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The Goddess Mnemosyne of Greek Mythology
Finding truths within Greek mythology
(1st edition - October 2007) by A.O. Kime
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Of all the personages of Greek mythology, the titaness Mnemosyne (Greek goddess
of memory) is perhaps the most deserving of further notoriety. Whether goddesses
like Mnemosyne exist as living-breathing entities, in spirit or merely
effectively (explained further below), she is one of the most influential as
demonstrated by her astoundingly powerful influence over creativity. This is
evidenced by the tens of thousands of Promethean (daringly original or creative)
writers, artists and musicians throughout the world otherwise unexplained. Credited as
being the mother of the muse, Mnemosyne set in motion through
the workings of her daughters the eternal guiding light over one’s choice of words
and thus logic itself… propelling mortal humans upwards, in effect, to the stratosphere
of gods.
While neither the scientific community nor organized religions have ever
accepted Greek mythology as having an ounce of truth, nonetheless it explains
best man’s wondrous abilities such as creativity and his capacity to remember.
In this, Greek mythology claims Mnemosyne was responsible but importantly,
underlying this contention and those within other tales, largely allegorical,
Greek mythology reveals much more than commonly thought.
While at some point in history the term ‘myth’ became associated with “an
unfounded or false notion”, assuredly due to the efforts of the Catholic Church
who earlier campaigned to discredit Greek mythology, the primary and original
definition is “a traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves
to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or
natural phenomenon”.
Until the Sumerians developed the art of writing in 3,000 B.C., the only method
available for passing along ancient wisdom was orally. While there is always the
possibility something could be lost or exaggerated in the re-telling, although a
written account is not immune from inaccuracies either, Greek mythology
provides a general idea the thinking in ancient times going back to
the Stone Age. Consisting of unfettered
imaginations and spiritual persuasions, a type of mentality capable of profound
brilliance, it provides insights into our otherwise mysterious being.
The associations of Mnemosyne
While it may be mythological conjecture that Mnemosyne is the daughter of Uranus
(sky) and Gaia (mother earth), or that her daughters were fathered by Zeus,
overriding any uncertainty is that her existence is as real as any other
effective reality. In other words, all realities are based on perceptions but more-so
fragile are the human perceptions of phenomena
which, despite their unknown properties, are real nonetheless.... hence
'effectively real'.
As for
the goddess Mnemosyne, she represents those mysteries associated with memory and
inspiration otherwise unexplained (or explained incorrectly) and therefore (at
the very least) effectively exists as much as any phenomenon effectively exists.
After all, just like the terms ‘god’ and ‘guardian angels’,
all mysteries have (or need) a label to represent them which would include the
unexplained (but nonetheless apparent) influences. Labels are also needed to represent
the missing pieces.
While a word (nomenclature) for a phenomenon could be considered representative,
without committing itself to any particular cause, but this neglect would be
like uttering an incomplete sentence. On the other hand, it is not the job of
lexicographers to cite reasons... rightly saying, in effect, "you figure it
out". Yet, curiously, society seems content with matters left hanging... even
those begging for a reason. Of course, it's been the norm for ages.
To be clear the meaning of 'inspiration' (in this sense), it is "a divine
influence or action on a person believed to qualify him to receive and
communicate sacred revelation" and "the action or power of moving the
intellect or emotions".
Similarly, before it was scientifically identified, even oxygen had some type of
representation in the minds of the ancients… fascinated with the magical qualities
of breathing. Whether from a spiritual perspective or analyzed on the plane of
mechanical explanations, they at least knew air was where the mysterious element
resided which was imperative to life.
While everything identifiable is destined to be given a name, which would
include phenomena not yet understood, the difference with Greek mythology is
that by claiming an entity such as Mnemosyne is responsible for memory, or that
she is responsible for inspiration (creativity), it adds ‘cause’ to the ‘representation’.
