Why refer to Ancient Greece?
What would be, however, the reason to refer back to the tools of the past and why to
ancient Greece in particular? Could looking back at the past be of any use whatsoever?
At this point, the answer is insightfully provided by the Jungian 8 psychotherapist James
Hillman:
“When the dominant vision that supports and holds together a certain cultural period
collapses, then consciousness regresses to previous support systems, searching for
survival resources that constitute at the same time resources of its renewal and
revival”.
He goes on explaining why we need to turn our attention to Greece:
“Returning to Greece is our psychological response to a threatening collapse … Our
culture has the tendency to look to Greece, when it refers to the glory of the past,
perfection, grace and spiritual clarity, as well as when it seeks its own “beginnings,”
since Greece is the cradle of our civilization.
Our goal is to turn to Greece, looking for psychological insight, to understand what this “Greece” has to offer that is so
attracted to the soul and what it is exactly that the soul finds in Greece.”
