Myths of the soul - philosophic insights from ancient myths 3

Ancient myth and the Platonic tradition: a key to understanding ourselves?

Damascius' Seven Myths of the Soul - 3

Damascius was the last head of the Athenian Academy before it was closed by imperial edict in 529 AD: he was, therefore, the inheritor of more than one thousand years of unbroken philosophic learning. In his Commentary on Plato's Phaedo he touches on the symbolic meaning of various myths and gave this verse as a certain explanation of the path of the soul:

The soul descends into generation, after the manner of Kore;

She is scattered by generation, after the manner of Dionysus;

Like Prometheus and the Titans, she is bound to body.

She frees herself by exercising the strength of Heracles;

Gathers herself together through the help of Apollo

And the saviour Athene, by truly purifying philosophy;

And she elevates herself to the causes of her being with Demeter.

This is the third of three meetings looking at this fascinating view of myth: In the January meeting we will have looked at the myths of Kore (Persephone) and Dionysus and in the second (in February) we will have looked at the myths of the titan Prometheus, Heracles (or Hercules) and Athene.

In this meeting we'll look at the myths of the Apollo and Demeter. We will begin with a retelling the myths, but as usual we should have the best part of an hour for a group discussion of the issues arising. (We will very briefly recap on the five previous myths - so if you missed the previous session this one should still make sense).

No previous experience of formal philosophy is required.

Entrance in free, but donations between £3-5 will be welcomed.

A PDF download of the outline of the three myths we will be concentrating on is available on our website together with further details of this and other Prometheus Trust's activities: www.prometheustrust.co.uk (the PDF is on the "London Monday Evenings" page.)

Speaker(s):	Tim Addey | talks | www
Date and Time:	21 March 2016 at 7:30 pm
Duration:	1 hour 30 minutes
Venue:	Cecil Sharp House 2 Regent’s Park Road London NW1 7AY Show map
Organised by:	The Prometheus Trust See other talks organised by The Prometheus Trust...
Tickets:	£5 (concessions £3)
Available from:	Donations at the door.

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