Eros, Psyche, & Scitovsky On The Meaning Of Life
Tibor Scitovsky was ahead of his time. More than a decade before behavioral economics was even a twinkle in a 9-year-old Dan Ariely’s eye, Scitovsky’s “The Joyless Economy” got right to the heart of the not-yet-extant discipline. But then, as usual, the ancient Greeks were ahead of behavioral economists by a couple thousand years. And when you consider the near universal concept of the hero’s journey in myths and stories, so was everyone else. Let’s dive into the hero’s journey, consider Eros, Psyche, and Hercules, and then see how Tibor can wrap it all up into some tidy, actionable wisdom.
The Hero’s Journey
Joseph Campbell dedicated his life to studying myths and folktales, searching for universal truths about the human condition. Throughout world cultures, one of the main themes, perhaps even the single primary theme, is a concept that Campbell calls “The Hero’s Journey.”
What is the hero’s journey? It is the path through life, not a seat on the sidelines. The hero commits to his or her journey and it is this commitment that makes life meaningful. The journey is a journey of personal transformation. Through struggle, the hero gains new awareness and experiences a maturing of desires. From a selfish desire for pleasure, or slightly more noble desire for success, the hero progresses to a greater desire, a desire to serve others. The hero leaves on his journey in love with himself or herself, but concludes it in love with everyone.
Hercules’ Hero’s Journey Begins In The Crib
Hercules was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman. That might seem like a pretty lucky birthright, but Zeus’s wife had other ideas. Angered by the infidelity, she sent snakes into baby Hercules’ crib to kill him. But as babies go, little Hercules was quite tough, and strangled the would be assassins. Disappointed, Hera bided her time and plotted revenge.
Hercules married and had a son. Hera bewitched him and drove him mad, causing him to kill them both, then released him from her spell. Hercules, appalled at what he had done, prayed to Apollo for guidance. Apollo directed him to go work for Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns and Mycenae. And Eurystheus turned out to be the worst boss ever, just the thing for a hero’s journey. The main myth of Hercules focuses on twelve impossible challenges posed by the king. Hercules completed them all. In the process, he became the strongest man in the world. Thus this Greek (and Roman) hero exhibited the concept that virtuous struggle leads to self-improvement.
Eros and Psyche
Psyche, the most beautiful of all the girls, might even have been the daughter of Venus, they say. But her sisters both married first and Psyche longed for a man. Her father, fearing they have been cursed, consults an oracle who predicts she will marry some kind of dragon. Distraught, he sends her off with Zephyr, the west wind, to her fate. For reasons we mortals cannot guess, she ends up with an invisible lover — the god Eros. Her sisters, believing her invisible husband is a monster, convince her to try to kill him and she ends up seeing him, looking like the most beautiful man imaginable, before he flees. For her violation of trust, she is condemned to wander by Venus.
She comes upon an abandoned temple of Ceres, and restores it and begins to perform rituals, becoming a sort of priestess. After a while, she begins to pray to Ceres to help her find her love, but Ceres explains she cannot work against another goddess’ will. Psyche begins to wander again, finds a temple of Juno, and achieves the same results. She then realizes that she must serve Venus, the very goddess that cursed her.
Much like Hera, Venus burdens Psyche with a series of incredibly difficult tasks. Sorting mountains of grain, battling vicious attack sheep (sure, easy for you to laugh now…) and fetching water from the river Styx. And after she completes those tasks, Venus sends her to the underworld for some kind of magic cosmetics. Psyche falters many times, but she is kind to others and makes friends who help her. Through service and connection to others, Psyche perseveres and succeeds. Venus forgives her and she is allowed to reunite with Eros. Apuleius tells the story and explains that to generate “Voluptas” — a deeper more meaningful form of pleasure, we must allow our desires to become more mature. Through struggle, we learn to have a deeper appreciation for the important things in life.
Back To The Recent Past: Scitovsky’s Pleasure And Comfort
Scitovsky pointed out a crucial difference. Pleasure and comfort are similar, but far from the same. Comfort comes from satisfying desires with a minimal amount of effort. Pleasure, as Scitovsky defines it at least, is more ambitious. Pleasure is achieved by an act of will, a degree of struggle, a stimulation and challenge of our physical and intellectual capabilities. Depersonalized, routine consumption can’t do that for you.
Schitovsky asserted that the modern Western economy is organized around the principle of providing comfort and eliminating struggle. The result? Pervasive boredom and dissatisfaction, a lack of purpose and no sense of fulfillment. Schitovsky pointed a notion out four decades ago that is increasingly en vogue today. Economist John Maynard Keynes also touched on this theme:
passively consuming goods and services, no matter the quantity and quality is not sufficient to provide a happy life.
Leave The Comfort Zone And Engage Life Actively
Our society is mired in a swamp of comfort. Perhaps passive, obedient consumption does bring the promised happiness and fulfillment at all, or perhaps it does so only fleetingly. On our treadmill of consumption and production, we can find an easy routine. This is no way for a hero to live. We must embrace the struggles we can find in life and engage actively to create a life that allows us to test our immense creative capacity and reach our true potential. As more and more people come to realize comfort is a poor substitute for fulfillment, the call to the hero’s journey will not go unheard.
Explore The Art of the Good Life With Rascal
Please join us as we continue on our conceptual journey to the heart of the art of the good life. You can follow our articles here on Medium if you have an account, or simply bookmark our Medium page or follow us on Facebook.
We’ll tell you about the most popular course in the history of Yale, Psychology and the Good LIfe, and how you can take it for free. Want to get inspired? We’ve got an article on defining your life project. For insight into the struggle between happiness and perfection, check out our article on satisficers vs maximizers and Bruce Lee’s theory of the top dog and the underdog. We will tell you how you can add years to your life in our article on the benefits of yoga and tell you about what meditation can do to make you more productive and less stressed. We also consider some more abstract topics, like non-being and its place at the root of luxury, or the conceptual art color the blackest black, Vantablack. If you are a gourmet, you might want to check out these fine dining restaurants in Bali that could be contenders for a Michelin star. Enjoy!
