In her translation of ‘The Odyssey,’ Emily Wilson aimed for ‘a crystalline clarity’

The Hero With a Thousand Faces explores the common themes and story elements that define the world’s mythologies—the hero’s journey. Through the cycle of initiation, separation, and return, the hero undergoes great trials and tribulations, experiences death and rebirth, and gains new powers that enable mankind’s ultimate redemption.

Far from being obsolete relics from long-extinguished civilizations, the myths of the ancients have profound lessons for today’s reader. By studying the struggles, transformations, and redemptions of the great heroes, we come closer to discovering the universal truths of the human condition and unlocking the divine potential that lies inside us all.

In the age of science, we’ve turned our backs on the myths our ancestors believed in. However, could it be that in giving up those stories, we’ve lost a crucial part of the human experience? In Maps of Meaning, Jordan Peterson argues that mythology provides a psychological tool that helps us create meaning in a chaotic world. Beneath their fanciful trappings, creation stories and heroic quests give us the moral foundations of society and the tools for adapting to life’s challenges. Perhaps even more importantly, myths teach us to recognize our individual capacity for good and evil.

In this guide, we’ll examine Peterson’s arguments on how myth affects the mind, mythology’s fundamental archetypes and stories, and how to apply the lessons of myth to live a more well-rounded life. We’ll also look at alternative interpretations of mythological stories, what science says about the intersection of myth and cognitive development, as well as how the symbols of myth have taken new form in the stories of today.

Fun Home is a graphic memoir by cartoonist Alison Bechdel. It follows Alison through the early years of her life as she navigates her relationship with her closeted father, discovers her own sexuality, and grapples with her father’s supposed suicide. Told in a non-linear fashion, the book touches on the themes of gender identity, sexual orientation, dysfunctional households, suicide, and literature as a way of connecting to life.

A New York Times best-seller, Fun Home has been acclaimed for its discussion about the topic of intergenerational homosexuality and its innovative approach to the genres of both comics and memoirs.

What is love? How does love connect to philosophy? How can it lead to human happiness? The ancient Greek philosopher Plato addresses these questions and more in his Symposium, a work which claims that passionate desire, rather than cold and detached analysis, drives philosophy. In our guide, we’ll explore discussions of homoeroticism in ancient Athens, how love informs philosophy, and what it means to love beauty itself.

Through our commentary, we’ll explain not just what Plato says, but also how and why he says it. We’ll interpret the various arguments of the Symposium, offer cultural and historical context, and place the work within Plato’s larger canon. For the more ambiguous and poetic parts of the text, we’ll also show different scholarly interpretations of Plato’s arguments and how they’re informed by characters and setting.

According to psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist, pop psychology has given us a wrong—and dangerous—impression of the brain’s two hemispheres. In The Master and His Emissary, McGilchrist rebuts the popular misconception that the brain’s left hemisphere is dominant because it’s responsible for logical thinking and problem-solving, while the right hemisphere is used only for creative endeavors. Against this myth, McGilchrist argues that the right hemisphere is more important than the left hemisphere, and failure to recognize this fact threatens to rob our lives of meaning and happiness.

In this guide, we’ll examine the differences between the brain’s hemispheres, the reasons McGilchrist thinks the right hemisphere belongs in control, and the historical eras that he says illustrate power imbalances between the hemispheres. We’ll also examine McGilchrist’s predictions about a world dominated by the left hemisphere and his reasons for thinking this world would diminish our happiness. Throughout the guide, we’ll consider counterarguments from other experts in fields like history, philosophy, and literary criticism, and we’ll discuss updates since the book’s publication.

The Hero With a Thousand Faces explores the common themes and story elements that define the world’s mythologies—the hero’s journey. Through the cycle of initiation, separation, and return, the hero undergoes great trials and tribulations, experiences death and rebirth, and gains new powers that enable mankind’s ultimate redemption.

Far from being obsolete relics from long-extinguished civilizations, the myths of the ancients have profound lessons for today’s reader. By studying the struggles, transformations, and redemptions of the great heroes, we come closer to discovering the universal truths of the human condition and unlocking the divine potential that lies inside us all.

In the age of science, we’ve turned our backs on the myths our ancestors believed in. However, could it be that in giving up those stories, we’ve lost a crucial part of the human experience? In Maps of Meaning, Jordan Peterson argues that mythology provides a psychological tool that helps us create meaning in a chaotic world. Beneath their fanciful trappings, creation stories and heroic quests give us the moral foundations of society and the tools for adapting to life’s challenges. Perhaps even more importantly, myths teach us to recognize our individual capacity for good and evil.

In this guide, we’ll examine Peterson’s arguments on how myth affects the mind, mythology’s fundamental archetypes and stories, and how to apply the lessons of myth to live a more well-rounded life. We’ll also look at alternative interpretations of mythological stories, what science says about the intersection of myth and cognitive development, as well as how the symbols of myth have taken new form in the stories of today.