[1] Christine Downing recounts the Ancient Greek view of the gods as archetypes that affect everyone.
[3] For Carl Gustav Jung, the primary function of myth is psychological — to shed light on the workings of the unconscious.
He also cautions readers to know these energies rather than force them into one’s shadow, lest one’s “…moods, nervous states, and delusions make it clear in the most painful way that [one] is not the only master in [one's] house…"[5] Thomas Moore says of James Hillman’s teaching that he “portrays the psyche as inherently multiple”.
[6] In Hillman’s archetypal/polytheistic view, the psyche or soul has many directions and sources of meaning—and this can feel like an ongoing state of conflict—a struggle with one’s daimons.
"[9] Hillman further asserts that he does not view the pantheon of gods as a 'master matrix' against which we should measure today and thereby decry modern loss of richness.