We Shall Be Changed: Apotheosis

The word “apotheosis” comes from the ancient Greek word, “apotheoun” which means “to make divine”. In simplest terms this stage is the culmination of the lessons learned throughout the journey, especially when considering the hero’s reconciliation with darkness of his past, and those of his ancestors in the previous stage. In stories this is often represented as a literal death and rebirth and symbolizes the phase of life when who we are as children die so that we can become a fully integrated and effectual adult.

Although The Matrix wasn’t a specifically religious film, the protagonist of Neo was meant to symbolize Jesus Christ, because at its core Christian belief is transformative, and exemplifies how an ideological death and rebirth is essential to our personal development, in which we relieve ourselves of our old, earthly identity for one that is closer to divinity. Nowhere is this better displayed than in the Christian ritual of baptism when an initiate into the faith is submerged under water and raised up, which symbolizes being swallowed by the grave and resurrected by the love of Jesus Christ, an act that also ritualistically cleanses the initiate of their old sins and giving them a clean slate. From then on the initiate is thought of as a new person, one who is worthy to be associated with God, and usually does their best to live up to that new identity. Beyond the spiritual…