Chapter One – What is Mythology?
Andy Gurevich
This week, we will begin to explore what myth is, no easy question to answer, and also look at some of the ways humans have developed and used their myths. We might discover as we go that the stories and mythological images of our ancestors speak to us today in more relevant and meaningful ways than we thought possible.
First we need to try to define myth. One textbook offers a simple definition at the beginning of the introduction,
“Myths symbolize human experience and embody the spiritual values of a culture.” (Rosenberg xiii)
The problem with this definition is the phrase “symbolize human experience.” Just what does that mean? It is what myths do, but it doesn’t really give us much in the way of definition.
Joseph Campbell, another somewhat famous scholar and mythologist who we’ll be using often this term, defined myth as follows,
“A whole mythology is an organization of symbolic images and narratives, metaphorical of the possibilities of human experience and the fulfillment of a given culture at a given time.”
“Metaphorical of…” Hmm. What does that mean, exactly? Onward.
Psychoanalyst Rollo May, in his book “The Cry for Myth” suggests,
“A myth is a way of making sense in a senseless world. Myths are the narrative patterns that give significance to our existence. Myths are like the beams in a house: not exposed to outside view, they are the structure which holds the house together so people can live in it.”
You will soon see that although most scholars of mythology agree that it is a foundational component of how any society, culture, and individual define themselves, none can agree absolutely on how to define it. But this isn’t really a problem. They may all be right, given the aspects of myth they are emphasizing in their different definitions.
That is why I encourage you to define myth for yourselves during your readings and ponderings.
From the many definitions of myth in books and on the web, we can see that myths have four basic attributes in common:
- They are cultural—they reflect the beliefs and values of a group of people.
- They are sacred—they concern the spiritual or divine aspects of existence that human beings cannot understand.
- They are didactic—they seek to explain the unexplainable, and they teach humans how to behave, live, and relate to each other and the gods.
- They are foundational—they provide basic rules, beliefs, and rituals for a culture to establish shared beliefs and practices.
Joseph Campbell adds that all living myth must serve four primary functions:
- Cosmological—Its cosmological function is to describe the “shape” of the cosmos, the universe, our total world, so that the cosmos and all contained within it become vivid and alive for us, infused with meaning and significance; every corner, every rock, hill, stone, and flower has its place and its meaning in the cosmological scheme which the myth provides.
- Mystical—Its metaphysical function is to awaken us to the mystery and wonder of creation, to open our minds and our senses to an awareness of the mystical “ground of being.” Many would say that this is the primary function of myth-to find a way to communicate whatever mystical insight has been gained on the journey: an understanding of the mysteries that underlie the universe; an appreciation of its wonders; the sense of awe or rapture experienced. Since this experience often can’t be communicated directly, myth speaks in metaphors, symbols, and symbolic narratives that aren’t always bound by objective reality.
- Sociological—Its sociological function is to pass down “the law,” the moral and ethical codes for people of that culture to follow, and which help define that culture and its social structure.
- Psychological—Its psychological (or pedagogical) function is to lead us through particular rites of passage that define the various significant stages of our lives-from dependency to maturity to old age, and finally, to our deaths, the final passage. These rites of passage bring us into harmony with the “ground of being” (a term used by Campbell to refer to an unnamed, unspecified universal mystical power) and allow us to make the journey from one stage to another with a sense of comfort and purpose.
Today, in our culture, we often dismiss myth as a falsehood, or fanciful, untrue stories, like urban myths or “false news.”. This is not the definition of myth we will concern ourselves with. For each of the myths we read, the culture from which they arose believed them to be true and foundational to their individual and collective identities. It was how they understood the great mysteries of the universe and our place in it—How did the earth come to be? How was mankind created? What is my purpose? Can I know god? Is there a life after death?
Today, we are still asking the same questions, and for many people, the answers are in their religious beliefs, many of which have their roots in the myths. Campbell once said, “a mythology is another person’s religion, and a religion is your own personal mythology.”
