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Chapter
Two
MYTHOLOGY
CHAPTER
OUTLINE
THE NATURE OF
MYTHS
Worldview
Stories of the Supernatural
Myths
The Nature of Oral Texts
Genesis
UNDERSTANDING
MYTHS
Approaches to Analysis of Myths
Searching
for Myth Origins in the Nineteenth Century
Fieldwork
and Functional Analysis
Structural
Analysis
Psychoanalytic
Symbols in Myth
Common Themes in Myths
Origin Myths
Apocalyptic Myths
Trickster
Myths
Hero Myths
CONCLUSION
SUMMARY
BOX 2.1 GENESIS
BOX 2.2 THE GENDER-NEUTRAL CHRISTIAN BIBLE
BOX 2.3 THE GURURUMBA CREATION STORY
BOX 2.4 THE NAVAHO CREATION STORY: DINÉ BAHANÈ
BOX 2.5 THE RAVEN STEALS THE LIGHT
BOX 2.6 JOSEPH CAMPBELL
CHAPTER
SUMMARY
The ways a
society perceives and interprets its reality is known as its worldview. The
worldview provides an understanding of how the world works; it forms the
template for thought and behavior; and it provides a basic understanding of the
origin and nature of humankind and its relationship to the world. People
express their worldview in stories.
Myths are sacred stories that tell
of the origin of the world and humankind, the existence and activities of gods
and spirits, the origin of human traditions, and the nature of illness and
death. They tell how to behave and how to distinguish good from evil. Myths are
thought to recount real, historical events that took place in the remote past.
They provide the basis for religious beliefs and practices.
Myths can be both written and oral.
Written forms tend to be very stable through time, and changes that do occur
are usually deliberate changes that are the consequences of translation or
scholarly discourse about the meaning of particular words and passages. Oral
texts are recited, and this recitation often has the characteristics of
performance. One of the consequences of the oral transmission of stories is
that they are frequently unconsciously altered with each generation, which
explains the existence of different versions of the same myth within a society.
There are many ways of interpreting myths.
Functional analysis sees myths as forces that help to maintain the society.
Structural analysis focuses on the underlying structure of myths. The psychoanalytic
approach sees myths as symbolically expressing unconscious wishes.
Certain basic themes are common
through the world. Origin myths provide answers to the questions: Who are we?
Why are we here? What is our relationship to the world? These stories play an
important role in laying out the culture’s worldview. One common element is the
birth metaphor, in which the world is born from a god or goddess or by creation
out of chaos, darkness, or the void.
Tricksters are part human, part
animal. They are adventurers, seekers of sexual pleasures, lazy, dishonest, and
impulsive. Yet tricksters are responsible for creating or bringing into the
world many elements, often as a by-product of some other activity. Hero myths
are stories about culture heroes who, through knowledge and mastery of certain
skills, are able to bring about marvelous results.
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
After reading Chapter 2 the student should be able to:
- Explain the concept of worldview and illustrate the idea by contrasting the worldviews of the Navaho and Euro-Americans.
- Explain what makes a story a myth.
- Describe the nature of oral myths and how such myths change over time.
- Explain how the Navaho origin story reflects the Navaho worldview.
- Identify and describe the different approaches to the study of myth.
- Outline the common themes that are found in myths cross-culturally.
GLOSSARY
Apocalypse: Ultimate
devastation or the end of the world. (p. 46)
Archetype: A main character of the collective
unconscious. (p.
42)
Collective
unconscious: Inborn elements of the unconscious
that are manifested in dreams and myths.
(p. 42)
Folktale: A traditional story that is a part of the tradition of a society;
not considered to be true. (p. 31)
Legend: A traditional story about past events that is considered to be true;
usually contains an element of reality—a known character, event, or place. (p.
31)
Monomyth: A theme common to many myths that tells of the adventures of a
culture hero. (p. 51)
Myth: A sacred story that provides the basis for religious beliefs and
practices. (p. 31)
Social
charter: A story
that establishes the proper organization and rules of behavior of a society. (p. 36)
Trickster god: A god who gave humans important things or skills, often by accident
or through trickery. (p. 48)
Trickster
story: A
story involving a trickster deity. (p. 48)
Urban legend: Contemporary story about people and events that never occurred, but
are presented as real. (p. 31)
Worldview: The way in which a society perceives and interprets its reality.
