Myths: What and Why?

1
Myths What and Why?

• Every culture in the world has a collection of
  myths recognized by its people.

2
What is a Myth?

•  
• A sacred story involving symbols.
• Many academics study these stories in an effort
  to understand the various cultures in out world.

3
A Myth

• contributes to and expresses a cultures
  thoughts, beliefs, and values.
• is "true for its culture
• is a form of questioning and making sense of the
  world.

4
Making Sense of the World

• Ancient people had no understanding of science to
  explain what they saw.
• So, how did they explain natural phenomena?
• Earth, sun, moon, sky

5
The Search for Answers

• The early human societies tried to explain what
  they saw in terms they understood.
• The sun is the chariot of a dazzling god
  traveling across the sky.

6
How did Myths Grow?

• The art of storytelling!
• Most early societies did not have a written
  language.
• As a result for a long time myths were not
  written down. They were passed by word of mouth
  from father to son, from one generation to the
  next.
• What do you think was the result?

7
How did Myths Grow?

• Often times a clever storyteller altered the
  story with touches that others in their area
  accepted. (movie- 300)
• As a result versions of the same myth told in
  different locations differed dramatically.

8
How did Myths Grow?

• Sometimes a notable poet took a known myth and
  told it his own way, and this became the widely
  accepted version.
• Homers Iliad and Odyssey are examples.

9
How did Myths Grow?

• It was with notable poets like Homer
• (800 BC) that myths started getting written down
  and consistently told the same way.

10
Types of Myths

• 1. Divine Myth 
• Concerns gods, set in a timeless early era
• 2. Heroic Myth (or Legend, or Saga) 
• Concerns humans, but great ones, often the
  children of gods.  
• 3. Folktale (or Fairy Tale) 
• Tells of regular, everyday humans in a timeless
  and generic setting

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Why Study Myths?

• Reason 1
• Myths have influenced great works of literature.
• Many famous writers (Shakespeare) were influenced
  by the myths of Greece and Rome.
• Even contemporary writers use the myths of
  Greece, Rome, and other ancient cultures as
  influences in their works.
• Do you have any examples?

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Why Study Myths?

• Reason 2
• Myths also have a strong influence on music.
• The word music pays tribute the Muses and many
  myths tell how musical instruments were invented.

13
Why Study Myths?

• Reason 3
• Myths have influenced other arts as well.
• Many painters and sculptors have used myths for
  inspiration.

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Why Study Myths?

• Reason 4
• Myths link us to the past.
• Myths give us a window into ancient cultures.

15
What is an archetype?

• Original models, images, characters, or patterns
  that recur throughout literature consistently
  enough to be considered a universal concept or
  situation.

16
Background Leading Researchers

• Joseph Campbell - Mythologist
• Author of The Hero with a Thousand Faces
• Myths from all over the world are built from the
  same elementary ideas
• Demonstrates that all stories are expressions of
  the same story-pattern, which he named the
  "Hero's Journey"

17
Background Leading Researchers

• Carl Jung -Swiss Psychiatrist
• Defined the elementary ideas as archetypes
• The building blocks not only of the unconscious
  mind, but of a collective unconscious (all
  people).
• In other words, Jung believed everyone in the
  world is born with the same basic subconscious
  model of what a "hero" is or a "quest."
• That's why people who don't even speak the same
  language can enjoy the same stories.

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Background Function of Mythology

• Identifies four functions of mythology (Campbell)
• to instill in us a sense of awe, humility, and
  respect at the wonder of the universe
• to provide an understanding of the world
  according to the knowledge of the time
• to support the social order through rites and
  rituals or to provide individuals with moral
  justifications to challenge the existing state of
  things
• to guide the individual through the psychological
  crises of life

19
The Myth of Hercules

• Hercules, son of the Greek God, Zeus, is turned
  into a half-god, half-mortal by evil Hades, God
  of the Underworld, who plans to overthrow Zeus.
  Hercules is raised on Earth and retains his
  god-like strength, but later learns he is the son
  of gods, and in order to return to Mt. Olympus he
  must turn into a "true hero". He is trained by
  Phil the satyr and becomes the most famous hero
  in ancient Greece after battling monsters of all
  kinds. He even saves Mt. Olympus from Hade's
  take-over, but he only becomes a god again after
  he offers to exchange his life in order to save
  Meg, his love, from Hades' underworld and shows
  that a true hero must have a strong heart and not
  only physical strength.

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How does this myth fulfill Campbells four
functions?

• to instill in us a sense of awe, humility, and
  respect at the wonder of the universe
• to provide an understanding of the world
  according to the knowledge of the time

• to support the social order through rites and
  rituals or to provide individuals with moral
  justifications to challenge the existing state of
  things
• to guide the individual through the psychological
  crises of life