Mystical Caves Used Throughout
The use of caves in mythology to depict darkness and abandonment has
branded it as a symbol of chaos. From this perception other associations
are made which connect the cave to prejudices, malevolent spirits, burial
sites, sadness, resurrection and intimacy. It is a world to which only
few venture, and yet its mysticism has attracted the interest of
philosophers, religious figures and thinkers throughout history. These
myths are exemplified in Homer’s "Odyssey," where the two worlds of
mortals and immortals unite in the eternal cave.
To Plato, the cave represents the confusion between reality and
falsehood. Individuals chained deep within the recesses of the cave
mistake their ...
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enslavement is to receive assistance from immortals superior
to her.
The philosopher Francis Bacon also theorized about the myth attached to
caves in which he maintained that "idols," meaning prejudices and
preconceived notions possessed by an individual, were contained in a
person’s "cave," or obscure, compartment, with "‘intricate and winding
chambers’"1 . Beliefs that caves were inhabited by negative thoughts, or
spirits, were also held by the native-American culture, in which these
spirits influenced the outcome of all human strivings, and had to be
maintained inside caves. The souls of the dead were thought to be the
most malevolent of all spirits, and were held within the deepest parts of
the cave. In Greek mythology this also holds true, according the legend
in which Cronus was placed in a cave in the deepest part of the
underworld. This was done by Zeus and his siblings after waging war
against their father for swallowing them at birth for fear that they ...
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men. In order to escape
the wrath of the Cyclops, Odysseus eventually blinds him, an offense
which falls under the jurisdiction of Poseidon, and for which he
ultimately pays throughout his wanderings.
The uncontrollable winds next direct Odysseus through a narrow strait
outlined by rocks and cliffs through which he must pass to return home.
On these cliffs which stand opposite each other lurk Scylla and
Charybdis, one side "reach[ing] up into...heaven"3 and the other not
quite as high. Scylla, a creature with twelve feet and six necks, resides
in a cave upon this high cliff and devours sailors from fleeting ships.
Across the stream of water dwells Charybdis, a dreadful ...
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