CLAA05H3 Chapter : Myth Chapter Notes .docx
Document Summary
Difficult to define bc of the enormous amount of stories gathered from many cultures by ethnographers, anthropologists, & historians. Recently the word myth is used in a restricted way. Some deny that the term expresses a coherent concept at all. Myth = a traditional story with collective importance. Character comes from a greek word meaning a certain mental imprint . Myths have plots, characters, & a setting. Traditional comes from the latin word trado handover (these stories have been handed-over) Distinguish between myths based on the nature of the principal characters and the function that the story fulfilled for the listener & the teller: 1. Stories in which supernatural beings are the main actors (superior to humans) Generally explain why the world, or some aspect of it, is the way it is. Origin & destruction of grand things: universe, gods, & ourselves) Ex; creation myths bc they explain the causes that brought the world into existence: 2.
