When I was a kid growing up in Tiraspol (now Transnistria, then part of the Moldavian SSR) I have gotten my hands on many books, probably like many children at the time. There was no Internet and the data streamed through the old and new pages of the bind sheets of paper. I was fascinated by the world of books. My parents even gave me books about the books, such as their history as well as history of the printing press and so on. At that early age I was introduced to the wonders of encyclopedia.
The first true remembering comes to me about the book Myths and Legends of the Ancient Greece, which included the Argonauts and the Heracles' 12 Deeds. The drawings were fascinating black and white pencil drawings, which were very true to live. I was drawn into that world, and traveled extensively with the Argonauts and Heracles on their journeys. I didn't realize how far-reaching the effect of the Greek Myths would be on my life, but indeed they have shaped a lot of my present spiritual believes.
In that tender age I didn't realize that myths are not really myths, they are "religious" writings in the sense that the cultures that gave birth to them were concerned with the transmission of the accumulated knowledge as much as with the entertainment if not more. The singing of these stories wasn't a mindless form of entertainment - it was meant to enlighten, teach, give you a good footing in the labyrinths of life. Besides, the stories introduced the listener to a special reality where the accumulation of power and wisdom was instant as was the communion with the gods. A listener went away empowered, and never forgot that voice of Homer, Bayan, or any of the other in the myriad of now forgotten names of talented story-tellers, and performers.
The Myths were the first and major form of entertainment for me personally, because they were so interesting, so enticing, and the drawings so well-done. I fell in love with the characters and their courage divided by each one personally, without realizing that these heroes weren't human but super-human - they possessed special talents in either sports or arts, and were a force to be reckoned with on their own. Jason was a powerful prince-leader. Heracles a strong man like no other. Castor and Pollux were god-like bowman and boxer, Orpheus a musician of such genius that even the gods would request his audience, and so on. I also didn't realize that each one of these had a cult of their own, and was worshipped in the Greek world. However, this aspect wasn't important to me then, but what became important is that these heroes were on the journey through the unknown lands and fought monsters, showing their prowess, finally returning to their destination - their home stronger and wiser, and sometimes not, sometimes not returning at all.
Other times they, like Jason himself became infatuated with power, and forgot those who gave it to them, Medea, the sorceress lover/wife, without whom he wouldn't know how to steal the Golden Fleece. As a result of his arrogance and ignorance Jason loses his children when Medea kills them in a fit of rage after which she kills herself. He then is doomed to spend his life lamenting, with his years ending tragically - he goes up on his Argo, the ship that took him on his journey, he scorns at the gods and his life. At the dramatic moment the floor under him cracks and he falls to his death.
The idol that made Argo invulnerable was a specially carved statuette a "paladi" of Athena Pallatha, the Wise Virgin Goddess. Only with her approval were the heroes willing to venture forth. In fact no self-respecting hero would ever go anywhere far and dangerous without her blessing, the incarnation of Wisdom. This makes you sort of think about wisdom in more practical terms.
There are many metaphors and such in the story of Argonauts, and the ones that I mentioned are only a cap of the iceberg. The Argonauts were a team, and drew their power from the understanding of their goals and their mission. Not unlike modern Navy they took great risks with the jolly and light heart, trusting their power and their patron deities. These are some of the adult lessons that I am able to learn later in life, and I am grateful to that little book that my Mom brought me from the library one evening. I will continue discussion about the myths in subsequent posts.
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