Search not the Book of Mormon for truly great allegory.

[SeattleUte]

In a sister thread I said that I would look to Greek philosophy before the Old Testament or the Book of Mormon for moral direction, and some posters mocked me, discussing some Greek myths in uninformed ways.

I did say philosophy, not mythology, but the myths are fabulous allegories, far surpassing anything else. For example, the story of Agamemnon and his beloved daughter Iphigenia, a prequel to the Iliad. All the 1,000 ships had assempbled and were ready to sail to Troy, but the god Artemis sent a contrary wind and the ships could not sail. (One of the Greeks killed a sacred deer or some such thing, angering the god.) A prophet told Agamemnon that he could eliminate the problematic winds only by sacrificing Iphigenia to the gods to atone for the homicide of the sacred animal. Torn, Agamemnon nevertheless deceived his beloved daugher into into coming to him, sending her a message saying that the great Achilles would marry her when she arrived. She came, and the clerics took hold of her and slew her on an alter. Suddenly the winds abated, permitting the trip to Troy, and the rest is history, as they say.

Agamenon returned as a conquering hero from Troy, bringing his mistress Cassandra, but his wife Clytemnestra was furious at him, not only over the mistress, but also because of Agamemnon's hand in the slaying of their daughter. Thus, Clytemnestra and her boyfriend slew Agamemnon and Cassandra as they relaxed in a soothing bath, a bloody spectacle. Much later, Agamemnon and Clytemnestra's son Orestes slew his mother, to avenge his father's murder.

There is so much meaning in this allegory I couldn't spot it all, I'm sure. Start with a father sacrificing children to his career. The evils of religious orthodoxy, or, the pain and injury of adultery. Violence begets violence, etc., it goes on and on.

Yes, this is a bloody, shocking story. But compare the allegory of Laban, where Nephi lops his head off without relfection, moral consequence, karma, whatever.