Theseus and the Minotaur, Ariadne and the Labyrinth. Addressing Contemporary Monsters, Death, and Trans-/Posthumanist “Mysticism”

The mythological references “Theseus and the Minotaur” and “Ariadne and the Labyrinth” are used paradigmatically to illustrate (1) the contemporary theme of chimerism, the monstrous, and death and (2) the theme of infinity, religion, and mysticism. The first mythological references illustrate how the efforts of contemporary science and technology committed to fully governing genetic hybridization are the contemporary version of those ancient Greek myths which present the victory of famous heroes over monsters and mortal dangers. The contemporary attempt to “keep the monstrous at bay” and the natural consequence of this consisting in “keeping death at bay” is the opportunity to re-propose the theme of a new hubris and to critically discuss new monstrous realities (natural, artificial, and conceptual). The second theme is religious and mystical spirituality, which begins with an interpretative proposal by Ariadne, understood as intelligence and love. Some analogies with traditional religious forms are identified within transhumanism and critical posthumanism: transhumanism is placed in analogy with ancient Gnosticism, while posthumanism is brought closer to Franciscanism. Subsequently, for both transhumanism and posthumanism, the religious discourse is driven further, to the point of critically reading both movements of thought as forms of immanent mysticism.