Myth as explanation: Human Suffering (the problem of evil)

1. Pandora

2. the forbidden fruit

3. return for grain

4. Orpheus and Eurydice

5. bad karma and the cycle of life

6. a doomed ancestor brings down human suffering, such as the story of blood

libel told about the Jews.

Lecture Notes for Humanities 110

Introduction to the Humanities

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Lecture Notes

Chapter 3

Role Sheet

Collect Homework #2

Handouts

Lecture on Chapter 3

Question: Who are you? Let me give an example. I am the son of Larry and Sandra.

Brother of James. My family tradition is Lutheran. We emigrated from England in the

17th century. We believe in hard work and Democracy. I am only the second person to go

to college in my immediate family.

So, the question is what are myths (stories) which give your life meaning?

Before there were formal arts mythology probably existed in varying guises in all early

cultures as a means of establishing their identities, their heritage, and lending meanings to

their rituals.

What rituals give meaning to my life. My mom, dad and brother celebrate Christmas (as a

secular holiday), while my wife and I don’t celebrate Christmas. We believe in intimate

get togethers with family and friends.

Mythology can be defined as the study or science of myths: a collection of all myths of a

specific people or about a specific being.

It serves to explain: some phenomenon of nature (floods), origin of humanity (genesis),

the place of a particular people within humanity (Jewish), or the origin of evil (Satan)

Can the students think of other examples?

Archetypes of the journey, the hero, etc…

Examples: Journey (Buddha, 40 days and 40 nights), Hero (Gilgamesh, Jesus, Buddha).

These help people understand their place in the world.

Carl Jung and the collective unconsciousness. Archetypes, according to Jung, are: mythic

characters, events, symbols, and buried assumptions transmitted by the collective

unconsciousness

Hero Myth by Otto Rank and the Hero’s Characteristics

1. son of highborn parents (in some cases, even deities)

2. child sent away because of bad prophecy

3. raised by humble parents

4. eventually performs a wondrous feat that proves his noble parentage.

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Western Hero vs. non-Western Mythology

Western hero generally has a fatal flaw. His journey starts with gaining power, then

losing power. Finally, after his death, he is recognized once more. He receives glory but

people resent the glory he receives.

Examples: Jesus, Martha Stewart, etc… ?

Eastern hero, according to Joseph Campbell, is generally without personality—a concept

rather than a strident individual. The Asian hero is the product of an impersonal law" that

“reduces to a mere blot the accident of an individual life.”

Is the hero a thing of the past? No. Celebrities. How about Tiger Woods before the

scandal? Who else? Tom cruise? It is the cult of celebrity?

The myth of the mysterious stranger. Who fits this myth? Obama maybe? The

gunfighter?

Other Major Archetypes

The power of words

Internet and ATM passwords. Abracadabra… Hocus Pocus, open sesame…

The power of numbers

Example: Dante’s nine circles of hell, thirty-three cantos plus one to get the number to

100; The Trinity; the seven deadly sins; 40 days and 40 nights; Three wishes; thirteen

apostles.

The circle

Found in almost every culture. Suggests that the universe is not a random collection

unrelated and the mind is a unified entity capable of comprehending the universe.

Example: Crop Circles.

The journey

Represents life as having purpose and destination. In journey stories there is usually a

goal (such as the Mount of Doom in the Lord of the Rings trilogy or the land of Canaan in

the Hebrew Bible). Remember that in the west, the hero is not allowed to enjoy his

success.

The garden

Example: Eden, the age of Innocence; the land of Canaan, Rousseau’s state of nature; the

new world, Gaea (the planet as it should be).

Myth as Explanation: Creation

1. in Taoism—from a single egg which suddenly appeared in the Void.

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2. in Greek mythology—from Chaos, which was always here and then gave birth to

children

3. in Judaism Christianity, and Islam—from the single God, who was always here and

created the universe and humanity out of nothing (Creatio ex nihilo).

Myth as Explanation: The natural world

1. Greek myth where the seasons are a result of Persephone, Hades, and the pomegranate.

2. African myth (form Ghana) accounts for a devastating drought because of a 7 head

serpent being decapitated.

Myth as explanation: Human Suffering (the problem of evil)

1. Pandora

2. the forbidden fruit

3. return for grain

4. Orpheus and Eurydice

5. bad karma and the cycle of life

6. a doomed ancestor brings down human suffering, such as the story of blood libel told

about the Jews.

Childhood Myths (fairy tales)

1. Need for reassurance

2. being attractive and rich

3. class differences

4. the importance of names

5. the dark side of things (witches, evil forests, goblins, fairies, wolves, vagina dentate

(from Mexico and other places)

Popular Myths

1. All you need is love

2. us versus them

3. there is always room at the top

4. isn’t that just like a man/woman?

5. sexual identity (all gays are promiscuous, gay men are effeminate, gay woman are

butch)

Film

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

See handout.

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