According to Carl Jung, mythology has been the perfect model on how people react and behave when faced in uncertain situations. It reflects clearly what kind of people we are and every story in Greek mythology harbors truth and justification albeit hidden in words. Dreams, on the other hand, are our gateways to the collective unconscious part of our minds since dreaming knows no boundaries and possibilities are limitless. In dreams, the collective unconscious can be heard without being judged unlike when in reality.

Collective unconscious is a general term and it has its own ranges. It can be passive repository in which the mind chronicles the events that had taken place during the entire history of man or it can be an active one which makes reality emerge. Also, collective unconscious is believed to be culture-influenced which affects all its members and can vary from one culture to another.

.

In Greek mythology, demons are used and applied referring to a God or Goddess but generally, it was referred to as a force or spirit that comes between gods and human. Overtime, it gathered negative connotations and therefore settled to becoming associated with devils and the likes. Both demons and devils are considered as evil spirits and fallen angels of God and they are usually mistaken for one another although they are quite different in meaning and definition.

In Christianity where demons are fixed characters as well as key role players, demons are not just malevolent spirits but they are sent from hell to enforce evil missions and convert human beings from believing God to non-believers. They are deceptive beings and they can switch into undetectable forms, often creating scenarios that will compel a human being to doing evil things.

It was said that demons have their own limitations therefore they are not invincible. They can be defeated with faith and according to the Christian bible, demons like Satan himself cannot read a person’s mind but they have mastered the predictability of the human nature which they use to play games with humans. Apparently, they are free to roam the world and they are not confined to four corners of hell.

According to Carl Jung, demons belong to the Jungian archetype the trickster which is an important archetype in the history of man.

.

His Roman equivalent is Pluto.  Cerberus, the three headed dog who guards the entrance to his domain and the Helm of Darkness-a helmet which renders the wearer invisible-are most often associated with Hades.  As ruler of the Underworld, Hades is most often depicted as grim and humorless.

In Greek Mythology, the dominion of Hades is dark and gloomy.  It is where the souls of the dead go.  The dead enter the Underworld through the River Acheron ferried by Charon.  Charon charges the dead souls an obolus or a small coin for passage.  Pious relatives of the dead place the coins on the mouth to ensure that the souls of their dearly departed can enter the realm of the dead.

Hades’ consort is Persephone.  Legends say that he abducted Persephone while she was picking flowers.  Demeter who missed her daughter terribly cast a curse on the land causing a great famine.  Some accounts say that Hades tricked Persephone into eating the pomegranate seeds while other say that they fell in love.  And so, every year Hades and Persephone go to the land of the living and while hey have to go back to the Underworld, autumn and winter (famine) occur as a symbol of Demeter’s grief.

.

Styx is a very popular representation of the Underworld and the afterlife and is usually likened to Christianity’s Hell.  In Dante’s Divine Comedy, Charon plied the river Acheron while Phlegyas skimmed the Styx where it was known as the fifth circle of hell and where sullen and wrathful souls were drowned in a muddy pool of water as punishment for all eternity.

The River Styx is respected by all gods and swore binding oaths by it.  Gods who did not follow through lost their voices for a year and are banished from the council of gods for nine years.  The river is also said to possess powers which can make someone immortal or invulnerable.  Achilles was dipped into the water by his mother when he was an infant.  However she had to hold on to his heel which became his only weak spot.  Achilles’ heel became a symbolism for a weakness or a weak spot.

.

Aphrodite was said to be the most beautiful of all goddesses.  She is often depicted as young, beautiful and with a perfect body.  Because of her beauty, the gods feared that war would break out between them and so Zeus married her to the smith god Hephaestus.  Aphrodite however was unhappy in her marriage and cheated on her husband with Ares, the Greek god of war and Adonis, who viewed her as a surrogate mother and lover at the same time.

Aphrodite was instrumental in the tale of Cupid (Eros) and Psyche.  Aphrodite ordered her son Cupid to shoot an arrow into the chest of any man when Psyche, a very beautiful woman drew the attention of men.  Aphrodite was enraged with jealousy but sadly her plan back fired when the arrow hit Cupid’s chest instead and he fell in love with Psyche.  She was also an instrumental character to the cause of the Trojan War when she rewarded Paris of Sparta for choosing her as the most beautiful goddess over Hera and Athena.  The reward was Helen of Troy.

There are temples dedicated to Aphrodite in Kythira and Cyprus.  Her Roman equivalent is the goddess Venus.  The dove, swan, myrtle and sparrow are associated with her.

.

Sisyphus was the deceitful son of King Aeolus. The punishment started when he revealed great god Zeus’ secrets who, in return ordered Hades to claim Sisyphus personally. Being the trickster that he was, he fooled Hades into restraining himself with a handcuff he had brought with him from the kingdom of dead. Hades was locked up in Sisyphus’ closet for days. Days gone by and nobody died because the lord of underworld was still confined until Ares came for him and freed him up.

