2 Regent's Park Rd
London NW1 7AY
UK
Damascius’ Seven Myths of the Soul – 2
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 second 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 a third session (March 21) we will explore the myths of Apollo and Demeter.
In this meeting we’ll look at the myths of the titan Prometheus, Heracles (or Hercules) and Athene. 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 briefly recap on the two previous myths – so if you missed the first session in January, 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.)