What we write and what we believe is tied up with how we think. While there is a rising interest in story and lived experience, we have distanced fact from fiction. A story can be seen as ‘my truth’ but we need to look to science for ‘the truth.’ Story can tell us a lot about an individual, but we need to see statistics and scientific reasoning to understand the whole group. I am not one to dismiss science or statistics, but they tell one part of the truth. I am also not willing to separate the truth into an individual concept of ‘my truth.’ We need to think more holistically and objectively.
Story on its own is just a series of events, but hidden within this tale is a moral, or a truth. The stories that resound the most with an audience do so as they reflect something common in our human experience. This is where the idea of myth comes into play. We see myth as the opposite of truth, a sort of ancient and easily disprovable belief system.
In the early ages of mankind people looked around to explain their surrounding and the natural world. They developed belief in unseen gods to help explain natural phenomenon. The lightening and thunder is caused by Zeus’ anger. Earthquakes are seen as a punishment from the gods. These gods sit atop Mount Olympus beyond the reach of the humans below.
It only takes one or two enterprising and daring people to climb Mount Olympus to discover that these gods do not exist. The whole thing is dismissed as untrue, as a myth.
But is it really that simple? Is that all these ancients believed? Is that the extent of it?
I no more believe in the ancient Greek gods than anyone else, but should we simply throw out the whole thing? Is there nothing to learn from Greek mythology?
What if we see in these myths not just a falsifiable structure of religion? What if we read further and see how the ancient Greeks were understanding their world?
Look at the story of Sisyphus. This king of Corinth was given an eternal punishment. He was forced to push a boulder up a hill only to have it roll down before he reached the top, every single time… for eternity. If you can’t find some grain of truth in this, some comment on the futility of man’s efforts; then you are either a very lucky person or you’ve never done laundry for a large family!
There is a deep comment about human life within this myth. Do I think the story is true? No. Do I think he is an example of a human truth? Yes.
I wish modern man would abandon his arrogant position of “scientism.” A believe that only that which is provable by science is worth discussing. We look down on the thinkers and believers of the past and ignore the value in their understanding.
Perhaps the only way forward is to spend more time looking in the rear-view mirror. Perhaps the past can offer us truths that will help us move forward.
