Unit I Mythology Introduction I want to know

Unit I: Mythology Introduction “I want to know what were the steps by which men passed from barbarism to civilization. ” -Voltaire

Distinction • Myths are stories within themselves. • Mythology is the actual study of those myths. • Word comes from the Greek word mythos meaning “story” • It later came to mean “falsehood” (Logos = Logic) • Myths are anonymous.

Myth Definition • Myth: a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.

Purpose of Myth • One of the chief reasons that myths came into being was because people couldn’t provide scientific explanations for the world around them. • One person’s “myth” is another person’s religion.

Significance • Every Culture has some sort of myth. • Myths explain how that particular culture viewed everything from daily life to the afterlife • Even the United States has its own particular brand of myths (Tall Tales/ Folklore/ Superheroes).

Similarities between Myths • Myths don’t just pop up out of the ground. They are often borrowed from older sources and then molded and remade into new myths. • This is why so many myths are similar between cultures.

Mind and Society • Two of biggest proponents of myths were Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung (pronounced “Young”) • Freud would use myths to examine the human mind and our unconscious feelings (Oedipus Complex) • Jung would take a different approach.

Carl Jung’s Theory • Jung believed that “myths draw their mysterious power from the fact that principle characters in them embody primitive archetypes which have exercised great influence over the human psyche. ” • "Myths are first and foremost psychic phenomena that reveal the nature of the soul. “ –Carl Jung

The Collective Unconscious • Where Freud believed in the personal unconscious…Jung believed in a “Collective Unconscious. ” • Personal Unconscious = at one time was part of the individual’s conscious state, but for one reason or another was forgotten or repressed with the passage of time. • Collective Unconscious = “a psychic system of a collective, universal and impersonal nature that is identical in all individuals. ” • This inherent psychic system consists of preexisting forms, or as Jung call it, archetypes.

• Personal unconscious is one person (ex. Repressed/Painful memories). • Collective unconscious is society (ex. the way a society thinks or feels).

Archetype Explained • Jung believed that our collective unconsciousness was organized into basic patterns and symbols that he called archetypes. • Our dreams, art, religion, and perhaps most important, our myths are all among the ways that humans have expressed those archetypes.

Common Archetypes • • Hero Trickster Shadow Quest Mentor Shapeshifter Guardians

Otto Rank • Austrian Psychoanalyst • Colleague of Freud and Jung. • Agreed with Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious. • Established Archetype framework for myths. • Especially myths of heroes.

Archetypical Framework for Mythical Heroes • Found the same patterns over and over again within myths and within our lives. – 1. ) The hero descents from noble, powerful parents. – 2. ) Parents have previous difficulties. – 3. ) There is a prophesy about the hero. – 4. ) The hero is exposed in a river, in a box, in the wilderness, etc. – 5. ) The hero is saved by animals or peasants. – 6. ) The hero is raised by lowly parents. – 7. ) Hero returns to his first parents. – 8. ) The first parents are punished in some way. – 9. ) The hero gains recognition from his father/gods. – 10. ) The hero is honored.

Joseph Campbell • Although these items are not all present in every myth, elements can be found in all myths. • Joseph Campbell not only agreed with Jung and Rank, but continued to establish what he called the “monomyth” or Hero’s Journey.

Monomyth

A window to Understanding • Myths are used to understand not only the culture and society in which they were created, but the individuals who learned and lived by the myths.