Key to All Mythologies

On this episode we discuss the meaning of the funeral games Aeneas hosts to honor his father Anchises. The funeral games are a trope of Epic poetry, appearing in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and were obviously rituals of great importance to ancient peoples. We try to think about why this was. Is some quality of Aeneas’ leadership displayed here? Is there something distinctly “Roman” about these...

On this episode we discuss the doomed romance of Aeneas and Dido, and her subsequent tragic suicide. We continue to consider the major themes of this book – the destiny of Rome, Aeneas as a hero, fate and the gods, the conflict between Eros and the State, sources of meaning and order – as they relate to the very captivating and articulate character of Dido. Why is a woman-ruler (a fact which comes...

In which we discuss the third book of the Aeneid. Book three has Aeneas relating the tale of the Trojans as they journey from the shores of burning Troy to their arrival at Carthage, where they are hospitably and warmly received by Dido, the Carthaginian queen. (As the next book will reveal, this hospitality will not ultimately be reciprocated by Aeneas, to say the least). Because this book follow...

We continue to consider the essential questions posed by the Aeneid. Chief among them, perhaps, is an ancient question central to the epic tradition as a whole. What is the relationship between the individual and fate? Another way to say it: is the true hero acting in pursuit of their own glory, or are they carrying the weight of a family, a nation, even a destiny? Another way: can exemplary peopl...

We begin our discussion of the Aeneid by considering the nature of Aeneas as a hero. Compared to the previous heroes of the epic tradition, such as Odysseus, Achilles, or Hector, Aeneas seems to lack some of their heroic excellences. Of course, Vergil is writing from a very different historical and cultural position – he is composing his poem many centuries further from the events of the Trojan wa...

Continuing our discussion of the Bhagahvad Gita. We spend much of the episode trying to understand how the metaphysical, ethical, and epistemological claims of the Gita can be understood together, rather than as being fundamentally at odds. Is the proper interpretation of Krishna’s teachings dualist or monist? Each option seems to solve some puzzles while presenting us with new ones. How are we to...

As we are not, by any stretch, experts in the history or theology of Hinduism, we spend a fair bit of time just trying to find our footing in this beguiling and mysterious book. We discuss what to make of the seeming paradox that a text which encourages readers to abandon all attachments to the material world is also a dialogue taking place in a specific time and place, with a material and histori...

On this episode we discuss the first half of 2nd Samuel, which chronicles David’s rise to power, his famous sin with Bathsheba, and the beginnings of the violence and strife within his family which will characterize the rest of his life. We spend most of the episode talking about David, Bathsheba, and her husband Uriah, whom David murders in order to try and hide his assignation with her. His assi...

On this episode we discuss “First Samuel,” the eighth book of the Old Testament. We mostly focus on the distinction between Saul and David. Why did the former fail to hold on to God’s blessing and establish himself as a successful king, while the latter succeeded? What does it say about the nature of God and God’s relationship to the Hebrew chosen people that they are allowed to have the king they...

We begin by discussing whether Aristotle is attempting to explain how to write good poetry, or merely classifying what tragedians and other poets have done. What is the point of such classification, if not to help future poets write good poetry? We move from this to a discussion of his, surprisingly expansive, definition of metaphor. After a brief detour about the meaning of literary genius and it...

On this episode of The Key to All Mythologies we discuss the first half of Aristotle’s Poetics , often considered the origin of literary criticism. In Aristotle’s case, this means considerations of tragic dramas and epic poetry, generally contrasted with history.