Lani's Blog

My favorite Myth

A myth... is a metaphor for a mystery beyond human comprehension. It is a comparison that helps us understand, by analogy, some aspect of our mysterious selves. A myth, in this way of thinking, is not an untruth but a way of reaching a profound truth.” ~Christopher Vogler Do you agree or disagree? What's your favorite myth?





Love Brings





Whirling, swirling,


so goes life.


As Sisyphus rolls his rock


toward the abyss,


Man's unending falling


Into a darkness


complete





Faces, voices,


life gone by.


Passions dried,


but not the tears;


heartbreaking,


framing withering


tears








Sweetly sipped,


from another's lips,


only Love breaks through


bringing Man


hope, light, life


back from the


edge.





My favorite myth is Sisyphus. Well, maybe not favorite but one that I understand. It's real life. Sisyphus is the king of Ephya. He promotes navigation and commerce so he is a good guy. But wait, he kills travelers and guests so he is a bad guy.





Sisyphus is also sly, charming and cunning. He annoyed Zeus by betraying one of the god's secrets to a river god for a mountain spring.  Killing guests breaks hospitality laws of Zeus so he orders Death (or Hades depending on your version) to put Sisyphus in chains in Tartarus. The king talked Death into putting the chains on himself, you know to see how they worked. No one could die until Death was freed.


In another story Sisyphus tricks the Queen of the Dead Persephone into letting him leave the Underworld. He convinced her he was there by mistake.





For his hubris of believing he was smarter than the gods, Zeus has Sisyphus rolling a rock up a hill only to have it roll back down before he can complete the task. Unending frustration and wasted effort is his hell for his clever mind.


 


I believe that Mr. Vogler is right that myth is metaphor for human mysteries. As for Sisyphus, the mystery is why would a king with so many gifts (a rich country, a family, a clever mind and a charming way) throw it all away? Why break the laws of basic decency? How did he come to believe that he was better or smarter than the gods?





Why do we?