The gods are fugitive guests of literature.
Roberto CalassoRead
Myth is never a single story. It is always a tree with many branches.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Myth encompasses multiple narratives and interpretations, much like a tree with various branches.
This quote highlights the complexity and richness of myth, suggesting that it cannot be reduced to a singular narrative. Instead, myths are like trees with numerous branches, representing the different stories, perspectives, and meanings that people derive from them, reflecting the diversity of human experience and understanding.
Themes
MythStoriesNarrativeBranchesInterpretation
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about cultural myths, this quote can illustrate how different societies interpret their legends.
More from Roberto Calasso
All quotes βWe establish a connection with the unknown through the act of giving something and, paradoxically, the act of destroying something. That is what is behind sacrifice. What you offer and what you destroy, it is that surplus which is life itself.
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Whatever else it might be, the divine is certainly the thing that imposes with maximum intensity the sensation of being alive.
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Stories never live alone; They are the branches of a family that we have to trace back, and forward.
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The monster does not need the hero. it is the hero who needs him for his very existence. When the hero confronts the monster, he has yet neither power nor knowledge, the monster is his secret father who will invest him with a power and knowledge that can belong to one man only, and that only the monster can give.
Roberto CalassoRead
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