Continuing with Emily Wilson on her translation of the Greek epic poem. We discuss the value of the oikos, or estate, built on violence, with slaves rewarded for loyalty and killed for preferring a different master. These estates were brought into military alliances through xenia, or hospitality, which you should definitely extend to any gods-disguised-as-beggars that come Continue Reading …
Episode 185: Ethics in Homer’s “Odyssey” Feat. Translator Emily Wilson (Part One)
On the classic Greek epic poem, written ca. 750 BCE and translated by our guest Emily Wilson (of the University of Pennsylvania) in 2018. Does this story of "heroes" have anything to teach us about ethics? Emily wrote an 80-page introduction to her new translation laying out the issues, including "hospitality" as a political tool, the value for status and identity of one's Continue Reading …
Ep. 185: Ethics in Homer’s “Odyssey” Feat. Translator Emily Wilson (Citizen Edition)
On the classic Greek epic poem, written ca. 750 BCE and translated by our guest Emily Wilson (of the University of Pennsylvania) in 2018. Does this story of "heroes" have anything to teach us about ethics? Emily wrote an 80-page introduction to her new translation laying out the issues, including "hospitality" as a political tool, the value for status and identity of one's Continue Reading …
Topic for #81: Carl Jung on the Psyche and Dreams
Listen now to Wes's introductory precognition of this Jung discussion. On 8/7/13, we recorded a discussion of Carl Jung's Man and His Symbols, specifically essay he wrote that kicks off the book (which includes several authors), "Approaching the Unconscious." This reading (written shortly before Jung's death in 1961 and published afterwards) was recommended to us by some Continue Reading …
Alan Watts on Buddhist and Christian Mythographies
http://youtu.be/w0FQoypdDTk Watch on YouTube. I liked the meta-discussion that kicked off the second PEL naturalized Buddhism episode, specifically on what knowledge we gain by assessing the supernatural "rules" contained within "religious" Buddhism. Even after rejecting a supernaturalist stance, there's value in reviewing the form of life revealed within Buddhism's Continue Reading …
Karen Amstrong, Ross Douthat, and the Functions of Religion
My post on fake myths has generated some good discussion, and our future podcast guest Daniel Horne pointed me to a nice concise New York Times review by Ross Douthat of Karen Armstrong's The Case for God, which prompted my line of thought about myth. Douthat's review presents a much better summary to the book than my preliminary attempt, and makes the overall point, which I Continue Reading …
Manufacturing Myths: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Silmarillion
Much has been remarked about Tolkien's Catholicism and how this plays out in Lord of the Rings. Much less known, or more precisely much less tolerated are his earlier efforts to create the myths of Middle Earth, later packed by his son into The Silmarillion. These stories are for the most part told at a high level of summary, which sucks a lot of the potential drama out of Continue Reading …