Cloudy
Arianna Stassinopoulos
Zeus and Hera. Archetypal Image of Father, Husband and Wife C. Kerenyi (Routledge and Kegan Paul E7.75) It is impossible to analyse the stomach of a spider without being an entolomogist, the second law of thermodynamics without being a physicist, or the planets in the solar system without being an astronomer. That is, it is impossible to understand science without relying on logic, reason and fact, and suppressing guesswork, instinct and intuition. But the same suppression of the feeling of awe and the instinct for magic that makes a man egregiously clever in dealing with microbes, equations and solar systems, will make him egregiously stupid in dealing with myths. There are a few ideas more perverse and futile than the idea of a 'scientific mythology', and sadly this is the path chosen by Professor Kerenyi in dealing with Zeus and Hera and their relationship with the mortals that worshipped them. The result, inevitably and predictably, is that the book totally fails to understand the Olympic myths and to communicate their power. In a footnote towards the end of the book, in one short sentence, the author himself gives away the reason for the failure of the book when, in discussing the archaeologist Karl Lehmann, he assures us that 'he could not be accused of any sympathy with romantic mythology'—which is, I suppose, equivalent to assuring readers of an essay on Wordsworth's sonnets that the author cannot be accused of any sympathy with romantic poetry.
Before learned men are allowed to get anywhere near myths, folklore and old religions, they should be obliged to pass a test to establish their credentials. The best test was devised some time ago by G. K. Chesterton—'When the Professor is told by the Polynesian that once there was nothing except a great feathered serpent, unless he feels a thrill and a half temptation to wish it were true, he is no judge of such things at all.' Professor Kerenyi obviously feels no such thrill—so he gives us etymology instead. In the meantime, the gods have escaped back to Olympus and the clouds have hidden the mountain peaks from our sight.
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