Tag Archives: Greek myth

Orpheus and the Taming of the Wild

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Symbol Reader

Orpheus, a Roman mosaic I have recently read a fascinating article by Liz Locke, under the title “Orpheus and Orphism: Cosmology and Sacrifice at the Boundary” (Folklore Forum 28:2, 1997). Orpheus is a figure that hides many mysteries. He was … Continue reading →

Posted in Orpheus | Tagged Apollo, creation myth, Dionysos, Dionysus, Eurydice, Greek myth, Liz Locke, Orpheus, orphic creation myth, Orphics, Orphism | 10 Comments

The Secrets of the Odyssey (5): Lotus-Eaters, Auriga and Polyphemus

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Symbol Reader

What makes the Odyssey so fascinating to me is the constant presence of gods and goddesses, who ceaselessly impinge on the human world. In Homeric Moments, Eva Brann, reflects on the qualities of Greek gods: “Living lightly is the god’s … Continue reading →

Posted in The Odyssey | Tagged archetypes, Athene, Auriga, Cyclop, Cyclopes, giant, Greek myth, Greek mythology, Homer, Homer’s Secret Odyssey, Odysseus, Odyssey, Pallas, Polyphemus, Poseidon, symbolism, symbols | 18 Comments

The Secrets of the Odyssey (4): A Tribute to Penelope

Posted on March 7, 2014 by Symbol Reader

Penelope While Odysseus, cursed by Poseidon, cannot find his way home and lives through a series of fantastical adventures, his wife Penelope is experiencing a deep wound of longing and despair. She is left to run the kingdom of Ithaca … Continue reading →

Posted in The Odyssey | Tagged archetypes, bird, Fates, goddess, Greek myth, Greek mythology, Greek myths, Homer, Homer’s Secret Odyssey, Moirai, Odysseus, Penelope, Pleiades, Rene Guenon, symbolism, symbols, weaver, weaving | 22 Comments

The Secrets of the Odyssey (3): Calypso and Phaecians

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Symbol Reader

According to a well-known saying by Whitehead, all Western philosophy is a footnote to Plato. Philosophy may have begun with Plato but storytelling and literature began with minstrel poets such as Homer. Our cultural womb and cradle is ancient Greece; … Continue reading →

Posted in The Odyssey | Tagged archetypes, Calypso, depth psychology, epic poetry, Eva Brann, Florence and Kenneth Wood, goddess, goddesses, gods, Greek myth, Homer, Homer’s Secret Odyssey, Homeric moments, James Hillman, literature, mythology, Nausicaa, Odyssey, Ogygia, Robert Fitzgerald translation, Scheria, symbols, symptoms | 16 Comments

The Secrets of the Odyssey (2): Elements of Time (the Muse and the Moon)

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Symbol Reader

“Homer, the astronomer, considered wisest of all Greeks.” Heraclitus I am about to begin my reading of the Odyssey having already selected the English translation I am going to use. It is going to be the one by Robert Fitzgerald … Continue reading →

Posted in The Odyssey | Tagged astronomy, calendars, epic poetry, Florence and Kenneth Wood, Greek myth, Homer, Homer’s Secret Odyssey, lunar cycles, lunation types, memory, Mnemosyne, Moon, muses, Odyssey, phases of the moon, Robert Fitzgerald translation, Rudhyar, sun | 18 Comments

Symbolism of the Island

Posted on January 19, 2014 by Symbol Reader

1.“Theseus is cruel because he leaves Ariadne on the island of Naxos. … Just a beach lashed by thundering waves, an abstract place where only the seaweed moves. It is the island where no one lives, the place where obsession … Continue reading →

Posted in Islands | Tagged archetypes, Atlantis, Calypso, Carl Gustav Jung, desert island, Greek myth, Island, Lost, mythology, Odysseus, Ogygia, Saramago, Source, symbolism, symbols, The Tale of the Unknown Island | 37 Comments

Images of the Zodiac: Contemplating Sagittarius

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Symbol Reader

Johfra Bosschart, Sagittarius 1.“The right art,” cried the Master, “is purposeless, aimless! The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for the sake of hitting the goal, the less you will succeed in the one and … Continue reading →

Posted in Johfra Bosschart | Tagged alchemy, archery, archetypes, arrow, arrow symbolism, astrology, belly, Centaur, Chiron, Greek myth, Hillman, horse, ideas, Johfra Bosschart, mythology, Sagittarius, symbolism, symbols, Zen, Zeus, Zodiac | 39 Comments

Artemis: the Goddess of Primal Instincts

Posted on December 15, 2013 by Symbol Reader

In this time of the year many of us run after the perfect gifts for our loved ones. A gift I chose for myself this week was a small silver box with an engraved stag. I saw it at a … Continue reading →

Posted in Artemis | Tagged archetypes, Artemis, deer, goddess, Greek myth, Greek mythology, symbolism, symbols, Ursa Major | 24 Comments

Eros and Psyche (3)

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Symbol Reader

“Love sets up resonances in the deepest abysses of our being. It is a lightning flash of the eternal within the flow of time.” Aldo Carutenuto, Eros and Pathos: Shades of Love and Suffering Butterflies are very popular funerary motifs. … Continue reading →

Posted in Eros and Psyche | Tagged Aphrodite, Apuleius, archetypes, butterfly, C.G. Jung, child archetype, coniunctio, death, divine child, Eros and Psyche, Greek myth, Greek mythology, individuation, Jung, myth, number four symbolism, Psyche’s Knife, rebirth, sacred marriage, symbolism, symbols, The Golden Ass | 34 Comments

Eros and Psyche (2)

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Symbol Reader

The story of Psyche and Eros is a tale of soul-making and deep transformation. As Elisabeth Eowyn Nelson, author of Psyche’s Knife, put it: “Just as Psyche’s fate is entwined with Eros, the soul’s fate is always erotic. We work … Continue reading →