Memory and Oblivion: An Archaeology of Tension

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to address the memory-oblivion tension in archaic thought as one of the dyads that shape the symbolic map of the real. The complementary tension between both concepts leads us to think of the counterpoint of opposites as the ultimate background of the real. We propose to think about the tension in a double horizon or in a double territory that marks the configuration of myth as a complex system of thought. We will begin then with the mythical plane in which the dyad in question clearly appears as one of the pillars of mythical architecture, starting from the dyad Mnemosyne-Lethe as religious powers. Secondly, we will address the human plane to consider the tension as an anthropological coordinate and see to what extent the actions of mortal men are deserving of memory or oblivion.