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Wastelands of Labyrinths, Wastelands of the Modern Past and Present
The wasteland of myth is a place where people have been mislead, where they dwell in a terrible half-existence, living a lie. Perhaps the most familiar modern expressions of the word 'wasteland' are those of T.S. Eliot's poem about "The Wasteland" and the idea of a modern, suburban 'teenage wasteland.' When people speak about a teenage wasteland, they usually are referring to a group of disenchanted youths who have given up on their parent's values but cannot construct their own, new set of values. When people speak of the "Wasteland" poem of Eliot, written during the early half of the 20th century, they are referring to Eliot's vision of modern life as a series of broken visions of past phrases, verses, and schemas of believe that no longer have a coherent form or provide moral guidance for people living today.
Thus, the modern wasteland can take the form of the highly personal, such as the bored teen looking for salvation in the mall, or in a poetic vision of a world that is broken by war, and has...
Ironically, both of these ideas can be seen in the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. The mythologist Joseph Campbell saw this myth as the wasteland myth's most coherent, ancient vision. He also saw fairy tales such as "Sleeping Beauty," where all of the land is put under a spell because of a paralyzing slumber of the ruling powers to be a similar and perhaps more familiar wasteland tale.
In the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, the lying king Minos has led his island of Crete into a false form of civilization. Minos leads a land where children are sacrificed to prop up the old and decaying order of Minos. The youth of Athens are sacrificed to the bull-man of the labyrinth, until Theseus can set them free by slaying the beast. The youths do not believe in the goodness of Minos, but they are forced to do his bidding. They wait, and are finally rewarded for their belief, in a great leader like Theseus, who can set them free from their paralyzing fear and decay.
Campbell also sees the wasteland motif reflected in the behavior of…
Work Cited
Campbell, Joseph. Hero with a Thousand Faces. 1948.
"The Greek Myths: Theseus and the Minotaur & The Wasteland Motif." From The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Seventh edition. Volume 1. W.W. Norton & Co, 2001.
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