Eternal Drama: The Inner Meaning of Greek Mythology

by Edward F. Edinger

Overview

Zeus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Athena -- do the gods and goddesses of Greece have anything to say to us that we haven't already heard? In this book, based on a series of his lectures, the eminent Jungian analyst and writer Edward F. Edinger revisits all the major figures, myths, oracles, and legends of the ancient Greek religion to discover what they can still reveal -- representing, as they do, one of the religious and mythic foundations of Western culture. Building on C. G. Jung's assertion that mythology is an expression of the deepest layers of mind and soul, Dr. Edinger follows the mythic images into their persistent manifestations in literature and on into our modern lives. He finds that the gods indeed continue to speak as we grow in our capacity to listen and that the myths express the inner energies within all of us as much as ever. Heracles is eternally performing his labors, Perseus is still confronting the Medusa, Theseus is forever stalking the Minotaur, and Persephone is still being carried off to life in a new realm.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781570626739
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	05/01/2001
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	597,776
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Edward F. Edinger, M.D., a founding member of the C. G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology in New York, is the author of many books on Jungian psychology, including The Eternal Drama and Anatomy of the Psyche: Alchemical Symbolism in Psychotherapy.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A compelling answer to fundamental questions about why and how we should read myths. . . . A book rich with fresh readings of well-known myths, buttressed by illuminating linkages between the Greek, Hebrew, and Christian roots of our modern psyche."— Parabola

Editorial Reviews

"A compelling answer to fundamental questions about why and how we should read myths. . . . A book rich with fresh readings of well-known myths, buttressed by illuminating linkages between the Greek, Hebrew, and Christian roots of our modern psyche."-- Parabola

From the Publisher

Edinger, a Jungian psychologist, examines the major figures in Greek mythology and analyzes the gods, goddesses, and heroes of these myths to find archetypes described by Jung. Basing his book on a series of lectures he gave in the 1970s, Edinger traces Jungian archetypes through poetry, literature, and the dreams of patients and shows how others have built on the myths. Unfortunately, when he describes the personality types of the mythical figures and explains how people today manifest an Apollo personality or are psychologically akin to Ares, the author makes connections and generalizations that are sometimes hard for the reader to accept. Still, this book would be helpful to students of Jungian psychology who want a perspective on the ties between Jung and the Greek myths. Appropriate for large public and academic collections.-Marguerite Mroz, Baltimore Cty. P.L.

Library Journal