Greek Myths for a Post-Truth World

Book excerpt: Yiannis Gabriel examines what ancient Greek myths can teach us about the troubles and challenges of our 'post-truth' times: environmental degradation, mass migration, war, inequality, exclusion, authoritarianism and perplexing technological possibilities. It shows how Greek myths continue to stir our emotions and shape our experiences, while also assuming new meanings in contemporary culture that suggest a diversity of possible answers to questions that preoccupy us today. In addition to acting as fountains of meaning when meaning is precarious and fragmented, Greek myths have a therapeutic power connecting us to the predicaments that humans have faced across the ages. Across centuries and millennia, Cassandra makes her unheeded prophecies and Pandora unleashes fresh troubles from her box. Yet, each age discovers new meaning and value in old stories, and different myths come into prominence as they address the aspirations and anxieties of each. Using ten ancient myths as his points of departure, Yiannis Gabriel invites readers to think and experience the world we inhabit mythologically – to engage with emotions and symbolism that lurk deeply inside old texts and to consider different courses of action, both individual and collective. In addition to providing intellectual stimulation, the book shows that Greek myths can be a source of practical wisdom and re-assurance that we so badly need in our times.