This first group of myths (Lessons 1 through 4) are Creation myths. They seek to explain “how it all started.” There are 8 basic motifs (a recurring pattern or object) for creation myths:
- Conjunction: mingling of waters or primal elements creates a first entity or a livable surface
- Divine emission: blood or other body fluids create man or beings or other gods
- Sacrifice: a god sacrifices himself or is sacrificed to achieve creation of the earth or humans
- Division/Consumption: marriage of earth and sky or separation of earth and sky creates livable space for humans
- Cosmic egg: all humans, and the earth sometimes, are contained in a great egg to be opened when the god wills it
- Emergence: first “people” emerge from an original cramped or hostile world into a new world or a series of worlds
- Deus Faber: the god consciously crafts the world and humans out of a substance necessary for the survival of mankind (like clay, mud, stone, corn)
- Ex Nihilo-out of nothing: creation by thought, breath, dream or word
These eight methods are creation are easy to see in the myths we read. What might each method say to the people about their importance to the gods? Think about this question as your read the myths.
As you read, you will see that myths are narratives; they tell a story. It is the culture’s way of trying to explain the creation of the universe and mankind in a way everyone could understand. These stories (myths) were passed down through generations orally because they existed long before humans created writing.
We don’t know for sure, but it is likely that the myths evolved over time as they were retold, perhaps to include new myths from other cultural groups, or to reflect man’s more sophisticated understanding of the world and the gods.
Often these myths were retold in celebrations of a religious nature, such as a New Year celebration or the beginning of spring, or at the harvest.
The myths, although simple as narratives, are complex in trying to explain existence and the gods. In some cases, you will find contradictions, missing pieces, and some just plain confusing ideas. Remember, these are myths, not fact-based explanations. We need to read them differently than we would a history or science book. But when we know how to read them as intended, as metaphors for the journey of the soul back to the ground of its own being, then they can reveal timeless truth to us, whether we “believe” in them or not.
So…A closer look: It’s about time!
- Legend is defined as a traditional story that may be based on historical facts, but is not easily proven to be historical (like the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table).
- Folklore is more like myth in that it is stories about traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community passed down through word of mouth. This definition is very much like myth, but as we will see, there is one attribute of myth that may be missing from folklore.
In the Indian (Hindu) creation myth, time is presented as cyclical—a constant repetition of creation, destruction and rebirth. The Mayan culture also saw time as cyclical as presented in their calendars. Most Western religions have from their beginning seen time as linear, having a clear, set beginning (On the first day, God created…) and a clear, set ending. When our world ends, there is no indication that there will be a regeneration or re-creation as there is the Hindu myth.
Yet, everything about our world indicates that time is cyclical—the track of the sun and moon through the sky, the passing of the seasons, the celebration of recurring events like Thanksgiving and our birthdays, even our clocks are round.
Time is one of those puzzling questions that underlies many of the great questions of mankind. We are obsessed with time, and much of our language is devoted to time—we try to save time (a bizarre notion); we spend time; we think time is money; we take time; we waste time. We even upset our lives twice a year by setting clocks ahead and back.
Scientists and philosophers tell us time is an illusion, it isn’t real, and we can’t measure it. Why then does it seem so real to us? We can’t function without schedules, or knowing what time it is.
So, think about this: how might believing in time as linear or cyclical influence a culture’s attitude toward death or how we live our lives in the present time? What if we do come back for another try? What if X marks the spot and when we get there, there is no hope to return to life as we know it?
Now you are ready to read the myths (Please do not panic. Many of these are quite short and you can use open book and open notes to do your assignments.):
- The History & Functions of Myth
- The Enuma Elish: Historical Context
- The Babylonian Creation Epic: The Enuma Elish
- Click here for another version of the myth.
- The Mayan Creation: Introduction and Historical Context
- THE CREATION (Mayan)
- Click here for a video version.
- The Chinese Creation: Introduction and Historical Context
- The Creation Myths:
- Pan Gu
- Nu Kua (or Nu Wa)
- Yin and Yang
- Click here for an alternate version of all three.
- The Creation Myths:
- The Indian Creation: Introduction and Historical Context
- The Hindu Creation Myths
- Alternative video versions of the Hindu Creation: