In ancient cultures, mythology served a number of other important functions on an individual and personal level which may not be immediately obvious.
On a personal level mythology created a sense of awe about the mystery of human existence. By creating this sense of wonder, mythology helped people to learn about their own lives in a way that few other fields could.
On a social level, mythology educated people about how they fit into the group they lived in. Rituals would help to mark the different stages of life and would help to define the roles of the different members in that society.
In this episode I discuss the insights we can take from mythology including:
- My interpretation of the myth of the Trojan Horse in Homer's Iliad
- The danger of hubris, drawing on the myth of Icarus and Daedalus
- The hero's journey, drawing on Homer's Odyssea
In this episode you'll learn to look beyond the surface of mythology and find far more than literary entertainment - because mythology is at the core of ancient wisdom and points at what it means to live a good human life.