HI131 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Collective Unconscious, Anthropomorphism, High Adventure
Document Summary
Weekly quizzes (due two days after lecture: thursday after by 10:30) Nature of a myth: definition: (mythos) means "word, speech, story" but not every story is a myth, an expression of something verbally, three main things that define myths: Explanatory: of national identity/modern "historical" stories; of the natural world; of cultural practices. "how the concept of the hero was developed and redefined in the changing media and modes of storytelling: e. g. sophocles" oedipus / spiderman, wonder woman, and the amazons, compare pre-literate and literate societies. Ancient understanding: original understandings (see above, re-interpretations, rationalizing, critique of anthropomorphism, e. g. xenophanes; "one god is greatest among gods and men, but his appearance and thought are nothing like ours. " **nb: some of these are based on enlightenment disparagement of myths as primitive: ritualists, e. g. j. g. Frazer: myths are ritual in story form: e. g. adonis represents king/fertility ritual, culturalists. B. malinowski cultural practices explained and justified by myths: e. g. prometheus" offering to zeus.
