Author Luc
Ferry is an award winning scholar and former French minister of national
education. He knows his mythology, and goes back to the oldest sources he can
find for his reading; in many cases, sources more than 2000 years old. He’s
very thorough, and roots out the basic meaning of the oldest Greek myths: the
creation, King Midas, the Odyssey, Oedipus and others. A lot of it all boils
down to the opposing forces of chaos and order; order (as personified by Zeus
et al) must continually beat chaos (as personified by the pre-Olympian gods,
Gaia (earth) and Chronos who is time itself). Everyone and everything has a
place in the universe, and those who try to go against this natural place have
hubris, and will end up punished by the universe. No one can defeat death.
Accept this, and get on with living the best life you can- in other words, be
an expression of order.
Even people who
have never read the Greek myths know something about them; references to them
abound in our vernacular (Oedipus complex, Midas touch, Pandora’s box, Achilles
heel etc) so it pays to know where these references come from. The book is
interesting; the author treats the myths, as philosophy, with respect rather than
as childish tales. He shows how many of these myths connect with each other,
and tells us why the things that happen to people happen. Sadly, making
the connections means some repetition, but it’s not huge problem.
Did reading
this book allow me to change my life? No. I’m not even sure how understanding
the myths can change my life; perhaps that means I still don’t understand them.
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