Mythos: Bridge of Bioethics to the Future

Αφροδίτη Κυπρής (Aphroditê Kypris), Aphrodite of Cyprus, is one of the many appellatives of the goddess Aphrodite, named after her cult site near Paphos which is claimed to be her place of birth in Cyprus. Aphrodite is one of the many ancient deities revered as divine whose characteristics are of being with powers greater than those of ordinary humans. The narrative account (λόγος logos) unmarked by the imposition of reason or argument of the deities is the myth (μφθος mythos). Mythos is a language, the mythical tales are the signifier, the contents of what we transmit is the meaning. Myth provides a point of reference around which we can organize our lives, it provides exemplary models of human being and contain different aspects and implications. Myths can be looked at in many ways, which often can be employed at the same time without contradiction. In the development of human culture, mythos and ethos are closely related, since every systematic approach to ethics is inevitably based on some fundamental mythological, religion-like or religious story that contribute to answer fundamentals questions of human nature that are also the roots of bioethical discussion. The new technologies applied to biology and biomedicine require new standards for performing ethically consequential tasks. The future will be a question of uniting and converging by means of a responsible acquisition and application of knowledge and of safe healthcare and clinical activities. Bioethics has to convert them into a means of enhancing and increasing the progress of humankind.