Reply To: Ego, Irony, and the Goddess,” with Bradley Olson, Ph.D.”
Dennis, thank you for your kind words about my essay. Yes, the story of Narcissus and Echo is veritably dripping with irony. In fact, every word Echo speaks is ironic, cloaked as it is in that double vision I mentioned in the essay; words not hers but deeply felt by her as her own. I agree that irony helps us, frees us really, from a too serious sense of self and lets us take ourselves and the reality of our lives more lightly. Thanks for the book recommendations; it seems that whenever we have a conversation there’s always a book or two bought. Speaking of irony, Anne Carson’s Glass, Irony, and God is a brilliant and beautiful combination of Carson’s poetic genius and her incomparably smart essays. Thank you again for your comments, it was lovely to hear from you.