HUM105 201211 FoundationsOfMythology

FOUNDATIONS OF MYTHOLOGY
WORLD MYTHOLOGY HUM/105 Prof. Francisco Pesante
Objectives
1. Differentiate how the word myth is used popularly with how it is defined academically. 2. Identify mythological themes that are universal among world cultures. 3. Analyze the relationship between knowledge, belief, myth, and religion. 4. Explain how myths typify human experiences.
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What are myths?
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What are myths? Modern conception is usually associated with false or fantastic knowledge. For example
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What are myths? Myths are ancient narratives that attempt to answer the enduring and fundamental human questions.
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What are myths? Evolution of the term Hesiod (8th century BCE) Pre-Socratic philosophers (Xenophanes and Heraclitus, 6th century BCE ) Plato (427-347 BCE) Euhemeros of Messene (330-260 BCE)
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What are myths?
Evolution of the term: Hesiod (8th century BCE) In Hesiods poem, The Theogony, Myth meant a divinely inspired story. Myth counterpart came to be logos, more often associated with everyday discourse.
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What are myths? Evolution of the term: pre-Socratic philosophers Xenophanes and Heraclitus (about 6th century BCE) diverged from Hesiod and Homers narrative for attributing to the gods all the shameful things that are blameworthy among humans.
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What are myths? Evolution of the term: pre-Socratic philosophers Xenophanes and Heraclitus: Rather than mythos they focused on logos as the story for understanding the source of life, order or knowledge.
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What are myths? Evolution of the term: Plato (427-347 BCE) He used the word in both senses, to mean lie and truth.
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What are myths? Evolution of the term: Plato (427-347 BCE) Platos argument, that myths about gods, heroes, and centaurs contain irrational and therefore false elements and that philosophical myths about origins were rational and therefore true, was crucial to his political and philosophical vision.
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What are myths? Evolution of the term: Euhemeros of Messene (330-260 BCE) He asumed his ancestors were primitives who lacked the scientific method, philosophical principles, and cognitive sophistication of their world.
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What are myths? Evolution of the term: Euhemeros of Messene (330-260 BCE) His ancestors, who were dominated by superstition and fancy, exaggerated the facts of actual historical events and created imaginative explanations of historical events because they did not have access to better forms of knowledge.
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What are myths? Evolution of the term: Euhemeros of Messene (330-260 BCE) But, although myths were not true, they contained the kernels of historical truth.
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Why Study Myths?
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Why Study Myths? Looking at examples of ancient and more contemporary uses of myths introduces their varied cultural values and behaviors to us, and, at the same time, such study helps us develop intellectual tools with which to look at and question our own ancient and contemporary mythic self-understandings.
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Why Study Myths? Studying myths introduces other cultures to us and, at the same time, provides us with different lenses through which to view our own.
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Myth and Mythology For the purpose of this course and the main textbook Myth and Knowing (Leonard & McClure, 2004), we would be considering some of Hesiods definition of myth (divinely inspired truth) and distinguish it from mythology, defined as the scholarly study of myths.
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How do we understand mythology today (20th century)? Funtionalist: Branislaw Malinowski Structuralist: Lvi-Strauss Simbologist: Freud and Jung archetypes
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Understanding mythology today (20th century). Funtionalist: Branislaw Malinowski Myth is not an explanation in satisfaction of a scientific interest.
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Understanding mythology today (20th century). Funtionalist: Branislaw Malinowski Myth is true. It could be observed by the field researcher in the form of oral performance, rituals, and ceremonies, and that it visibly influenced a living peoples sociopolitical behavior (in his case in Melanesia-Western Pacific Island).
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Understanding mythology today (20th century). Funtionalist: Branislaw Malinowski Emphasis on field research and the importance of studying the real-world conditions in which myths perform their functions (cultural charter and socializing agent).
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Understanding mythology today (20th century). Structuralist: Lvi-Strauss A reaction against 19th-century literary approaches to myth, Lvi-Strauss proposes an objective way of discussing literary meaning, avoiding subjective or idiosyncratic interpretation of myth in culture.
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Understanding mythology today (20th century). Structuralist: Lvi-Strauss Attempted to develop a model that would describe how all myths worked; it promised to put investigations of myth on the firm ground of empirical science.
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Understanding mythology today (20th century). Structuralist: Lvi-Strauss Mythic structure reveals through a limited number of codes embodied in polar opposites (binary oppositions). Ex. The Raw and the Cooked (1964)
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Understanding mythology today (20th century). Structuralist: Lvi-Strauss Myths mediate the tension created by these always present oppositions.
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Understanding mythology today (20th century). Symbolist: Freud and Jung archetypes They investigate the relationship between myth and the unconscious (individual/collective).
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Understanding mythology today (20th century). Symbolist: Freud and Jung archetypes Unconscious mind contains our biologically based instincts (eros and thanatos) for the primitive urges for sex and aggression.
Reference: Mcleod, S. A. (2007). Simply Psychology - Psychology Articles for Students.Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/unconscious-mind.html
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Understanding mythology today (20th century). Symbolist: Freud and Jung archetypes Minds strategy for making visible and comprehensible the internal forces and conflicts that impel our actions and shape our thoughts.
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Universal Mythological Themes. Joseph Campbell The basic monomyth informs us that the mythological hero, setting out from an everyday home, is lured or is carried away or proceeds to the threshold of adventure.
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Universal Mythological Themes. Joseph Campbell The mythological hero defeats a shadowy presence that guards the gateway, enters a dark passageway or even death, meets many unfamiliar forces, some of which give him threatening tests, some of which offer magical aid.
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Universal Mythological Themes. Joseph Campbell At the climax of the quest he undergoes a supreme ordeal and gains his reward: sacred marriage or sexual union with the goddess of the world, reconciliation with the father, his own divinization, or a mighty gift to bring back to the world.
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Universal Mythological Themes. Joseph Campbell The mythological hero then undertakes the final work of return, in which, transformed, he reenters the place from whence he set out.
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Knowledge, belief, myth, and religion. The intersection of mythology and religion a. knowledge: the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association : acquaintance with or understanding of a science, art, or technique.
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Knowledge, belief, myth, and religion. The intersection of mythology and religion b. belief: a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing.
Merriam-Webster (2012). Retrieved from: www.m-w.com

