The Odyssey: A Jungian Journey Home
About this episode
The episode explores The Odyssey through a Jungian lens, focusing on themes of self-discovery and individuation in midlife.
The Odyssey (the subject of a new Christopher Nolan film released on the same day as this episode), is the ancient Greek epic attributed to Homer and one of the foundational works of Western literature. This week, Jungian analyst ROBERT SHEAVLY joins Lisa Marchiano and Deborah Stewart for a Jungian exploration of The Odyssey. For Jungians, the Odyssey models a process of returning to the Self, offering a psychological map for the second half of life and the path to individuation. It asks us to engage with the profound question, what does it mean to come home to ourselves? Odysseus, our wily trickster hero, encounters gods, enchantresses and shadowy monsters with a relatable mix of hubris and cunning. We can view these figures as aspects of psyche, with the story showing us how we might create a relationship with something larger. As we grow and mature into midlife, we move away from an ego-centered existence, and begin a new confrontation with the Self. By the journey’s end, we may wind up dressed in rags and shorn of our heroic trappings, but what remains is something deeper: a more authentic relationship to the soul, and a growing readiness for life's final adventure, our…
More episodes of This Jungian Life Podcast
- Prayer and the Psyche: A Jungian Exploration
- Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Individuation: A Jungian Reading of the Declaration of Independence
- The Descent: A Jungian Exploration of the Underworld
- The Absent Father: Jung and the Missing Masculine
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