mds2/3clm:**...
TRANSCRIPT
MDS2/3CLM: Lecture 2 Theories of Myth (1)
Image taken by Lonnie Dunn hAp://www.flickr.com/photos/archaicwarrior/6770461997/
MYTHOLOGY: DEFINITION
• Myth noun. 1 a tradiSonal story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.
[mass noun] such stories collecSvely: the heroes of Greek myth.
New Oxford Dic6onary (1998) s.v. ‘myth’
• Ae'ologies
MYTHOLOGY: DEFINITION
2a widely held but false belief or idea: dispelling the myth that croquet is a genteel Sunday a?ernoon pas6me / [mass noun] contrary to popular myth, the south-‐east does not consist en6rely of rich people. a misrepresenta'on of the truth: aBacking the party’s irresponsible myths about priva6za6on.
MYTHOLOGY: DEFINITION
a ficSSous or imaginary person or thing. an exaggerated or idealized concepSon of a person or thing: the book is a scholarly study of the Churchill myth.
Origins
mid 19th cent.: from modern LaSn mythus, via late LaSn from Greek muthos. [vs. logos]
MYTHOLOGY
mythology noun. 1 a collecSon of myths, especially one belonging to a parScular religious or cultural tradiSon: Ganesha was the god of wisdom and success in Hindu mythology.
2 the study of myths. ORIGIN late Middle English [c.14th c.]: from French mythologie, or via late LaSn from Greek muthologia, from muthos ‘myth’ + logia ‘collecSon’
Myth vs. Legend?
legend noun 1 a tradiSonal story someSmes popularly regarded as historical but not authenScated: the legend of King Arthur/ [mass noun] according to legend he banished all the snakes from Ireland
2 an extremely famous or notorious person, especially in a parScular field: the man was a living legend/ a screen legend.
3 (historical) the story of a saint’s life: the mosaics illustrate the Legends of the Saints. ORIGIN from Old French legende, from medieval La'n legenda ‘things to be read’, from La'n legere ‘read’. Sense 1 dates from the early 17th century.
Where did ‘myth’ come from?
Marcel De'enne The Inven6on of Mythology (1981) -‐ Myth is an 18th c. construcSon Paul Veyne Did the Greeks Believe in Their Myths? An Essay on the Cons6tu6ve Imagina6on (1983)
Sparta and the Herakleidai (Heraclids)
hAp://library.artstor.org/library/secure/ViewImages?id=%2FThWdC8hIywtPygxFTx5RnksX38peFg%3D&userId=hTdEcTM%3D&zoomparams=
Black figure lekythos, side A: Herakles and the Lernean Hydra
Did Herakles exist?
What I found out by inquiry, then, plainly proves that Herakles is an ancient god…And among the idle tales that the Greeks tell is one about Herakles: how when he came to Egypt he was garlanded and led in procession to be sacrificed to Zeus. For a while, they say, he was quiet, but when the EgypSans made ready to sacrifice him at the altar he killed all who were present. Now those who tell this story seem to me uAerly ignorant of the mind and customs of the EgypSans; for how can we imagine that a people forbidden to kill any kind of animal, save pigs and immaculate caAle and geese, sacrifice men? And how could Herakles, all alone, and being, as these people say, a man, kill many tens of thousands? Thus I say, and may the gods and the heroes take no offence!
(Herodotus Histories 2.44-‐45)
Sparta and the Herakleidai (Heraclids)
hAp://library.artstor.org/library/secure/ViewImages?id=%2FThWdC8hIywtPygxFTx5RnksX38peFg%3D&userId=hTdEcTM%3D&zoomparams=
Black figure lekythos, side A: Herakles and the Lernean Hydra
Did Herakles exist?
What I found out by inquiry, then, plainly proves that Herakles is an ancient god…And among the idle tales that the Greeks tell is one about Herakles: how when he came to Egypt he was garlanded and led in procession to be sacrificed to Zeus. For a while, they say, he was quiet, but when the EgypSans made ready to sacrifice him at the altar he killed all who were present. Now those who tell this story seem to me uAerly ignorant of the mind and customs of the EgypSans; for how can we imagine that a people forbidden to kill any kind of animal, save pigs and immaculate caAle and geese, sacrifice men? And how could Herakles, all alone, and being, as these people say, a man, kill many tens of thousands? Thus I say, and may the gods and the heroes take no offence!
(Herodotus Histories 2.44-‐45)
Ken Dowden on monsters
The aAracSon and importance of monsters is psychological. As they have never existed, their parScular construcSon is likely to reveal more about what is inside man (sic) than what is outside. In broad terms we can talk of the fears, loathings and worries they express.
(1992 The Uses of Greek Mythology: 133)