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Knowledge, belief, myth, and religion. The intersection of mythology and religion c. Religion is not simply a matter of belief; it is primarily a part of our human experience. Ninian Smart, a scholar of world religions, has distinguished seven dimensions of religion.
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Knowledge, belief, myth, and religion. The intersection of mythology and religion Smarts Dimensions of Religion include the following: 1) Doctrines: the basic tenets of a church or sect examples: the nature and form of God, the reality and form of life after death, the purpose of life, and so forth
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The intersection of mythology and religion Smarts Dimensions of Religion (cont.): 2) Sacred narratives: sacred stories that may explain the religions cosmology (what the universe is like, or why it is as it is), soteriology (of the meaning of salvation), or provide examples and non-examples of religious behavior
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The intersection of mythology and religion Smarts Dimensions of Religion (cont.): 3) Ethics: One of the functions of sacred narratives is to inform disciples about the appropriate way of living, in relationship to deity and with others in the world.
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The intersection of mythology and religion Smarts Dimensions of Religion (cont.): 4) Ritual: the symbolic gestures or actions, formulas, communal sayings, and prayers that reinforce the values of the belief Rituals include celebrations of special events, punishment or atonement to overcome failure or sin, and rites of mourning.
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The intersection of mythology and religion Smarts Dimensions of Religion (cont.): 5) Religious experience: Though often held suspect by the scientific community because they do not yield to empirical observation, these basic human experiences include conversion or being born again, enlightenment, mystical experiences, and revelations or visions.
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The intersection of mythology and religion Smarts Dimensions of Religion (cont.): 6) Social institutions: Many religious institutions develop various forms of communal authority within their respective systems, which may include churches, congregations, hierarchies, polities, monastic orders, and so on.
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The intersection of mythology and religion Smarts Dimensions of Religion (cont.): 7) Art and material culture: Religious belief often results in the use or creation of sacred places and things, particularly where they serve a symbolic or functional purpose, such as chapels, temples, altars, sacred utensils, and ritual objects.
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The intersection of mythology and religion Smarts Dimensions of Religion (cont.): 7) Art and material culture (cont.): Because these are often aesthetic by design, the products of creative imagination, they often include sculpture and art, icons, music, and poetry.
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Myths are not codes to be cracked or naive and mistaken perceptions that must be corrected. Rather, myths are literary truths told about the mysteries and necessities that always have and always will condition the human experience.
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These truths, these mythoi, have made sophisticated use of symbolic imagery and narrative strategy, have created unforgettable characters that continue to typify for us abstract realities such as love, bravery, wisdom, and treachery, and have enacted as compellingly as any modern novel the humor and horror, the ecstasy and anguish, and the fear and hope of the human drama.
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Any question?
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Reference: Leonard, S., & McClure, M. (2004). Myth & knowing: An introduction to world mythology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Smart, N. (1996). Dimensions of the sacred: An anatomy of the world's beliefs. Berkeley: University of California Press.
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HUM105 201211 FoundationsOfMythology

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HUM105 201211 FoundationsOfMythology

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FOUNDATIONS OF MYTHOLOGY

WORLD MYTHOLOGY HUM/105 Prof. Francisco Pesante

What are myths?

Why Study Myths?

Merriam-Webster (2012). Retrieved from: www.m-w.com

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