Hubert Dreyfus: Man, God, and Society in Western Literature – From Gods to God and Back

Reading List - The Odyssey ☑️ - The Oresteia ☑️ - The Aeneid - Gospel of John - The Divine Comedy - Pensées - Moby Dick This was a course taught by Hubert Dreyfus at UC Berkeley. My goal is to read each book in order and listen to the accompanying lecture afterwards.

I read The Odyssey and The Oresteia then listened to the two respective Dreyfus lectures on each. Dreyfus goes full Heidegger mode when it comes to The Odyssey highlighting how the gods (especially Athena) are "the attuning ones." He views the emphasis on shifting worlds and moods as one of, if not the, pinnacles of human understanding of being. The Oresteia was 500 years later and originated from Athens. In this play, Aeschylus integrates two opposing forces in the greek mythos and culture: The Furies and Olympian Gods. The furies are older, more primitive, instinctual, and of the earth. They are the forces of tribal retribution - an eye for an eye. The Olympians are protectors of the guest, upholders of customs, laws, and more sophisticated civilized culture. Aeschylus knows that you can never do away with the furies - they are of the earth and are fundamental. Instead he articulates the superiority of Athens by integrating the two - the base instincts with civilized law. The first propels the other and is bascially sublimated, very Nietzschean. These two works are very different in style / structure and represent two totally different worlds, different understandings of being. Both are probably superior to 99% of what has come after them.