Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Outsider Art, Jung and Menelaus
After watching another inspiring episode of "Imagine" I probed further and found a link between Jung and Menelaus.
Considered to be an "outside" artist, Jung drew many images after experiencing years of visions. During a sixteen year period from 1913, Jung experienced "creative illness" and induced his "active imagination". "Red Book" is the collection of texts and illustrations that were a product of this time. This period of Jung's life has been referred to as a time as "psychosis", Jung at this time developed his theories of archetypes, collective unconscious and individuation.
Barbara Hannah was Jung's biographer and personal friend and she described these experiences as comparable to the encounter that Menelaus has with Proteus.
As we know, in book 4 of the Odyssey, Menelaus recounts his journey home to Telemachus. After the battle of Troy, Menalaus nostos has been temporarily thwarted, he retells an event which took place on an island where he met Eidothee the beautiful daughter of Proteus, the Man of the Sea. Eidothee tells Menelaus that he must have offended the gods and only her father Proteus holds information vital to Menelaus' returning home. Menelaus must capture Proteus whilst he is in a slumber and hold on to him. In his struggle to be freed, Proteus changes forms from a lion, to a snake, to a panther, a boar, running water and a tree until he eventually succumbs to Menelaus grasp and tells Menelaus what he needs to know.
This episode has been described as a process of active imagination, like Menelaus, Jung grappled with a fantastical creature steadfastly until he was ready to let go, he clutched on until he found the answer he was looking for. The Odyssey is interwoven with elements of realism and fantasy and Homer is so adept at drawing attention to mythical creatures, putting them in the centre stage for a brief moment and then ushering them out before leading us through the journey that is the Odyssey. How wonderful that Jung's visions, his inspiration for his art is likened to this moment in the Odyssey.
Considered to be an "outside" artist, Jung drew many images after experiencing years of visions. During a sixteen year period from 1913, Jung experienced "creative illness" and induced his "active imagination". "Red Book" is the collection of texts and illustrations that were a product of this time. This period of Jung's life has been referred to as a time as "psychosis", Jung at this time developed his theories of archetypes, collective unconscious and individuation.
Barbara Hannah was Jung's biographer and personal friend and she described these experiences as comparable to the encounter that Menelaus has with Proteus.
As we know, in book 4 of the Odyssey, Menelaus recounts his journey home to Telemachus. After the battle of Troy, Menalaus nostos has been temporarily thwarted, he retells an event which took place on an island where he met Eidothee the beautiful daughter of Proteus, the Man of the Sea. Eidothee tells Menelaus that he must have offended the gods and only her father Proteus holds information vital to Menelaus' returning home. Menelaus must capture Proteus whilst he is in a slumber and hold on to him. In his struggle to be freed, Proteus changes forms from a lion, to a snake, to a panther, a boar, running water and a tree until he eventually succumbs to Menelaus grasp and tells Menelaus what he needs to know.
This episode has been described as a process of active imagination, like Menelaus, Jung grappled with a fantastical creature steadfastly until he was ready to let go, he clutched on until he found the answer he was looking for. The Odyssey is interwoven with elements of realism and fantasy and Homer is so adept at drawing attention to mythical creatures, putting them in the centre stage for a brief moment and then ushering them out before leading us through the journey that is the Odyssey. How wonderful that Jung's visions, his inspiration for his art is likened to this moment in the Odyssey.
Saturday, 19 October 2013
Kleos
Whilst watching a BBC drama called "Truckers" I was inclined to think of the first book of the Odyssey, also known as the the first book of the Telemachy....bear with me....
