Tag Archives: Homer

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

The Secrets of the Odyssey (1)

Posted on February 8, 2014 by Symbol Reader

Timanthes, “The Sacrifice of Iphigenia” (detail: Odysseus) Homer’s Odyssey has always held an extreme fascination with me. All the characters and what happens to them have been coming back to me recently, perhaps in connection with Mercury retrograde with Neptune. … Continue reading →