Kairos: The Auspicious Moment

In ancient greece in the city of Olympia, a sanctuary to Zeus was erected. That complex of buildings contained a stadium where the first Olympiad was held in 776 B.C. “Quite close to the entrance to the stadium are two altars; one they call Hermes of the Games, the other is the altar of Opportunity. I know that a hymn to Opportunity is one of the poems of Ion of Chios (b. 490 B.C.); in the hymn, Opportunity is made out to be the youngest child of Zeus.”¹ (Pausanias Fl. 150 A.D.)

Kairos personified opportunity, also translated as “psychological moment.”² The uniqueness of Kairos’ position is reflected in his being a child of the gods of Zeus, father and protector of the family; a son with its many significances; and the youngest with its unique implications. His specialness is further enhanced by the fact that his father Zeus was the youngest son of Cronos, who in turn was the youngest son of Heaven (Ouranos) and Earth (Gaea) who emerged from chaos, the Void, that existed before there was anything. Chaos comes from the Greek root, to gape, simply meaning open space. Kairos was a favorite subject in art, especially from the time of Lucippus of Sicyon. (Fl. about 328 B.C.)² He was later shown with a long forelock, while being bald behind. (Description of him in a poem by Possidippus of Pella—Fl. 270 B.C.)² Hence by a gross mistranslation of his name, we have the expression “to take time by the forelock.”²

Kairos as the youngest is the newest, a beginning, what is most immanent, an opportunity, a chance, a psychological moment, an auspicious, a right time, life itself as it unfolds moment to moment. As you approach the stadium and the contests to take place there, you encounter and confront Kairos as he encounters and confronts you. The concept of Begegnung is evident as well as that we are dealing with an existential situation and one of deep importance. The audience were not univolved spectators but active participants, an aspect of the totality, as evid