Karen Armstrong: Consequences Of Death Of Myth In Modern Western Civilization

Karen Armstrong, in her book, A Short History of Myth,” (2005) says that because of the lack of mythos in popular literature "We are facing something unprecedented.  Other societies saw death as a transition to other modes of being.  They did not nurture simplistic and vulgar ideas of an afterlife, but devised rites and myths that helped people to face the unspeakable (Armstrong 134).  She discusses the displacement of myth in modern western civilizations and tells us that, "We try to enter this dimension by means of art, rock music, drugs or by entering the larger-than-life perspective of film.  We still seek heroes. . . .The myth of the hero was not intended to provide us with icons to admire, but was designed to tap into the vein of heroism within ourselves.  Myth must lead to imitation or participation, not passive contemplation.  We no longer know how to manage our mythical lives in a way that is spiritually challenging and transformative" (Armstrong 135).  Armstrong and Frye parallel in pointing out the lack of depth in popular media.  Armstrong is specific and direct when she states that "purely linear, logical and historical modes of thought have debarred many of us from therapies and devices that have enabled men and women to draw on the full resources of their humanity in order to live with the unacceptable" (134).  Our current culture, according to Armstrong, has regressed because of our suppression of myth which provides the mechanism for our understanding of enduring questions, what Zimmer refers to as "a solution of the riddle of life and death" (Zimmer 83).  We have not yet come to terms with our destiny,  and how and what that means, and our current linear thought processes, and the value we place on the scientific over the mythological, romantic, and natural world, leaves us without the tools we need to understand and transform ourselves on the dramatic stage of life.