(p. 29)
DISCUSSION
TOPICS
- How would you describe the worldview of your own culture? Although the United States is made up of a diverse population, can we say that there is a shared American worldview? If so, what characterizes this worldview? How is this worldview reflected in American culture?
- How do American media (including television and films) reflect the American worldview?
- In what ways are important American civil documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, like myths? In what ways are they different?
- Stories about supernatural topics (e.g., ghosts, angels, prophesies) can be found in informal venues such as the tabloids. Would you consider these to be religious stories or myths? Why or why not?
- Humans have been called “storytelling animals”. What is the importance of storytelling both for individuals and societies?
- Why do you think common themes are found in myths in different cultures?
- How does human psychology affect the nature of myths and the way we tell and perceive them?
- What recent movies have you seen that are based on the hero’s journey? Can you identify the stages?
STUDENT PROJECTS
- While in many societies stories are told through story tellers, stories in American society are frequently told through movies and television. Pick a movie or television and show and explain how the show reflects the American worldview.
- Select a foreign film. What cultural differences can be seen between your own culture and the culture portrayed in the film?
- Pick a movie that tells the story of the monomyth. Describe how it fits the monomyth structure.
- Locate myths from two or more different cultures. Analyze each myth and show how they are similar to or differ from one another.
VIDEOS
The Bible Under Fire.
Filmakers Library. 43 min.
Tells the story
of the introduction of the Revised Standard Version of the Christian Bible in
1952, and the controversies that followed.
A Biography of Lilith.
Women Make Movies. 1997, 35 min.
Updates the
Judeo-Christian origin story by telling the story of Lilith. Uses a mix of
narrative, collage and memoir.
Dance in America: Holo Mai Pele. PBS Great Performances. 1995, 60 min.
The Hawaiian
myth of the conflict between the goddess Pele and her sister Hi’iaka, as told
through Hula dance and music.
The Five Suns: A Sacred History of Mexico. University of California Extension. 1996, 59 min. Creation myths
of the Aztecs and other Nahuatl-speaking people are told through animation that
uses authentic pre-Columbian Aztec iconography.
The Koran: The Holy Book of Islam. Insight Media. 1995, 16 min.
Explores the
significance of Koran to the life of Muslims.
Popol Vuh: The Creation Myth of the Maya. University of California Extension. 1989, 60 min. The Mayan
creation story told through animation that uses imagery from ancient Mayan ceramics.
Voices of the Orishas.
University of California Extension. 1994, 37 min.
Filmed in
Havana, the film shows a Santeria ritual in which the deities, or Orishas, are
invoked. The ceremony recreates an important Yoruba myth.
WEB SITES
pantheon.org/mythica.html Encyclopedia Mythica is an encyclopedia of
mythology, folklore, and legend.
www.moongadget.com/origins/myth.html Internet site devoted to
the story of the hero’s journey as seen in movies.
www.sacred-texts.com An Internet text archive.
www.snopes.com A collection and analysis
of urban legends.
www.trinity.edu/org/tricksters/trixway Trickster’s Way, an online journal dedicated to trickster research.
ADDITIONAL
REFERENCES
J. F. Bierlein. Parallel Myths. New York: Random House,
1994. A large collection of myths organized by theme.
Joseph Campbell.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces. New
York: Pantheon Books, 1949. A description
of the hero myth in societies around the world.
Alan Dundes. Holy Writ as Oral Lit: The Bible as
Folklore. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999. An analysis of the
Bible that illustrates its origins in oral folklore.
Alan
Dundes, ed. Little Red Riding Hood: A
Casebook. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989. A series of
articles explaining the story of “Little Red Riding Hood” from many theoretical
points of view.
Ian Hogbin. The Island of Menstruating Men: Religion in
Wogeo, New Guinea. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1970. The study of
the Wogeo, including myths and religious practices.
Mathias
Guenther. Tricksters & Tracers:
Bushman Religion and Society. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press,
1999. A study of San religion including cosmology, the trickster, myth,
initiation rites, and the trance curing dance.
Scott Leonard and Michael McClure. Myth & Knowing: An Introduction to World Mythology. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2002.
C. Scott
Littleton, ed. Mythology: The Illustrated
Anthology of World Myth and Storytelling. London: Duncan Baird, 2002. An
extensive anthology of myths from ancient and tribal societies.
