Myth Matters

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“Energy, creation, movement and harmony, development, all happen under the aegis of love, in the domain of eros. Desire is the cause of all movement, and movement is the character of all being. The universe is a process, and its method is change.” — Germaine Greer
 
The ideas expressed by Greer in this quote reflect the ancient Greek perception of a cosmic dynamic of love and attraction, imagined as the god Eros. The notion of Eros is thousands of years old and yet still central, compelling, and meaningful. 
In this episode, we take a look at two ancient poets whose poetry about eros speak to us today. The Roman Ovid was fascinated with the psychology and effects of eros, passionate love. In his view, love is the catalyst for transformation and our passions are our folly. This is a mad, crazy world.
Ovid's work was innovative and yet he had an important predecessor in Sappho, a Greek lyric poet whose primary theme was also love. Her work was also ground-breaking and known to Ovid. He even included her in his Heroides, a collection of fictitious letters exchanged between lovers.
The work of these two poets, conceived centuries ago, illuminates some of the ways that ancient Greco-Roman ideas about eros influence our ideas about love and passion today.
Thanks for listening and keep the mystery in your life alive...
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"Some sisters said such things could never be, while others were convinced that anything was in the power of true deities---"
-The Metamorphoses, Book 4, by Ovid translated by Allen Mandelbaum
Ovid wove Greek myths of transformation to create his masterwork, The Metamorphoses. This poem describes a world of shapeshifting, ambiguity, and forms in flux. Of endless transformations instigated by passion: passionate feelings, fantasies, pleas, prayers, and convictions.
This episode contains a couple of more obscure myths from Book 4 that seed a meditation on the fluidity of identity and gender, and the blurriness of boundaries in an ever-changing cosmos.
Thanks for listening and keep the mystery in your life alive...
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“All things change; nothing perishes.”-- Ovid
Ovid was a Roman poet who wrote his master work, The Metamorphoses or "Transformations," in 8 C.E.. He weaves more than 250 Greek myths together in one long poem to tell a story of transformation, and explore the complexities of love as an agent of change. 
Ovid's voice has been influential over the centuries. The Metamorphoses was an important touchstone for Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, and other artists and thinkers whose works are foundational to today’s dominant culture. HIs perspective and the story that he tells are worth examination. 
Is it still useful to us? Does it offer anything to our vision of the future?
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“The universe is a continuous web. Touch it at any point and the whole web quivers.” ― Stanley Kunitz
I always dedicate the April episodes of Myth Matters to poetry as a way to celebrate National Poetry month here in the United States. This year, I'm turning to the work of Stanley Kunitz.
Kunitz received nearly every honor bestowed upon a poet in this country. His work is a marvelous blend of deep feeling and philosophy, and clear observations of the natural world. He lived to be a 100 years old and was lucid to the end; the writing from his later years is beautiful and wise, marked by his earthy eroticism and fascination with the mysteries.
Poetry is a valuable tool and resource in this time of cultural transformation, a source of truth, inspiration, and companionship, and a doorway into inner calm. I hope you enjoy this episode and if you have a favorite poem or poet, please share them with me!
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"But people must be taught lessons. Without them, none of them will ever learn.
People are dreams and awkwardness and gawk. They prick their fingers
Bleed and snore and drool. Politeness is as quiet as a grave,
Unmoving, roses without thorns. Or white lilies. People have to learn."
-- excerpted from "Observing the Formalities" by Neil Gaiman
 
Our myths and old stories play a complicated role in our personal and collective evolution. On the one hand, they are conservative carriers of social values that impede change. On the other, they are tools for de-conditioning and vehicles for liberation.
The role they play depends on the perspective we take and the interpretative lens that we bring to them. We inherit our myths and we're taught how to receive them.
This episode is an exploration of this idea, a thought experiment using a fairy tale that you may know, "Briar Rose" AKA "Sleeping Beauty." I found something new in this story and hope that you do too.
Thanks for listening and keep the mystery in your life alive...
Support the show
Email Catherine at catherine@mythicmojo.com
Post a positive review on apple podcasts!
Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com
Buy me a coffee. Thank you!