Eternal Drama: The Inner Meaning of Greek Mythology

Omphacles, Odysseus, Anaxagoras, Circe, Polyphemus, Theseus, and more.Dr. Edinger pores through the Psychological dimensions of these powerful greek images, and tales.I feel I can relate with all of them, and have experienced many of them , and observed many of these images in my lifetime. He even tackles the Mysteries and the Gods and Godesses..... These are timeless tales

Edinger was, of course, one of the best expositors of Jung. Many readers complain that his books can be dry and technical. The Eternal Drama, edited from a series of lectures, is not dry at all. It provides the usual depth and insight into the unconscious and the human condition that one expects from Edinger, but it's also presented in a highly accessible, entertaining way."Myths are not simply tales of happenings in the remote past but eternal dramas that are living themselves out repeatedly in our our own personal lives and in what we see all around us," Edinger says.In brief chapters, Edinger reviews the major players in the Greek pantheon from the perspective of depth psychology. He provides fascinating commentary on the Greek cosmogony, the Epics of Homer, tragic drama, and the mystery religions of Orphism and Eleusis. Maybe my favorite chapter was the one on Greek heroes, which offers fascinating interpretations of the stories of Hercules, Jason, Theseus, and Perseus.Sometimes Edinger's analysis feels like a stretch, but more often it's right on target and provides stunning revelations into the workings of the human mind and the ongoing evolution of human consciousness.

There’s always a psychological motive and reason for anything humans write. Thus book helps to understand what’s going on.

This book is an excellent overview of the "inner meaning," thus the psychological value of the unconscious images that are represented in Greek Mythology. If the reader is not interested in that, I would not buy it. The material here is for learning more about the language of the psyche. The book covers all of the major figures of Greek Mythology that are most relevant to understanding the inner meaning of various symbolic forms as they might appear in dreams or other spontaneuous productions from the unconscious. Other reviews of mythology such as Bulfinch's or Edith Hamilton cover the basic "facts" or objective features of mythology, while this book again is focused on relating the figures of Greek Mythology as part of the living heritage of the psyche, the collective unconscious. In this respect, the book is most valuable.

I haven't finished it yet but am realy enjoying reading it. I think it is very understandable. It was just what I was looking for. I have read about forty books by or about Jung during COVID lock down but feel that it was not necessary for understanding this book.

I read dozen psychoanalytical books from various authors. If I could recommend only one, this would be the one

A good read and, considering the subject matter (a Jungian approach to myth), a fast one. Even with the many myths I was not familiar with, it quickly introduced me and kept me interested. You don't have to be deeply in to Jung or in analysis to enjoy the book, though I think some familiarity with either or both those things would help deepen the read. It clarifies a lot of otherwise opaque Jungian ideas.

I read this in college, many many years ago. I couldn't find that copy for the life of me, and after several moves, I knew it was gone. I stumbled upon this while searching for other like books, and had to buy again! I majored in Psychology, and I have a love of Mythology. This joins my two favorite subjects. A must read.

I found this book to be very interesting and insightful. It has helped me in my ability to unlock the metaphorical messages hidden within mythology. The ancient stories come alive again with deep relevance for our lives if we can learn to read them according to their connotation rather than their denotation.

Es una pena que no exista traducido al castellano. Si tienes pasión por la mitología griega, léelo. Si estudias ciencias sociales y psicología, léelo. La humanidad continúa repitiendo y versionando los antiguos relatos, por lo tanto este libro es contemporáneo.

Classic Greek and Roman literature has been generally praised in European (and Western) schools and highschools, and I clearly remember my old language teachers encourage me and my classmates to read them, instead of reading modern 'soap opera' novels, comics, japanese manga and watch tv... Well the problem is they didn't make any point on the clear reason why we should bother to read such 'archaic style' and old-fashioned stories, if they could indeed mean something to PC-generation 'cool' kids like ourselves.Now, this book really gave me much motivation to re-consider them under a different light and re-read them not merely scratching the surface. Stepping into classic studies doesn't look meaningless to me anymore, but it was neither easy without the propper help.Very good book. Consume and diggest slowly.

This book as both a psychological tool to help with personal self discovery or work with clients, as well as something that could be used in an academic settings to give a different perspective on familiar stories.

edinger was amaster of Jungian teaching. This is simply superb but you do need the background in the stories. This is his interpretation but he was clebrated for his insights.. great