Eternal Drama The Inner Meaning of Greek Mythology

by EDINGER, EDWARD F.

• ISBN13: 9781570626739
• ISBN10: 1570626731
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-05-01
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

Zeus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Athena-do the gods and goddesses of Greece have anything to say to us that we haven't already heard? In this book, based on a series of his lectures, the eminent Jungian analyst and writer Edward F. Edinger revisits all the major figures, myths, oracles, and legends of the ancient Greek religion to discover what they can still reveal-representing, as they do, one of the religious and mythic foundations of Western culture. Building on C. G. Jung's assertion that mythology is an expression of the deepest layers of mind and soul, Dr. Edinger follows the mythic images into their persistent manifestations in literature and on into our modern lives. He finds that the gods indeed continue to speak as we grow in our capacity to listen and that the myths express the inner energies within all of us as much as ever. Heracles is eternally performing his labors, Perseus is still confronting Medusa, Theseus is forever stalking the Minotaur, and Persephone is still being carried off to life in a new realm.

Author Biography

Edward F. Edinger, M.D., a founding member of the C. G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology in New York, is the author of many books on Jungian psychology, including The Eternal Drama and Anatomy of the Psyche: Alchemical Symbolism in Psychotherapy.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	vii
Author's Note	ix
Editor's Preface	xi
What Is Mythology?	1	(8)
The Beginnings: Cosmogony	9	(9)
The Olympian Gods	18	(20)
Zeus, Poseidon, Hades	21	(6)
Apollo	27	(2)
Hermes	29	(2)
Ares	31	(4)
Hephaestus	35	(3)
The Olympian Goddesses	38	(14)
Hera	38	(2)
Hestia	40	(1)
Demeter	41	(1)
Artemis	42	(2)
Aphrodite	44	(4)
Athena	48	(4)
The Heroes	52	(37)
Heracles	52	(12)
Jason and Medea	64	(7)
Theseus and Ariadne	71	(9)
Perseus	80	(9)
The Trojan War	89	(13)
Odysseus	102	(21)
The Tragic Drama: Oedipus	123	(11)
Shrines and Oracles	134	(8)
Dionysus	142	(14)
Orphism	156	(18)
The Eleusinian Mysteries	174	(11)
Notes	185	(8)
Glossary	193	(6)
Bibliography	199	(4)
Credits	203	(2)
Index	205