Mythology, in ancient times, was in many ways the psychic glue that held cultures together. It gave them identity, and endowed their people with a sense of spiritual community. It's hard for any of us who're alive today to really envision what life under a functioning and life-giving mythology was like. The spiritual communion of the West has received some grievous blows, most notably during the Industrial Revolution and in the years since. But our psyches and souls instinctively need - and gravitate towards - the nourishing symbols and archetypes of myth. This is the reason why so many of the motifs of ancient rites find their echo in the rituals (particularly among the young) of the modern day. One prominent example is rock concerts.
The Greek playwrights believed that the greater the suffering depicted onstage within their tragedies, the greater the emotional catharsis their audience would experience. In the modern age, we've long pursued a love affair with tormented artists - gifted and doomed - amongst our painters, poets, writers and musicians. Onstage at a rock concert, the existential struggles of the performer are played out for all to see. And perhaps we unconsciously expect the self-destruction that so often occurs as a culmination. It is the fulfillment of the age-old fate of the tragic hero.
Modern music has revived many of the symbols and story arcs that lay at the heart of ancient rituals. This is especially true of Heavy Metal and its extreme subgenres. Here we often find lyrical content replete with magic, the supernatural, the demonic and the angelic. This can all be seen as an attempt the demarcate the bounds of our reality. How high can man rise - and how far can he fall?
The Greek playwrights believed that the greater the suffering depicted onstage within their tragedies, the greater the emotional catharsis their audience would experience. In the modern age, we've long pursued a love affair with tormented artists - gifted and doomed - amongst our painters, poets, writers and musicians. Onstage at a rock concert, the existential struggles of the performer are played out for all to see. And perhaps we unconsciously expect the self-destruction that so often occurs as a culmination. It is the fulfillment of the age-old fate of the tragic hero.
Modern music has revived many of the symbols and story arcs that lay at the heart of ancient rituals. This is especially true of Heavy Metal and its extreme subgenres. Here we often find lyrical content replete with magic, the supernatural, the demonic and the angelic. This can all be seen as an attempt the demarcate the bounds of our reality. How high can man rise - and how far can he fall?