The Stoics Distinguished Attainable Ends (Telos) from Those That Are Unattainable Yet Tempting (Skopos)

In cinematic Łódź, together with Atlas Sztuki, we carefully follow Homer and Bond. Long, long ago, in the age of the supposedly blind Homer, the word skopos (σκοπός) meant ‘a guard, scout, watchful overseer’ (Iliad, 2.792), or an archer’s target (Odyssey, 22.6). Later, in philosophical reflection, it became a term for the aim of an action (Plato, Republic, 452e).   

A few thousand years have passed and little has changed. We remain ocularcentric animals. The cult of sharp sight and the accurate eye defines our behaviour and fascinations. To be ‘on target’, to be ‘accurate’, means exactly the same as to be effective, to be powerful. This is precisely why someone who is to guide others, a leader, is called an epi-skopos. Although it is truly difficult to say what otherworldly trophy might be at stake in this instance.

A line of infallible sight, straight as an arrow, connects motifs and images scattered through culture with surprising disorder. It takes effort to strike at their heart.