Calliopi Dourou - Meaning of Life - "Become One": Excellence, Sharing, Renewal

Meaning of Life Symposium Playlist:
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Harvard philologist Calliopi Dourou gives a Pythian answer to the #MeaningOfLife question. Building on her own thesis that links up Ancient Greek Literature and Philosophy with Byzantine and Modern Greek perceptions, Dr. Dourou gives a beautiful laconic and mysterious answer to the question, which she then proceeds to interpret in three deep and beautiful ways.

Back in Ancient Greece, Apollo's priestess Pytheia in Delphi would give ambiguous answers to those seeking the God's wisdom, forcing them to confront their own fears and desires.

To the Meaning of Life question, Dr. Dourou answers "Become One", as a modern-day Pytheia. But she's much kinder, and proceeds to give three interpretations:

First, a homeric exhortation: "Always strive for Excellence", i.e. become #1 in whatever you choose to pursue, reach your full potential, thus maximizing your contributiong to the world and the whole of society.

Second, in Christian tradition, "allilo-peri-chorisis": become one with your loved ones, set space within you for someone else, take the leap of faith and go from the potential (kat'eikona/κατ'εικονα/in-the-image-of-God) to the fulfillment of the potential (kath'omiosis/καθ'ομοίωση/in-the-likeness-of-God). Turning Sartre's "Hell is other people" to the pious "Paradise is other people".

Third, as a mother of two young children, she gives a third meaning of "Become One-Year-Old again", i.e. view the world through the eyes of a child, unremittingly excited about everything. Read a poem, Read a book, be amazed about new perspectives that make the world new again (ksanakainourgionei/renewal)

Learn more about our modern-day Pytheia here: https://scholar.harvard.edu/calliopi/...