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3afe6b5
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Just as Prometheus delivered stolen fire to man, so Eve, and the serpent, delivered man into self-consciousness, setting him up, were it not for his short lifespan, as rival to God. At the same time, man's self-consciousness removed him from nature into a life of toil, doubt, fear, guilt, shame, blame, enmity, loneliness, and frailty--and the product of this separation, the fruit and flower of this exile, is, of course, culture. 'God,' said the writer Victor Hugo, 'made only water, but man made wine.
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religion
creation-myths
greek-mythology
culture
consciousness
wine
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Neel Burton |
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8a79063
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If the students were taught about shuttle flights, plate tectonics and submarine volcanoes, they were also immersed in the traditional myths of their culture--the ancient story, for example, of how the island of Pohnpei had been built under the direction of a mystical octopus, Lidakika. (I was fascinated by this, for it was the only cephalopod creation myth I had ever heard.
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pohnpei
creation-myths
mythology
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Oliver Sacks |