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Threads. Fate, Faith and Fiction: How the Mythology of Immortality Relates to the Psychological Impact of Death / SUSAN WRIGHT
Swansea University Author: SUSAN WRIGHT
DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.67885
Abstract
Despite cultural differences, beliefs concerning the possibility of life after death are widespread, as is the concept of fate as an external force. However, the inevitability of death does not produce agreement about its significance. When considered through the lenses of religion, mythology, philos...
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Swansea, Wales, UK
2024
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| Institution: | Swansea University |
| Degree level: | Doctoral |
| Degree name: | Ph.D |
| Supervisor: | Bilton, Alan, J. ; Rhydderch, Francesca, J. |
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67885 |
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| Abstract: |
Despite cultural differences, beliefs concerning the possibility of life after death are widespread, as is the concept of fate as an external force. However, the inevitability of death does not produce agreement about its significance. When considered through the lenses of religion, mythology, philosophy, psychology, science and fiction, theories concerning the ending of life are as contradictory as they are diverse. This project examines the effects of death on the living through the psychology of loss and bereavement, neuroscientific discoveries of brain function, religious and philosophical approaches to immortality as well as the evolution and role of myth in making sense of existence. By placing Greek mythology alongside twenty first century life, the novel aligns myth with lived experience, demonstrating that humanity’s inevitable fate evokes the coexistence of the mystical and supernatural with the reality of grief. This submission consists of two parts. The creative component is a novel, in which the Greek Goddess of fate ends one life and then fails to end another. In the subsequent narrative, both she, and those affected by her actions must find their way through complex emotions and beliefs related to the prospect of death and its aftermath in order to come to terms with their new reality. This is then followed by a critical exegesis exploring the themes outlined above. |
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| Keywords: |
Mythology, Immortality, Psychology, Death, Grief, Faith, Fate |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |