthttp//www.sikyon.com/sicyon/
  lysippos/lysip_egpg07.htmlgt.
• White, E. C. Kaironomia on the will to invent.
  Ithaca and London Cornell University Press,
  1987.
• "The Wheel of Fortune" by Edward Burne-Jones,
  1875-83.
• http//www.whatifenterprises.com/whatif/whatiskair
  os.pdf