Of Metaphor and Memory

Part I.

There are two notions that drive writing.

One is metaphor.

The other is memory.

Let us take the first.

My theory is, during the evolution of human thought, metaphor was the primary mechanism of understanding.

Early man could not puzzle out, for example, the mechanism by which the sun rose and set and so, in the Greek and Egyptian mythology, Zeus’ (or Ra’s) shining chariot of fire racing east to west each day, became the explanation.

When the physics or biology of an experience was not yet known, a story, often invoking a human super-being, was agreed upon.

With development of rational thinking in evolutionary time, there was a period in prehistory when both metaphorical AND rational thinking co-existed.

If you examine ancient texts, to the modern mind, the high density of metaphor seems irrational. In fact, it may actually be pre-rational.

There is something magnificent about such ancient metaphors as “armor of light” and “works of darkness”. Neither is a full explanation but each conveys a notion that libraries of textbooks could not capture.

I would propose the immediate rejection of seemingly irrational metaphors, is irrational.