TEST
QUESTIONS
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In every society there
are particular ways in which people perceive and interpret their reality. This
is what is meant by the concept of:
a. supernatural b. worldview
c. culture d. sacred
Answer: b pages
29-30
2. The Navaho phrase to
“walk in beauty” and the Euro-American phrase “Thou makest him to have dominion
of the works of thy hands” point out major differences in:
a. the supernatural b. subsistence
activities
c. worldview d. the sacred
Answer: c page
31
3. An example of a
supernatural element in the narrative of Snow
White is:
a. the queen's looking
glass
b. Snow White returning to
life after death
c. the queen eating the
heart of Snow White to obtain her qualities of beauty
d. all of the above
Answer: d page
30-31
4. In the story of Snow White, the queen's looking glass is
an example of:
a. magic b. divination
c. witchcraft d. a worldview
Answer: b page
30
5. All of the following
statements about the story of Snow White
are correct except:
a. many of the places and
objects of the story are sacred
b. the story conveys a moral
lesson about the evils of envy and jealousy
c. there are many
supernatural elements in the story
d. the story contains an
example of ritual cannibalism
Answer: a page
30-31
6. The Snow White story is an example of a:
a. myth b. folktale
c. legend d. urban legend
Answer: b page
31
7. An example of a legend
would be:
a. the voyage of the Pilgrims on the Mayflower
b. the story of Little Red Riding Hood
c. the story of Noah and the ark
d. all of the above
Answer: a page
31
8. The story of crocodiles
living in the sewers of New York City is an example of a:
a. historical fact b. urban legend
c. myth d. folktale
Answer: b page
31
9. Ritual texts:
a. are social charters that
sets forth the organization of human relationships
b. explain the origins of
humans and the world
c. often contain multiple
versions of the same story
d. all of the above
Answer: d pages
31, 37
10. Myths:
a. are regarded as fact by those who accept
this on faith
b. include a great many sacred, supernatural
elements
c. take place in the past
d. all of the above
Answer: d page
31
11. Myths differ from
folktales in that:
a. myths are recounted in
ritual and folktales are not
b. myths reflect the
worldview and folktales do not
c. myths with the
supernatural and folktales do not
d. all of the above
Answer: a pages
31-32
12. Which of the following is
correct about oral texts?
a. The recitation of oral texts is often a
performance.
b. The story may change with each telling.
c. Different versions of the same story may
exist in different places.
d. all of the above
Answer: d page
32-33
13. Which of the following is
true about the myth of Genesis?
a. there are two separate versions of creation
told
b. the stories reflect a patriarchal worldview
c. the text acts as a social charter
d. all of the above
Answer: d page
36
14. The evolutionary school in
the nineteenth century associated myths with:
a. the “primitive period” b. the transition to modern times
c. full modernity d. the future
Answer: a page
39
15. Franz Boas and Bronislaw
Malinowski are representative of proponents of the:
a. structural analysis of myth b. psychological analysis of myth
c. functional analysis of myth d. evolutionary
analysis of myth
Answer: c pages
40
16. The analysis of myth in
terms of binary opposites is an example of:
a. functional analysis b. structural analysis
c. psychoanalytic analysis d. evolutionary analysis
Answer: b pages
40-41
17. Freud described myths as:
a. neuroses b. shared
dreams
c. psychoanalysis d. psychological conflict
Answer: b page
41
18. A proposed relationship
between early childhood experiences and adult projection systems like myths is
characteristic of which analytic approach?
a. functional analysis b. structural analysis
c. psychoanalytic analysis d. evolutionary analysis
Answer: c page
42
19. Jung believed that humans share inborn elements of the
unconscious that are manifested in myths.
