Acteon

Acteon was the foolish young man who was hunting in the woods, and came upon Diane bathing, instead of turning away (like any smart man would) he continues to stare at her until she splashes water on him, and turns him into a stag, which his dogs then rip to shreds. I found several interesting works of art that depicted this momentous scene in Actaeon's life.

I begin to wonder at the power of a single moment. In that one moment Actaeon had to power to save himself, to make sure he made it out of this situation alive, however by following his own rational, his baser instincts he was ultimately lead to his death. Would that he had but looked away, he might have been saved. The power of that single moment, that one decision, changed his life forever, and essentially ended it. Are our lives defined by a single moment? can a single decision make or break us, decide whether we live or die. mayhap it is not for us to truley know may be we are just meant to live and have a single glance back, a realization of sorts, of "what might have been" It seems odd, that we would be left to our own devises, for it is a fact that humans are faulty and often make mistakes of momentous proportions. Maybe that is what we use religion for, to keep us with a sense of direction. For Actaeon his religion was ultimately his death, for he did not pay respect to it as he should have and consequently died. Maybe this is a warning to all of us, follow and honor your beliefs or you shall be torn to shreds by your dogs.