The Owl's Legacy: Mythology, or Lies Like Truth

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“Myths fuel history.” --Mario Ploratis

A small number of Greek myths—Oedipus, Antigone, the Gorgon who turns people who gaze on her to stone—have fed our understandings of ourselves and each other through literature, religion, philosophy, and psychoanalysis.

In this episode, George Steiner discusses the origins of myth in the psyche, and speculates on the directions European history could have taken if a more Hellenic view of the world had dominated over the more Judaic approach of the apostle Paul. Meanwhile, in Japan, Atsushiko Yoshida points to strong affinities between Japanese religion and ancient Greek myths, and draws parallels between Shinto sites and Delphi.

“We should raze the Sorbonne and put Chris Marker in its place.” —Henri Michaux

“The primary pleasure of the series, which is incredibly inspiring, is linked to this great banquet of participants, the sum of knowledge they invoke, but above all to the playful flows the editing establishes between their ideas, constructing a formidable network of meanings, historical and cultural perspectives - a veritable encyclopedia of development." —Le Monde

“Why did we have to wait so long for this electrifyingly intelligent film?” —Le Point

“Thirteen words to uncover an entire civilization and reestablish its considerable influence on our modern societies.” —Les Inrockuptibles

“With erudition, Chris Marker questions in each episode what remains Greek within us.” —Philosophie Magazine

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Main credits

Marker, Chris (film director)
Peck, Bob (narrator)

Other credits

Music, Eleni Karaindrou [and 7 others]; camerapersons, Andreas Sinanos [and 7 others]; editing team, Khadicha Bariha, Nedjma Scialom.

MARC Record See Worldcat record

Keywords

"The Owl's Legacy"; Icarus Films; France; Chris Marker; Ancient Greece; culture; ,doc,art; history; shod

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The word \"myth\" has
a noble connotation

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only when used in the past.

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In the present
tense, it\'s a synonym

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for lie, whence mythomania.

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There is thus a link
between these two.

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And the common ground,
once more, is language.

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[SPEAKING FRENCH]

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Well, I think that my whole
career in studying classics was

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changed by going to Greece and
by seeing how it is that people

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argue on the streets, how
they confront each other with

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a certain kind of controlled
agonistic spirit that\'s--

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Hysteria.

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That\'s-- it\'s on the
verge of hysteria,

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but it\'s also very controlled.

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It\'s a constant putting
forward of manliness--

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because it\'s always men to men
talking in the conversations

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that I saw--

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that I\'ve never
seen anywhere else.

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And I suddenly realized,
this is the format

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under which Plato\'s dialogues
were being conducted.

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[SPEAKING FRENCH]

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[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

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[SPEAKING FRENCH]

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[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

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[SPEAKING FRENCH]

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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In 1930, Jacques De
Lacratelle wrote,

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\"What is so astonishing
about the fact

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that there happened
to be clever men who

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used the natural setting
at Delphi and the prestige

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it lent them for their own ends?

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That an ambitious
brotherhood should

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have embanked on human credulity
and, with a mixture of piety

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and cunning, set up a great
religious enterprise there

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to take charge of
national affairs

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should come as no
surprise either.

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But don\'t think that
the Delphic pithier--

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that half mad woman who fasted
then chewed laurel leaves

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and cried out when she
was held over the vapors--

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provides a true picture
of ancient Greece.

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Delphi is no more representative
of Greek civilization

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than Rome is representative
of Christianity.\"

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And Lacratelle added
that the Greek people,

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with all their imaginative
power and poetic inclination,

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enjoyed being credulous.

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Credulity still rates
high in our cities.

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As for the sacred, that
isn\'t doing so well.

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[SPEAKING FRENCH]

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I can hear those who are
wondering just how and why we

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moved from gods to slaves.

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There is a link.

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Out of slavery will
rise the religion,

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which, in turn, shall put an end
to the reign of Olympian gods.

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Gods and heroes will seek
asylum in art collections

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like political refugees
in foreign embassies.

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And yet the struggle
won\'t stop there.

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And don\'t let\'s forget that
Christianity is a great system.

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Christianity, as we know,
in Christian theology

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was a Greek creation,
late Greek creation,

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to be sure when Greek
values had changed.

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But it is part of
the Greek experience

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that we carry with us also.

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So we can\'t really play off
Christianity against the Greeks

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unless we limit the Greeks
to a very particular period.

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[SPEAKING FRENCH]

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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Episode 13 of renowned filmmaker Chris Marker's mythical masterpiece about…

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The Owl's Legacy: Mythology, or Lies Like Truth

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