While it would be presumptuous to designate a cause without proof, likewise
presumptuous would be the notion that life is god-given… a common religious
contention. However, similarly presumptuous is the scientific community in
denying the spirit world through their endless
mechanical explanations. Their contention as to the role of
the subconscious mind is just one example… it
being much more than scientifically acknowledged. Omissions, after all, would be
equally presumptuous.
The omission in this case is that mechanical explanations overlook ‘purpose’…
ignoring the deeper questions as to why life and its functions exist. In other
words, it would be presumptuous to believe there is no purpose. Purpose, of
course, is indicative of a divine presence and the prime reason science ignores it.
Degrees of presumptiveness and metaphysical differences
While there will always be a degree of presumptiveness within one’s explanation
of phenomena even if it’s in the ballpark… invariably due to the commonplace and
understandable misinterpretations of the spirit world… there will always be
someone’s accounting which is closest to the truth. Of course, mortals wouldn’t
know which it might be unless they've been spiritually enlightened through
the Divine Intellect (divine intelligence).
Until then, one can only guess which contentions of
religions and mythology are the most insightful. Science, on the other hand,
while still mired in the pit of denial has no insightfulness whatsoever.
Greek mythology and religions are most notably different from science
however because they are largely allegorical and daringly specific by citing the
names of metaphysical entities and the events which allegedly unfolded… although
the characters and events within their stories are completely different from each
other. For example, Zeus, Apollo and the goddess Mnemosyne have no place whatsoever
within the tales of conventional religions. Yet, they’re still in the same ballpark.
To be clear the meaning of 'allegory', it is "the expression by means of
symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths and generalizations about human
existence" and the derivative 'allegorical' means "having hidden
spiritual meaning that transcends the literal sense of a sacred text".
Despite these differences, there are benefits from having representations based
upon a believed cause even if the belief is wrong because it demonstrates
disagreement with any established premise. It keeps matters openly
argumentative as no institution should have jurisdiction. Jurisdictions, after
all, are the executioners of progress. Without the accountings of religions and
mythology, explanations would go begging as is the case with scientific
(mechanical) explanations. In order to grasp the role of a particular
phenomenon, it needs to be symbolically represented in some fashion which
science won’t do… due to the methodical nature of scientific inquiry. As a
result, the missing pieces (gaps) within scientific knowledge are huge.
Yet, some phenomena aren’t represented by religions whereas they are within
Greek mythology… inspiration (creativity) for example. Only Greek mythology recognizes
it as a phenomenon and the reason it is represented by the muse of Greek mythology… more
specifically as the doings of the muse (the cause). Actually, the sciences and
religions have failed to distinguish as sovereign almost every aspect of
humanity. If not for Greek mythology, love, jealousy and our warring nature
would also go begging for a reason. Psychologists and psychiatrists typically
offer only their mechanical explanations while religions have only two buckets to
put it in… that of good and evil (although true in the broader sense).
While there is little or no evidence concerning metaphysics lying about within
any camp, whether scientific, religious or mythology, at least people know when
something rings true… and science, we know, has never rang true when it comes
metaphysics. After all, from the scientific point-of-view, even God is mythical
(in the sense of being 'an unfounded or false notion’… the latter-day definition
of myth).
Religions, on the other hand, seem only partially right as most religions became
ad hoc religions over time... existing now on foundations only partially of
truths. It was also for institutional gain that they discredited
polytheism only to adopt the same practices. As
institutions now... they've shot themselves in the foot.
The lure of Greek mythology
Conversely, there is something especially heartfelt about Greek mythology…
indicating it is more than a collection of 'fairytales'.
Importantly, it provides a service to mankind by pointing out his godly
abilities otherwise ignored as such. Only the matter as to how these godly
abilities were obtained should be subject to question. In other words, we can’t
discount the biblical accounting as it too contains truths.
Without question, biblical accounts and especially Greek mythology have provided
mankind a much better picture than science even though those pictures may not be
accurate in precise terms. While their versions vary greatly, this is to be
expected in the hazy ballpark of spiritual realities. Versions and allegories will
always be the case. Nonetheless, something similar to the biblical tales or those
within Greek mythology occurred.
