What is Myth Pandoras Box John William Waterhouse

What is Myth? Pandora’s Box John William Waterhouse 1896. Oil on canvas Private Collection

What is a Myth? • A story about the past • Handed down from generation to generation (tradition) • About gods and heroes and the supernatural • Religious context • Expression of cultural values (charter myth) • Teaches moral lessons • Explains natural phenomena and events • Essential human experience • Culturally true rather than historically accurate and factual • Entertainment

Pandora’s Box Lefebvre, Jules Joseph 1882. Oil on canvas Private Collection

Pandora’s Box (1878) Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828 - 1882) Coloured chalks, 100. 8 x 66. 7 cm

THE CREATION OF PANDORA Museum Collection: British Museum, London, United Kingdom Catalogue Number: London D 4 Beazley Archive Number: 211449 Ware: Attic Red Figure (White Ground) Shape: Kylix Painter: Attributed to the Tarquinia Painter Date: ca 470 BC Period: Classical Note: Image below has been touched up!

Pandora Emerging from the Earth 5° century Greek vase

John William Waterhouse. 1896. Oil on canvas Private Collection

Some Questions to Ask about Mythology • What cultural Insights does a myth tell us about the society that tells a particular story? • What Roles do these myths play in this society? • What Functions do these myths serve in the modern world? • Answering these questions is a Sisyphean Task.

Achelous Painter late 6 th century BC