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I consider psychoanalytic approaches to myth and the role of mythos (myth) and logos (reason) in Ancient Greece. Myths are sacred narratives that are in constant flux and interpreted by storytellers. Reason tries to establish the truth. Following a discussion of Freud's visit to the Acropolis and his use of the Oedipal myth, Freudian, Jungian and philosophical interpretations of myths are explored. The research of Otto Rank is addressed in the context of his allegiance to Freud and his subsequent break from the father of psychoanalysis. The myth of Prometheus and its links to creativity are presented. Rank's identification of the Promethean complex is reviewed. Existential questions of mortality and immortality are examined in view of the Greek charge to "know thyself."
Here are the facts, not words.
Prometheus Bound, Aeschylus
PROMETHEUS THE TITAN WAS BORN TO GAIA, MOTHER EARTH. HE was aware of the divisions taken up by the gods Zeus (the skies), Poseidon (the seas), and Hades (the underground). Prometheus was content with less-a continent or so. He lived there quietly. One day he was at a riverbed and came across a strange and mobile sort of clay. He took a lump and began to knead it into shape-legs, arms, joints, nimble fingers, a head, and a phallus craving friction. It was an endearing toy. He lifted it up and affectionately breathed into its small torso. The trick worked, and the figure moved, toddled, and ran. Prometheus decided to mold more such figures and watched them scuttle and rove around. "Now, what you need," he said, "is something more. Something that sets you apart from the rest, that gives you an edge."
Prometheus, whose name means foresight and planning, knew what that something was and where to get it. He gained entry to the Mt. Olympus home of Zeus by resorting to trickery and snatched up fire, which he slid into the hollow stalk of a giant fennel plant. When Prometheus reached his home camp with the stolen fire, he gave it to the humans and they began to use it. They enjoyed its use and warmth.
Zeus was furious. He chained the Titan on a huge baron rock in the Caucasus. By day Prometheus writhed under the parching blaze of...