In brief, the outline was of the episode was about a son (Martin) taking over his dead fathers business, and as the episode unravels you learn about the skeletons in his fathers closet. This story line bears no resemblance to any story within the Odyssey, however the character portrayal and development did make me think about the character Telemachus. In essence, the son in the drama "Truckers", although out of University and a home owner was still uncertain of "who he was". All of his life he wanted to step in to his fathers shoes (Big Tone) and live up to his expectations, a typical story line where he dotes on his father and feels that he can never truly be like him. Unlike Telemachus, this son knew his father - or rather thought he knew his father but this episode was about re-alignment of who you think your are in relation to someone else. It is also about awakening. By the end, his father was not the man he thought he was and as a result of this, the son did not know who he was. So, why did this remind me of the first book of the Telemachy? We are first introduced to Telemachus as someone with similar angst, he desperately wants to be his fathers son and he is worried that he will never be able to live up to his fathers' standard. In the Telemachy, Telemachus does not know about his father, and in a similar way, the BBC drama presented a man who really didn't know about his own father either. For both characters, they will not know who they are until they know who their father is, in the Odyssey, this will happen much later on in the epic. The role of the gods in the Odyssey are crucial, in the Telemachy, Athene sends Telemachus out to Sparta and Pylos to find out about his father. In context, he must know about his fathers' kleos or his reputation as a hero. In a heroic society, the Bards sing of the glories of the heroes, whilst time is the booty (wealth, possessions, ransacked items) that is owed to a hero for his heroic deeds, it is the kleos and undying reputation that a hero seeks to have (it certainly was the case for Achilles). In the Odyssey, Telemachus is not a three dimensional character and is not polytrophic as Odysseus is, but nonetheless he is still destined to be a hero....until he can identify who he is in relation to Odysseus that is. In order for Telemachus to be the son of Odysseus he must first know who Odysseus is, once he knows this, he can fulfill his own heroic deeds and in turn, Telemachus will have his own kleos. Another great scene in this drama was when the son had to confront the truckers employed under his fathers' leadership, they even said it themselves that he is just not "Big Tone". As you watch intently, you wonder what will happen, will he burst into tears just as Telemachus did when he was accused of exactly the same thing by the suitors? As it turns, out, he stands up to them (and then bursts into tears in private). We learn in the Odyssey that Telemachus is only able to stand up to the suitors when Athene inspires him with confidence and when he has learnt about his father Odysseus' kleos.
In brief, the outline was of the episode was about a son (Martin) taking over his dead fathers business, and as the episode unravels you learn about the skeletons in his fathers closet. This story line bears no resemblance to any story within the Odyssey, however the character portrayal and development did make me think about the character Telemachus. In essence, the son in the drama "Truckers", although out of University and a home owner was still uncertain of "who he was". All of his life he wanted to step in to his fathers shoes (Big Tone) and live up to his expectations, a typical story line where he dotes on his father and feels that he can never truly be like him. Unlike Telemachus, this son knew his father - or rather thought he knew his father but this episode was about re-alignment of who you think your are in relation to someone else. It is also about awakening. By the end, his father was not the man he thought he was and as a result of this, the son did not know who he was. So, why did this remind me of the first book of the Telemachy? We are first introduced to Telemachus as someone with similar angst, he desperately wants to be his fathers son and he is worried that he will never be able to live up to his fathers' standard. In the Telemachy, Telemachus does not know about his father, and in a similar way, the BBC drama presented a man who really didn't know about his own father either. For both characters, they will not know who they are until they know who their father is, in the Odyssey, this will happen much later on in the epic. The role of the gods in the Odyssey are crucial, in the Telemachy, Athene sends Telemachus out to Sparta and Pylos to find out about his father. In context, he must know about his fathers' kleos or his reputation as a hero. In a heroic society, the Bards sing of the glories of the heroes, whilst time is the booty (wealth, possessions, ransacked items) that is owed to a hero for his heroic deeds, it is the kleos and undying reputation that a hero seeks to have (it certainly was the case for Achilles). In the Odyssey, Telemachus is not a three dimensional character and is not polytrophic as Odysseus is, but nonetheless he is still destined to be a hero....until he can identify who he is in relation to Odysseus that is. In order for Telemachus to be the son of Odysseus he must first know who Odysseus is, once he knows this, he can fulfill his own heroic deeds and in turn, Telemachus will have his own kleos. Another great scene in this drama was when the son had to confront the truckers employed under his fathers' leadership, they even said it themselves that he is just not "Big Tone". As you watch intently, you wonder what will happen, will he burst into tears just as Telemachus did when he was accused of exactly the same thing by the suitors? As it turns, out, he stands up to them (and then bursts into tears in private). We learn in the Odyssey that Telemachus is only able to stand up to the suitors when Athene inspires him with confidence and when he has learnt about his father Odysseus' kleos.
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