Mythology Final

What is a myth?

  • A myth is a traditional story, especially concerning early history or explains some natural or social phenomenon & typically involving supernatural beings or event

    • explains the early history of a people

    • explains a social phenomenon

    • explains a natural phenomenon

    • usually has supernatural elements

  • Major types of myths

    • creation - how earth & its habitants came

    • cosmogony - how the universe became one

    • human origin - how humans came to be

    • flood - flooding of the earth

    • death & disease - when death is unexplainable

    • afterlife - our body & soul after we die

    • end times - predicting how the world ends

    • civilization - how humans differ from animals

    • morality - teaching lessons

    • hero’s origin - the journey, life, and tale of a hero, like Hercules or Homer’s Odessey

6 generalizations abouth myths

  1. myths are constant among all human beings at all times

  2. myths tell us about events that occured before written history

  3. myth is a unique use of language that speaks beyond your 5 sense

  4. myth is the basis of identity for communities, tribes, & nations

  5. myth is an essential part of all codes of moral conduct

  6. myth is a pattern of beliefs that give meaning to life

Archetypes

  • Carl Jung

    • a humanist psychologist

    • discovered a “collective unconsciousness”

      • hidden memories repressed by humanity

        • fear of the dark, fear of spider/snakes

        • similar to socrates & plato’s search for truth

          • they believed truth was innate, not something we could find because we already have it

  • Three character archetypes

    1. Character

    2. Situational

    3. Symbolic

Character

The hero— the protagonist (Harry Potter,HP)

the herald— catalyst (

the initiates— young heroes (demigods, PJO, Greek myth)

the trickster— tests the hero (Fred & George , HP)

mentor — wise figure (Dumbledoor, HP)

companion— sidekicks (Grover & Annabeth, PJO)

loyal retainers— servant to the hero (Dryads, PJO)

friendly beast—animal companions (Blackjack, PJO)

the shadow — antagonists (Luke Castillian, PJO)

devil figure— walking evil (Cronos, PJO, Greek myth)

Threshold guardians— stands in the way of a major part of the hero’s quest (Charon, Greek myth)

shapeshifter— literally or metaphorically changes shape or loyalty (Loki, Marvel, Norse Myth)

the scapegoat— character whose death creates change or enlightenment (Selena Beaurguard PJO)

the outcast— banished from society (Luke Castillian’s mother, PJO)

woman as temptress— tries to cause destruction of the hero via seduction or beauty (Eve, biblical)

earth mother— personification of nature ( Fairy Godmother, Cinderella)

platonic ideal— someone the hero is intellectually or platonically drawn to (Hermoine Granger, HP)

damsel in distress— woman who needs to be saved (Aurora, Sleeping Beauty)

the unfaithful wife— woman who strays from her husband, usually out of bordom (Helen of Troy, Greek myth)

star-crossed lovers— a couple that isnt meant to be (Tony & Maria, West Side Story)

Situational

the quest— the hero’s journey(Indiana Jones)

the task— extraordinary act (Mission: Impossible)

the journey— the path the hero must take (Stand by Me)

the ritual— the initiation of the hero (16 Wishes)

the fall— the hero’s fall from grace(Simba’s exile, Lion King)

death & rebirth— literal or metaphorical death of a character and their resurrection (Tony Almeida, 24)

good vs. evil — hero versus the shadow (Infinity War)

unhealable wound— a physcial/emotional/mental pain that cannot be healed (Quasimodo, the Hunchback of Notre Dame)

father son conflict (Into the Spiderverse)

mentor pupil relationship (Lean on Me)

Symbolic

light vs dark (Artemis & Apollo, Greek Myth)

innate wisdom vs educated stupidity (Few Good Men)

supernatural aid(Percy Jackson & The Olympians)

fire vs ice (Frozen 2)

natural vs mechanical (Wild Robot)

the threshold

haven vs wilderness (Wall-E)

the underworld

water vs desert (Prince of Eygpt, Biblical)

heaven vs hell(Olympus vs Underworld)

the crossroad (Battle of the Labrynth, PJO)

Number — a motif in a story (The Half Blooded Prince, 7 horcruxes, HP)

Colors— A motif in a story (Wizard of Oz, Yellow brick road, Emerald city)

Magic Wapon— a weapon or tool (Rapunzel,Hair)

Flood Myths

  • Typically occurs when humanity becomes corrupt & the gods want a do-over

  • Some stories were shared orally, and when they were written but European colonizers, things could have gotten lost in translation or simply changed to relate to a European audience or to convert the indigenous peoples to christianity

