Introduction to Mythology

Mr. Morris

Associate Principal

By the end of class today you will…

Become familiar with the various theories of the origins of myths

Differentiate between classical and primitive myths

How did myths begin?

Historical events that became distorted

Man’s attempt to explain natural events that he could not understand

Two theories...

Important Contributors

• Euhemerus

• Friedrich Max Muller

• Sir Edward Burnett Tylor

• Bonsislaw Malinowski

• Sir James George Frazier

Euhemerus

Greek scholar who lived during the late 300’s and early 200’s B.C.

Developed one of the oldest known theories about the origin of myths.

Euhemerus’ Theory

All myths are based on historical fact. Euhemerus believed thatscholars had to strip away the supernatural elements to reach the facts.

Friedrich Max Müller

German-born British language scholar of the late 1800’s.

Believe that by the time basic texts such as Rig-Veda and the Theogony appeared, the symbolic meaning of the texts was lost.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_M%C3%BCller

Müller as an OLD man.

Eh? What was that? I’m

not cold!

Muller’s Theory

All gods and mythical heroes were really representation of nature divinities, and heroes were originally a symbol for the sun in one of its phases.

For Example:

the birth of a hero stood for dawn, the hero’s triumph over obstacles represented the sun at noon, its highest point. The hero’s decline and death expressed the sunset.

Sir Edward Burnett Tylor English anthropologist of the

1800’s. Man’s first idea about the

supernatural was his belief that he had a soul. While man slept, his soul would wander freely and have many adventures.

Finally he decided that everything in nature had a soul. This explained natural events.

Gradually, man came to believe that the souls controlling natural occurrences could answer prayers for protection of special favors.

Tylor considered animism the first step in the development of human thought—and the basis of myths.

Animism- the idea that all things in nature have a soul.

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9073987/Sir-Edward-Burnett-Tylor

Tylor’s Theory

Myths began through man’s efforts to account for unexplainable occurrences in dreams.

Bronislaw Malinowski

Polish-born British anthropologist of the early 1900’s

DISAGREED with Tylor’s theory but instead emphasized the psychological conditions that lead man to create myths.

http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/archive/gutoho/malinowski_bronislaw.htm

Malinowski’s Theory

All people recognize that a frontier exists between what man can and cannot explain logically. Man creates myths where this frontier begins.

Man had to create myths to relieve the tension brought on by his not knowing why something happens.

Sir James George Frazer

Scottish anthropologist of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

Wrote that societies sacrificed symbols of their gods to keep these gods—and thus the world—from decaying and dying.

The symbol of the dying and reborn god appears in almost every ancient mythology.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Frazer

Frazer’s Theory

Myths originated from the natural cycle of birth, growth, decay, death, and --most important-- rebirth.

How Frazer’s Theory was Developed: You don’t have to write this down,

I just found it interesting.

His theory was an explanation of an ancient Italian ritual conducted at Nemi, near Rome. At Nemi, there was a sacred grove of trees. In the middle of the grove grew a huge oak tree associated with the god Jupiter. A priest presided over the grove and the tree.

To become the priest, the man had to kill the current priest with a branch of mistletoe taken from the top of the oak. If the man succeeded, he proved that he had more vigor than the presiding priest and thus had earned the position.

Frazer developed continued…He concluded that the priests at Nemi were killed as a sacrifice. The ancient Italians believed that when a priest began to lose his vigor, so did Jupiter. As Jupiter became less vigorous, so did the world.

For example, winters became longer and the land less fertile.

To keep the world healthy, the priest, representing Jupiter had to be killed and reborn in the form of the more vigorous slayer.

What Mythology Tells us about People

Emile Durkheim - Most of a society’s gods, heroes, and myths are really collective representations of the institutions and values of that society

These representations determine how the individuals think and act.

Georges Dumezil- Found that the principal Indo-European divinities were collective representations of the caste system common to several ancient Indo-European peoples.

Mythology and the Individual

Carl Jung - Everyone has a personal and collective unconscious. The unconscious is formed by his experiences in the world and filtered through his senses. This collective unconscious is shared by all members of his race.

The collective unconscious is organized into basic patterns and symbols called archetypes.

Myths, Fairy Tales, Folk Sagas, Art

Jung believed that all mythologies have certain features in common. These features include characters such as gods and heroes, and themes such as love and revenge. Other features included places, such as the home of the gods or the underworld and plots such as a battle between generations for control of a throne.

Jung believed that scholars could trace the psychological development of particular races as well as of all mankind.

Neelan, M. (1994). Theories and

Sources. Mythology (pp. 3-9). Rocky

River, Ohio: Center for Learning.

Resources