Mythology, the soul of Architecture

Over the course of this semester I have been receiving two doses of mythology every Tuesday and Thursday from my architecture and mythology courses. Although this chance alignment is strange, what is stranger is that the subject material for both classes has lined up not only topically but temporally as well. Closer to the beginning of the semester I was able to hear the tale of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth from Dr.Sexson, and then again from my architecture teacher not too long afterwards. This would not seem to be too out of place except that later on in the year the story of Oedipus was questioned by a classmate and then "clarified" by Dr.Sexson, and on that same day my architecture professor gave the same story although told slightly differently. These coinciding coincidental stories gave me both an all too real grasp of the sex lives of inter species erotica and incestually inclined ancient Greeks, as well as an understanding as to the value of stories in architecture. When one thinks of the most beautiful work of art or the most picturesque building, they begin to wonder about the story that made the creators of the beauty work so hard. When one walks through the ruins of the labyrinth that may once have contained the Minotaur, all kinds of questions begin to arise about which stories contributed to its construction. I was fortunate enough to be in an architecture class that discussed much of what we now know about the civilization of Crete and what remains of its stories. We know that Crete was a cultural center for much of Greece and the ancient world, and it may have even been the source for the original identity of the Greek Gods. Eventually the fun of Crete was put to a stop, since they had not put up nearly as many fortifications as ornaments in their great palace. In discussing ancient Crete you are discussing its population called Minoans, which were named as such in tandem with their ancient and mythological king Minos. We dig up yet another mythological tale in discussing the conquerors of the Minoans: the nation of Mycenae. The Mycenaean city was as much fortified as the Minoan palace was not, with ornament left to a bare minimum and some of the largest walls ever built. Mycenae was supposedly founded by Perseus son of Zeus, and went on to become a powerful empire that under Agamemnon's rule united against, challenged, and eventually crushed Troy for stealing Helen. It may now seem that I am only ranting about random mythology through architecture, but I do have a point. My point is, that the world has yet to see structures as powerful and meaningful as in Crete, Mycenae, Athens, or Rome, mainly because architecture today aspires only to achieve new forms and shapes without having stories to back them up. It was stories that motivated the builders of the ancient world, because they were looking past every day life at something that was much more beautiful and pure; even Godlike. In imagining more than what mortals need to live in and instead creating what God's deserve to bask in, these long dead builders gave meaning to the stories of the Gods with architecture, and the architecture was given life through those same stories. When I look at architecture today it is easy for me to see what is lacking, real or made up it is lacking imagination given purpose through narrative.