He called this the:
a. collective unconscious b. innate symbolism
c. unconscious unified d. symbolic
ancestry
Answer: a page
42
20. Archetypes are:
a. myths about the end of the world
b. myths about a journey to the underworld
c. a main character of the collective
unconscious
d. a main character in a hero story
Answer: c page
42
21. The Navaho story Diné Bahanè is an example of a(n):
a. origin story b. apocalyptic story
c. trickster myth d. hero myth
Answer: a page
44
22. The Navaho Creation Story
takes place:
a. in a special garden
similar to the Judeo-Christian Garden of Eden
b. in the realm of the gods
in the sky
c. in a series of layers
that exist underneath the present world
d. in another reality
Answer: c pages
45-46
23. In the Navaho Creation
Story, the Holy People appeared and explained that they wanted to create
people:
a. with the power of
insects
b. with supernatural powers
c. who were giants
d. with hands and feet like
the Holy People
Answer: d pages
45-46
24. In the Navaho Creation
Story, First Man and First Woman were created from:
a. dust b. ears of corn
c. insects d. nothingness
Answer: b pages
45-46
25. In the Navaho Creation
Story, First Man and First Woman were created by the:
a. Holy People
b. Air-Spirit People
c. People Who Live in
Upright Houses
d. sacred twins
Answer: a pages
45-46
26. In the Navaho Creation
Story, life was given to the first humans by the:
a. Wind b. Sun
c. Mountains d. Animal People
Answer: a pages
45-46
27. An apocalypse is:
a. the catastrophic destruction of the world
b. the origin of the world through birth
c. a god who gave is known for trickery and
deceit
d. a type of hero myth
Answer: a page
46
28. The Book of Revelations in
the New Testament is an example of a(n):
a. trickster story b. hero myth
c. apocalyptic myth d. origin story
Answer: c page
47
29. A god who gave humans
important things by accident or through deception is known as a(n):
a. trickster b.
hero
c. deceit god d. creator god
Answer: a page
48
30. The story “Raven Steals the Light” is an example of a:
a. flood
story b. hero story
c. trickster
story d. war story
Answer: c pages 49-51
31. The story “Raven Steals the Light” tells us about the origin of
the:
a. earth
b. sun and moon
c. people d. salmon
Answer: b pages 49-51
32. The monomyth is a
narrative involving:
a. the creation
b. an explanation of illness
and death
c. a culture hero
d. none of the above
Answer: c page
51
33. The stories of Star Wars and Harry Potter most closely resemble:
a. monomyths b. creation stories
c. trickster stories d. apocalyptic stories
Answer: a pages
52-53
True/False Questions
34. The Navaho worldview
suggests an exploitation of natural resources by human society.
Answer:
F page 29-30
35. The Navaho phrase “to walk
in beauty” refers to the accumulation of material goods.
Answer:
F page 30
36. The story of Snow White is not a religious story
because it does not involve the sacred supernatural and is not the basis of
ritual.
Answer: T pages
30-31
37. The story of crocodiles
living in the sewers of New York is an example of a myth.
Answer:
F page 31
38. To say that something is a
myth means that it is not true.
Answer: F page
31
39. Religious texts often
change through time because they are often transmitted orally or subject to new
translations.
Answer: T page
32-33
40. In Islam, God spoke to
Mohammad in Arabic, and Arabic is used in ritual today.
Answer: T page
33
41. There are two creation
stories in Genesis. In one man and woman are created together; in the other man
was created first and woman was created later out of man’s rib.
Answer: T pages
34-36
42. The Golden Bough is an example of an origin story.
Answer: F page
39
43. Claude Levi-Strauss
analyzed the structure of myths and pointed out tat humans tend to categorize
the world in terms of binary opposites.
Answer: T page
40
44. Émile Durkheim used a
psychoanalytic approach to the analysis of myth and focused on the impact of
myth on social structure.
Answer: F pages
41-42
45. Proponents of the
psychoanalytic approach to the analysis of myth see such stories as the Oedipus
story as manifestations of the collective unconscious.
Answer: T pages
42-43
46. An example of an archetype
is the hero.
Answer:
T pages 42-43
47. In the Bunhongo Creation
Story, Bumba vomits up the world. This is an example of the emergence myth.
Answer: F page
43
49. In the Navaho Creation
Story, the first humans were created by the two Holy People.
Answer: F pages
44-47
48. The Christian New
Testament contains an apocalyptic myth.
Answer: T page
47
50. In the Haida story “The
Raven Steals the Light,” the Raven is an example of a trickster.
Answer: T pages
48-51
Essay Questions
51. What are the implications
of the Navaho and the Euro-American worldviews with response to conservation?
(pages 29-30)
52. Although the story of Snow White contains many supernatural
elements and contains a moral lesson, it is not considered to be a religious
story. Why? (pages 30-31)
53. What are the essential
differences between Genesis and the Navaho Creation Story? (pages 33-36, 44-46)
54. What are some of the
consequences of the oral transmission of myth compared with the written
transmission of myth? (pages 32-33)
55. Discuss the Gururumba
Creation Story from a structuralist point of view. (pages 40-42)
56. What was Sigmund Freud’s
approach to the study of myth? (pages 41-42)
57. In what ways are trickster
deities also creator deities? (page 47)
58. Give several examples of
the monomyth seen in contemporary motion pictures. (pages 47-48)
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