Milo of Croton

In the middle of Holland Park's Dutch Gardens, there is a bronze statue of the ancient Greek wrestler Milo of Croton that I admired today. Milo was renowned for his great strength and is enshrined in folklore for his bravery, huge diet, and endurance; from childhood, he lifted a calf every day, until eventually he could lift an entire cow as an adult, and he won an Olympic victory no fewer than six times. 

Yet Milo has also become famous for the bizarre manner of his death. The story goes that, one day, Milo was walking through the woods near his house when he came upon a tree that a woodcutter had abandoned as being too difficult to cut down, still with wedges embedded in it. The wrestler decided that he was strong enough to split the tree and finish the job, and so put his hands into one of the cuts. However, the wedges then fell out and the tree fell down to close around his hands, trapping him. With no way out, Milo was never seen again. Some say that he was killed by a pack of wolves, others say that a lion ended his life. Whichever wild beast killed him, the end result was the same. Undermined by his rashness, Milo was overwhelmed by a force greater than his own.

Why do I mention his story? Because I want to talk about the future of human endeavour. I believe that there is a great danger of us overreaching ourselves in our unremitting struggle towards a better future, more progress and more human success. Indeed, we've already gone too far and the world is suffering as a result. Food, water, fuel and space are all becoming scarcer, and they may not be able to support our population growth and industrial efforts in the future.

I do not want to sound pessimistic, since people are trying to turn the tide, with genetically-modified crops and renewable energy, amongst others, offering great potential in redressing these issues. But, as is constantly brought home to me by the rubbish and litter that I collect on my morning trips, we may be living on the edge of the Earth's capabilities. As we encroach ever more on our natural environment in a drive to gain more resources and step back from this edge, we may risk releasing even more diseases and causing more sorrow and devastation amongst us.

I just hope, for all our sakes, that we don't end up like Milo, devoured by the wolves of poverty, stagnation, disease and starvation, or the lion of conflict, recession and hatred. Humans are frail beings, and there is a limit to what we can do.




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