Depictions of the spirit world will always raise doubts however due to its
mystical nature and because languages (semantics) are
incapable of accurately describing anything metaphysical in ways humans can relate.
It is an extralinguistic subject. Symbolism is all there is to work with in trying to
clarify an otherwise very vague picture… and it is this vagueness which conjures
up the idea of ‘mystical’. Only mechanical explanations can escape this
ominous-sounding tag... except it demonstrates an unwillingness to venture into
this territory.
Largely due to the mystical qualities of the spirit world, Greek mythology may
often seem a collection of outrageous (unbelievable) contentions… but equally
outrageous would be religious contentions and even the fact oxygen freely exists
in our atmosphere which humans breathe to exist. If we didn’t already know the
wonders of life and those of the human body first-hand, the list of the unbelievable
would be nearly endless.
Also, whether there were instances in which mortals (human beings) interacted
with the immortal gods and titans such as Mnemosyne as depicted in Greek
mythology… well, interactions are a matter of degree. For example, as we have
begun to appreciate in modern times, we need not be standing next to someone in
order to be in contact. Spiritual contacts in one form or another do exist but
continue to go unrecognized scientifically… as did the possibility of radio and
television 200 years ago.
Mnemosyne during the Stone Age
However, far more advanced than the mechanical devices of the modern age, extra
sensory perception (ESP) was surely recognized as far back as the Stone Age.
This was due to the prevalence of the spiritual (and thus empirical) mindset… being
more capable to recognize the origins of metaphysical wonders upon which Greek
mythology was founded. In some spiritual sense, albeit indefinable, the ancients
were obviously cognizant of the gods and goddesses such as Zeus and Mnemosyne but
of equal importance… they profoundly deduced that earth was actually alive.
While gods and goddesses may seem a bizarre concept,
being out in left field, a living earth is something humans can more easily
relate to. This complex perpetual motion machine of harmoniously juggled wonders
capable of creating and sustaining life is called Gaia.
Establishing that earth is actually alive would serve as proof the veracity of
Greek mythology… an easier task for mortals than finding proof the existence of
gods and goddesses. Since the inanimateness of its individual elements isn't
proof the earth is not alive (as a whole), the magnificence resulting from all
that which earth consists is indicative
of a life form. After all, the human body consists of elements as well...
individually adjudged inert. It seems certain the scope and complexity of earth,
its magnificence, cannot be maintained by anything less than a life form… albeit
a higher life form. For that matter, in that beauty and divine are synonymous,
anything magnificent may be 'alive'. At any rate, to the extent we can
conceptualize one… earth is effectively a god. While it is not the supreme god,
as our role-playing sun can testify to, its godly life-giving
attributes suggests nothing less… assuming, of course, that anything
having greater powers than man would be a god.
While in agreement with the biblical account that God created earth, that
doesn't necessarily mean this multifaceted perpetual motion machine isn't alive. This
wasn't touched upon in the bible however... perhaps because the fact wasn't conveyed,
it wasn't deciphered or purposefully omitted by the unknown author of Genesis as
being beyond human understanding.
Insightfulness of Greek mythology
In that most people consider God Almighty as fact, being necessary to explain
the wonders of creation, but despite being unknowable in linguistic terms… God
symbolically represents the cause (and master) of all creation. With this in
mind, it shouldn’t seem odd that ‘creativity’ should also be symbolically
represented in some fashion. Far ahead in the realm of spiritual insightfulness…
the progenitors of Greek mythology not only saw there was a driving force behind
creativeness (inspiration) which science has yet to recognize, or even religions,
but ventured onward to identify the cause.
However, while the authors identified the cause as being the goddess Mnemosyne,
it is uncertain whether it was based upon actual knowledge or extrapolated from
just partial knowledge. In other words, since obviously creativeness and memory
would be subcategories of the greater scheme residing at some level of
architectural importance, an ‘organizational chart’ may have been developed
which would account for mythology's lesser gods being in charge. Of course, their
accuracy would depend on how close they got to the subject. If not standing in the
doorway, much of Greek mythology says at least they were on the doorsteps.
