mythic fictionJeremiah 17:9-10
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? "I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."
Hebrews 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Psyche, in classical mythology is the
personification of the human soul. She married Cupid, the god of love, and was made immortal by Zeus. Here she is symbolic of Christ, as the perfect sacrifice, and as the Church who is married to Christ in a mystic
union. Venus (Roman) = Aphrodite (Greek), goddess of love; Cupid (Roman) = Eros (Greek) god of love. Ungit
= a deformed or paganized version of Aphrodite, or Venus (in this Christianized retelling of the myth); and The Shadowbrute
= a deformed or paganized version of Cupid (again, only in this Christianized retelling of the myth)
1. The Greeks had many words for love: philia
, which had mostly to do with friendly affection, or love among equals; eros, which was erotic, passionate, boundless love as a husband and wife would share; stergo, which is the love of a parent or child,
king or citizens, or any greater for lesser, or vice versa; and agapa, which in its noun form was only used after the birth of Christianity, and which refers to an unselfish, unconditional higher form of love.
The Greeks most often referred to eros instead of agapa
before Christianity when discussing godly love, thus partly an explanation for their pagan temple prostitutes. This is also a reason why Orual could not comprehend what Psyche was talking about in terms of her being married to a god. Discuss each of these types of love and how it is exemplified in both its negative and positive extremes in
Till We Have Faces.
2. Discuss the relationship between Orual and her father and how it plays into the overall theme of the story.
3. Discuss the conflict and final harmony between reason, represented by the
Greek, Fox, and feeling and imagination, (and lack of reason) represented in Bardia. How does the belief in God require both reason and imagination? How could one without the other be harmful?
4. Discuss how Lewis incorporated Christian symbols and concepts into Till We Have Faces.
5. What does this story say about anyone standing before God on Judgment Day and having as an excuse that God left no
sign of His existence? Orual had been given plenty of glimpses of god's existence, yet finally, when she could no longer deny that there was a god, her self-pity and pride and anger became her defenses against the
truth. Compare this to some of the characters in Lewis' The Great Divorce.
6. Two elements of the love between God and man is sacrifice and obedience. Explain how Lewis incorporates these expressions into the
Psyche myth.
7. Discuss the role of the high priest as seen in this story, versus Christ as High Priest (read Hebrews Chapter 5).
8. Explain what the god speaking to Orual meant when he said, "You also shall be Psyche" (p. 174 and p. 308).
9. Explain what Orual meant when she said that the gods do not speak to us openly; . . .
"why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?" (p. 294). Also, discuss the significance of Orual wearing a veil to cover her face throughout her
adult life (see II Cor. 3:18).
10. What was Orual's complaint against the gods (p. 248-250), and what was their response to her? Was there any part of yourself that you saw in Orual? It is a humbling thought to
realize that on the day of judgment we will be forced to see ourselves as God sees us. However, there is an encouraging final message in this story. What is it?