Now, it’s Persophone’s turn for Sisyphus deceits. The queen of the dead fell on Sisyphus’ trick and let him live again. When Zeus found out about Sisyphus treachery, he was once and for all, punished without conviction.

Today, Sisyphean is used to describe an activity with a never ending nature, something close to repetitive. It is also used for tasks that are meaningless and unrewarding.

.

The hero symbolizes in us the need for triumph and glory in the face of life’s challenges and difficulties.  Most often, these trials and difficulties are problems which seem insurmountable or too overwhelming.  This archetype inspires us to continue and to persist.

The hero archetypes in stories usually have a quest.  This quest, naturally, is fraught with challenges, enemies, threats and dangers to the hero’s life.  In folk or fairy tales, heroes on a quest have to pass a certain test and end by successfully passing and marrying the princess (or similar figure).  Variations like villains kidnapping the princess are common as well.

Most of us like the hero archetype because it is noble.  The hero archetype is most often identified as the protagonist, someone who is self-sacrificing or a good and brave person.

.

Oedipus was the son of King Larius and Queen Jocasta,  His parents consulted the  Oracle at Delphi before he was born.  After which, his parents gave him to a herdsman and instructed him to kill the baby.  The herdsman felt pity for the infant and gave him to another herdsman.   The second herdsman brought Oedipus to the king of Cornith, Polybus and his wife Merope.  The king and queen adopted Oedipus and raised him as their own son.  Many years later Oedipus was told by a drunk that he was adopted.  Polybus and Merope denied this and Oedipus instead went to an Oracle who told him that he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother.  Oedipus, thinking that the Oracle meant Polybus and Merope, decided to leave Corinth for Thebes.

Before reaching Thebes, he encountered a cross-road where he encountered King Larius.  A confrontation ensued ending in Oedipus killing Larius.  Continuing his journey, he encountered the Sphinx which asked him a riddle to answer in order to pass.  She asked: “What walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon and three at night?”. Oedipus answered: “Man; as an infant, he crawls on all fours, as an adult, he walks on two legs and, in old age, he relies on a walking stick”.  Oedipus was the first to answer her question correctly and as a consequence the Sphinx threw herself to her death.  As a reward, the Thebans proclaimed Oedipus as their king and gave him the recently widowed Jocasta for his wife.

Oedipus and Jocasta had four children, two sons and two daughters.  When a plague struck Thebes, he sent Jocasta’s brother, Creon to consult the Oracle.  Creon returned with the news that the plague would only end if the murderer of King Larius was found and killed or exiled.  Oedipus eventually found out that it was he who killed King Larius and Jocasta also found out that she had married her own son.  As a result, she hanged herself in the palace.  When Oedipus found her dead, he gouged his own eyes and lived in exile.  Their children took over the ruling of Thebes but often disagreed and ended up killing each other.

Sigmund Freud named the Oedipus complex after the Greek mythology.  It is an unconscious desire to possess the parent of the opposite sex and eliminate the parent of the same sex.  Individuals who suffer from this neurosis are either “father fixated” or “mother fixated” and reveal this by choosing partners who resemble their parents as surrogates.

.

According to the myth, Pandora was given a box, which is actually a jar, and was instructed by the Gods to never open it.  However, the gods also created Pandora to be curious and so she opened the jar and out came disease, sorrow and death to mankind.  When Pandora finally shut the box, only Elpis or Hope was left inside.

Pandora’s tale is similar to that of Eve’s.  Both were the first women on earth and both brought sickness and death to human kind.  In most greek mythology it is always noted that Pandora’s opening of the box was out of mere curiosity and not malice and so Pandora has become synonymous with curiosity.

.

According to Ovid, Narcissus was a vain youth who had many admirers.  When he turned 15 all the youths and young ladies were inlove with him, but he spurned them all.  Echo a nymph, followed Narcissus out while he was hunting for stags.  Narcissus knew that there was somebody following him but when he called out “who’s there”, Echo could only answer “who’s there” in return being too shy to talk to him.  This went on for a while until Echo finally ran to his arms.  Alas, Narcissus rejected Echo and she left him brokenhearted.  Echo spent the rest of her life pining for Narcissus.   Nemesis then punished Narcissus so when he drank from a deep pool Narcissus saw his reflection for the first time and fell in love with his own self.  Realizing that he could never act on this love, narcissus beat his body and died.  A flower grew on the spot where he died and was named after him.

Narcissism is a personality disorder related to self-centeredness.  People who are narcissistic tend to  need admiration and are almost always pre-occupied with personal adequacy, power and prestige.  They are also haughty and lack empathy.

.