Genius of Money Chapter 2 and 14

Chapter 2 uses the Greek myth of “Titian: Danae and the Shower of Gold” to tell us that ancient myths have an underlying meaning that transcends the truths of life through the use of symbolism and story-telling.  They describe human character and human action.  The powerful thing about these myths is that they are timeless.  The Greek myth tells the story of Danae who was a princess of Argos, the only child of King Acrisius and Eurydice.  Acrisius visits the Oracle and finds out he will be killed by his future grandson.  So, to prevent this from happening, he locks Danae and her servant in a chamber.  Then Zeus discovers of Danae’s confinement and falls in love with her and impregnates her in the guise of a golden shower.  Titian uses the analogy of golden “coins” as a symbol of power and money.  Money and power allow you to open doors that are closed to most and get almost anything you want.  Interestingly, Danae was seen in the Middle Ages as an example of how feminine beauty and moral virtue can be tainted by the corruption of wealth.  Today, that analogy still holds true as money and power go hand-in-hand. 

The part of the Greek myth that confused me was when Acrisius found out Zeus had impregnated his daughter, Danae.  She bore a son Perseus.  Acrisius then put Danae and Perseus in a wooden chest and leaves them to die in the middle of the sea.  After going through all that trouble of going to the Oracle and knowing that he would be killed by his grandson, why did he leave it to chance?  He could have undone the prophecy by taking the life of his daughter and grandson by his bare hands.  I like this story because it reminds me of Aesop's fables.  They both tell of human faults and yet mankind seems to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.  Will we ever learn?  

Chapter 14 demonstrates the idea that money is a medium of expression similar to visual arts, which makes the invisible visible by bringing together value with material goods. Yet what money represents is abstract and faith based. The author recognizes touchstone and labyrinth, two ancient objects, as the physical and experimental aspects of the money. The labyrinth represented a self-discovery journey, while the touchstone was used to test the quality of gold as a metaphoric benchmark of value. The author viewed them as rituals aligning the inner value and outer worth.

However, money has become much less connected to the human experience and become completely physical. With the development of technology, people do not carry the physical money anymore. We have checks, credit cards, and even Apple Pay. Although money is becoming “increasingly indistinguishable from the rest of our experience in the world”, I don’t think it is a bad thing that our life is at the same time becoming more convenient. I do feel that I tend to spend less when spending real money comparing with using cards or buying things online. When money is invisible as a number in my account that I don’t even check, it creates an illusion that I don’t actually spend that much. I guess that is the reason why the author uses “The Emperor’s New Clothes” as an example to point out how painful and disruptive to unveil the hidden truth.