So… either through envisioning the schema of spiritual realities the authors
extrapolated the existence of spiritual entities such as (lesser) gods and
goddesses and then named them… or, they were privy to some degree as to the
actual names, roles and events. Still, due to the fogginess of spiritual
realities they likely got some of it wrong. Also shrouding the simpler truths
would be the later additions designed to 'spice up' the stories. For example,
Zeus may not have 'chained and tortured' the titan Prometheus for 'stealing'
fire from heaven and giving it to man. It might even be largely contrived. Yet,
there's something godly about fire (electricity) as if it wasn't originally
intended for mankind. After all, electricity has empowered maleficence.
Dashing doubts of the goddess Mnemosyne
As to any doubts the goddess Mnemosyne was responsible, literally or in terms of
equivalency, consider the insightfulness of Greek mythology which is evident in its
recognition of the individual godly traits within humans. Any godly traits whatsoever
would indicate some connection to God and/or lesser gods which would
automatically create the possibility the progenitors of Greek mythology were privy
to knowledge of metaphysical events. Through this 'tie that binds', their acquired
knowledge would have been responsible for the various and original tales within
Greek mythology. However, in order to separate the wheat from the chaff, the
later additions designed to make Greek mythology more endearing should be set
aside. The common themes within the variations would be the best indicator of
truths while anything overly specific should cast doubts. As is the case with
religious institutions, not even mythology is immune from the temptation to tinker
with the facts.
While Homer and Hesiod may have 'created' Greek mythology sometime during 700-800 B.C.,
the possibility is stronger their writings were based largely on earlier tales,
hymns and poetry... the vestiges of ancient wisdom which preceded them. Since
fact is often stranger than fiction, this might explain why the
astonishing works of Homer and Hesiod are considered creative genius. Poetry
would have been a readily available source... believed very popular in ancient
times and first to make use of the written word. Recapturing the magic of this
metaphysical poetry was the 17th century.
As said, while Greek mythology may often seem more outrageous than the
contentions of science and religions, it's largely because we’re less familiar.
Yet, all previously unknown wonders existed in ways totally
unexpected and therefore outrageous explanations should not be pre-judged on merit.
After all, since straight-line thinking (logic) would be incapable of
imagining any of our current senses (if otherwise unknown), not even over
the course of 10,000 years… it would be nearly as difficult for logic to
rationalize a goddess such a Mnemosyne whether as a living-breathing entity residing in
some unknown place or existing in spirit form.
However, even though there is no proof Mnemosyne is a living-breathing entity or
spirit, it is typical for the spiritual-minded to conclude that a representative
of a spiritual phenomenon must be a 'person' and not something inanimate...
hence 'God', 'guardian angels', 'Mnemosyne' and so forth.
Contrarily, of course, science believes the magnificence of earth and body were
created inanimately while at the same time crediting people for great
inventions.
Depending on the schema of spiritual realities one subscribes to, the only variable is
'who'. Whoever these spiritual entities are however, or whichever is believed the most
likely candidate, they're as effectively real as the phenomenon the represent...
as effectively real as a paperboy we've never seen.
Gaia... the inanimate god
Scientific logic can’t say Gaia doesn’t exist either… that there isn’t an actual
‘Mother Earth’. The same thing applies to our sun... also being
heartfelt that the scientific explanation is merely mechanical. It is especially
suspect since science doesn’t know yet what life entails… meaning life forms
could exist in a variety of ways beyond current understanding. Soil, for
example, can either be dead or alive depending upon the presence of other
factors even though, scientifically, those factors are either inanimate or have
inanimate origins.
It is an oxymoron that the mystery of life is an accepted reality to science
being at odds with the methodical process of scientific inquiry. Of
course, life is ‘living proof’ whereas other metaphysical mysteries aren’t so
obvious which would include goddesses such as Mnemosyne. Still, this single act
of acceptance (life) spotlights the true and limited role of scientific inquiry. It is
merely a tool.
A.O. Kime
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