Norman Austin has organized his analysis of classical Greek myths around Lacan's dichotomy between (ineffable) Being and the meanings imposed upon Being by culturally determined signifiers. The primary signifiers in myth (the gods), as projections of contradictory meanings, impel human consciousness in contradictory directions: toward herioc self-realization, on the one hand, and into the fear, guilt, and despair resulting from failure, on the other. The gods both reveal and occlude that which they signify--the signified; ultimately, Being itself.Austin includes one chapter on the father's ghost in Shakespeare's Hamlet, and another on Albert Camus's The Stranger, as examples of the power of mythical archetypes to reveal and occlude Being, even when the apparatus of gods has been excluded. Despite their pessimism, ancient myths also affirm that the paradoxes are not insoluble. Austin concludes by outlining the profile of the Universal Self intimated in myth, religion, and philosophy as the joint venture of the world realized in conciousness, conciousness realized in consciousness, and consciousness realized in the world."Austin's prose is as lively and engaging as it is accurate and rigorous, a combination that is rare in scholarly writing." --- John Peradotto, SUNY, Buffalo
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The Deep Structure Of Myth,
By L.H. (Rotterdam, Holland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Meaning and Being in Myth (Paperback)
This book goes way deep into the psychologic and spiritual explanation of (Greek) myths. Reading this text will alter the reader's attitude towards mythical 'stories' permanently. And just like the authentic meaning of a myth it will give you food for thought.
LH The Netherlands
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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archaic cosmology, own signifiers, metaphysical body, combat myth, intuitive mode, objective mode Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Hesiod's Archaic Cosmology, The Hero of the Anima, Ground of Being, The Empirical Stranger, The Numinous Ground, Job's Noble Euphemism, Hamlet's Hungry Ghost, The Divine Presence, King Hamlet, The Stranger, Book of Job, Garden of Eden, Mother Nature, Hesiod's Theogony, The Women of Trachis, Near East, Job's God, Queen Omphale of Lydia, Book of Genesis, Chaos Demon Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
archaic cosmology, own signifiers, metaphysical body, combat myth, intuitive mode, objective mode Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Hesiod's Archaic Cosmology, The Hero of the Anima, Ground of Being, The Empirical Stranger, The Numinous Ground, Job's Noble Euphemism, Hamlet's Hungry Ghost, The Divine Presence, King Hamlet, The Stranger, Book of Job, Garden of Eden, Mother Nature, Hesiod's Theogony, The Women of Trachis, Near East, Job's God, Queen Omphale of Lydia, Book of Genesis, Chaos Demon Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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