  • Noah’s Arc

    • biblical myth

    • 7 of every clean animal taken on the arc

    • God told Noah to build an arc

    • Arc came to rest on Mount Ararat

  • Manu & The Fish

    • Indian myth, possibly tampered but Europen colonizers

    • Fish is the herald, tells Manu to build a ship because a flood was coming

    • The fish turned into one of the largest fish on earht and guided Manu to safety when the waters rose above the earth

  • Utnapishtim

    • Babylonian myt

    • Gilgamesh, the hero, met an old man a named Utnapishtim, who related to the hero’s story

    • Utnaptism was warned of a flood and built a ship to save his family and two of every animal

    • The flood annihilated all life, even the gods admitted that it was worse than they thought

  • Flood myth of Hawaii

    • tampered by European missionaries

    • has some biblical anlogies

  • Tata and Nena

    • Aztec

    • had a clearly indigenous story

    • The god of rains announced that a flood was coming, but the god was fond of Tata & Nena, a devout couple

    • The god told them to hollow out a look and to take two ears of corn for the both of them and nothing more.

    • Once the flood was over, the couple was so happy that they ate a fish. The god got made and turned them into dogs

  • Deucalion

    • Zeus was tired of humanity and decided to destroy them

    • Prometheus warned his human son Deucalion and his wife, putting them in a wooden chest

    • It rained for nine days & nights. When the couple came out the world was covered in dead bodies, silt, slime, and algae

    • Zeus told them to cover their heads and cast the bones of their mother behind them, so they threw some rocks behind them.

    • The rocks became peeople who repopulated the earth

  • Eygpt

    • Mankind had grown too wicked so Ra let the goddess Hathor punish evildoers

    • Hathor went on a killingspree, killing so many people that a river of blood filled the streets, overflowed into riverbanks and mixedd

    • Ra asked Thoth, the wisest god, for adivce and together with the godes Sektet they created a beer and got Hathor insanely drunk

    • Humans repopulated under the wise guidence of Thoth

Love Myths

4 types (identified by CS Lewis)

  1. Philia

    • Friendly, brotherly love

  2. Storge

    • familial love

  3. eros

    • romantic, passionate love

  4. selfless, universal love

  • Greeks believed eros was brought on by cupid

  • Plato believed we loved in order to be complete

  • Simone de Beauvoir said that in order to enrich our lives and uplift those we love, we must love authentically

• What role does hubris play in mythology? Provide one example.

  • Hubris is an arrogance shown typically in humans when they don’t know their place. Like Aracnae, Icarus, and Adam & Eve

• What are parallel myths?

  • Eve, Pandora, and Psyche, as they all are given somthing they shouldn’t open or do, but temptation gets the better of them and their actions lead to sin and other bad things being introduced to the world

• In studying the end of life rituals of a culture or society, what evidence do we have that they believe in an afterlife?

  • The way they treat their dead, as in if their burial rituals have to do with preparing the soul for the afterlife

• Several of the Afterlife/Death myths we read involve characters attempting to leave the underworld. What would contribute to the success of some of them?

  • Distracting the god of death like in the Babylonian myth of Ishtar, letting love overcome death as Savitri did in the Indian myth, capturing the soul of another to reunite it with their bodylike in the Iroquois myth of Sayadio.

• What purpose would morality myths serve?

  • to teach the listeners a lesson about how they should behave, and things that can happen to you if you disobey. Most of these myths have to do with hubris. the Spider, a character from West Africa whose arrogance get him into trouble with the gods and subsequently be punished. Arachne, a weaver, pridefully challenged Athena to a spinning contest and proclaimed she had won. Her arrogance angered Athena so she turned Arachne into a spider, allowing her and her children to spin forever.

• In several of the morality tales, we read of human weakness. These tales often contained a woman who played a significant role in the tale. What do these women do, what image does this create of women in general, and how might these images translate into the status of women in the real world?

  • the portrait of women painted in morality myths are not a pretty picture. They demonstrate curiosity and distrust in their gods, leading to an overexposure of sin, disease, suffering, and other bad things to the world. These myths could be used to justify a belittlement and dehumanization of women in certain societies.

• How do a people's view on marriage relate to their view on love? Provide information from your Art of Being Human reading.

  • In Scotland, marriage was expected to occur between two young adults, but marriage for love was considered a good reason for marriage. Because of this, discussions of falling in love were not taboo.

• Which explanation for why we love makes the most sense to you? Explain

  • Love simply doesn’t make sense to me, so out of all of them, Plato’s analysis of love makes me most sense to me, even if it’s the most unlikely. Because in my mind, humans’ “separation” would eventually become vestigial and we’d find ways to feel whole again, so then true love in Plato’s idea of finding your other half is the culmination of two whole people becoming one again in love.