Aantekeningen hoorcolleges Classical Mythology 2024
Hoorcollege 1 (23-4-2024): What is mythology?
Cultures interact, so myths will change. There are many versions, so there is no
“right” version.
Why Classical mythology?
Used in many artforms.
What is mythology? (definitions)
Mythology is the study of myth or the whole of the approaches to understanding
myth; and the collected myths of particulars cultures.
Important parts of myths:
- A lot of foster parents
- 3 TIMES
Mythos in Greek means story. A myth is a fictional/traditional, meaningful story
that is true, because it is considered important for the community that it is being
told by. Mythology and religion are connected. Myth is a functional story. They
have a role in communities and the identity of people.
Myth is a traditional tale with a (secondary partial) reference to something of
collective importance. (W. Burkert, Greek mythology and ritual (1979))
Kinds of myths:
- Cosmogony (creation of the cosmos) & theogony (birth and characteristics
of the gods)
- Myths about the gods (explain to the greeks who their gods are and what
they can do)
- Hero myths
- Foundation myths (how the cities are founded and where the people came
from)
- Etiological myths (explains the origin of something)
- Etymological myths (explain the origin of a name)
- Literary myths (mythopoia)
Important:
- Myths are often inconsistent stories
- Myths are usually not logical
- There regularly are several versions and/or local variants
- Myths influence each other and they can melt together
- Myths are constantly in flux, there is no standard version
- The recorded (written) version is usually not the original one (except for
literary myths)
Sources for classical mythology:
- Written sources:
o Epic poetry
o Greek poetry
, o Latin poetry
o Mythography (collection of myths)
o Tragedies
- Visual sources
o Vase paintings
o Reliefs
o Mosaics
o Sculpture
What is mythology not?
- Different from myths: saga, legend, fable, folktale, fairy tale, animal tale,
urban tale
Saga:
- Germanic term meaning story
- Heroic tale around a historical core
- Set in an elite world
- Usually recorded in a poetic epic style
- Believed to have actually happened
- Limited role of the divine/supernatural
- Example Icelandic stories
Folktale/fairy tale:
- Set in the world of common people
- Time and place are undetermined
- Anonymous protagonists
- Stand-alone stories
- Standardized motifs and compositions (3 times 3)
- And they lived happily ever after
- Not assumed to be based on real events
Fable:
- Allegorical tale
- Animal fable: animals stand in form humans
- A clear often explicit moral
- Vanden vos reinaerde
- Aesop(us); la Fontaine
What is the meaning of myth? / The interpretation of myth
Euhemerism = changing myths in such a way that they are no longer in
opposition to the laws of nature or actual history. Euhemeros suggested that the
gods were originally kings who had been deified after death.
Principal schools in myth explanations:
1. Social Darwinism: myths are form of primitive science (Tylor, Müller)
2. Functionalism: myths establish, explain and legitimize social order
(Malinowski)
3. Myths are to be associated with (religious) ritual; they regulate the conduct
of humans vis-à-vis the gods
, 4. Myths are the products of human psychology, in particular the (universal)
subconsciousness (Freud, Jung, Campbell)
5. structuralism = myths bring order to a chaotic reality (Lévi-Strauss)
6. poststructuralism = same as above but argues that each myth must be
understood in its own specific historical and cultural context
7. myth originally were concerned with organizing the landscape
During the 19th century, scholars came developed a view were they saw biblical
texts and myths as pre-scientific explanations of natural phenomena.
Tylor (1832-1917):
- Social Darwinism
- Primitive Culture (1871):
o The natural sciences and religion are opposites, but they have the
same objective: to understand (and bring under control) the physical
world
o The recorded version of myths are usually of a relatively late, no-
primitive date, but they go back to prehistoric times
o These (presumed) primal myths are primitive explanations of reality,
no longer understood when recorded
Demeter (Ceres):
- A very old, pre-Greek fertility goddess, associated with agriculture and
Spring
- Attributes: Cornucopia (horn of plenty), torch, grain
- Her daughter Persephone or Kore is abducted by the Underworld king,
Hades
Friedrich Max Müller (1823-1900):
- An Indologist who applied current linguistic theories to mythology with the
aim of reconstructing ‘primal myths’.
- These primal myths are originally explanations of cosmological
phenomena, especially the sun, by the first agricultural societies, whose
main concern is the seasons
- These myths spread across Eurasia through the alleged Indo-European
migrations.
Andrew Lang:
- Myths are pre-scientific explanations of the origin of things (= etiological
myths)
Athena & Arachne Main themes: etiology, human conducts towards the gods
(hybris = not good), difference between humans and gods
Summary:
Tylor: myths are primitive, pre-scientific explanations of natural phenomena.
Müller: all (‘Indo-Germanic’) myths share a common background in primitive
‘primal myths’ that explain the coming and going of the seasons, and the rising
and setting of the sun
Hoorcollege 1 (23-4-2024): What is mythology?
Cultures interact, so myths will change. There are many versions, so there is no
“right” version.
Why Classical mythology?
Used in many artforms.
What is mythology? (definitions)
Mythology is the study of myth or the whole of the approaches to understanding
myth; and the collected myths of particulars cultures.
Important parts of myths:
- A lot of foster parents
- 3 TIMES
Mythos in Greek means story. A myth is a fictional/traditional, meaningful story
that is true, because it is considered important for the community that it is being
told by. Mythology and religion are connected. Myth is a functional story. They
have a role in communities and the identity of people.
Myth is a traditional tale with a (secondary partial) reference to something of
collective importance. (W. Burkert, Greek mythology and ritual (1979))
Kinds of myths:
- Cosmogony (creation of the cosmos) & theogony (birth and characteristics
of the gods)
- Myths about the gods (explain to the greeks who their gods are and what
they can do)
- Hero myths
- Foundation myths (how the cities are founded and where the people came
from)
- Etiological myths (explains the origin of something)
- Etymological myths (explain the origin of a name)
- Literary myths (mythopoia)
Important:
- Myths are often inconsistent stories
- Myths are usually not logical
- There regularly are several versions and/or local variants
- Myths influence each other and they can melt together
- Myths are constantly in flux, there is no standard version
- The recorded (written) version is usually not the original one (except for
literary myths)
Sources for classical mythology:
- Written sources:
o Epic poetry
o Greek poetry
, o Latin poetry
o Mythography (collection of myths)
o Tragedies
- Visual sources
o Vase paintings
o Reliefs
o Mosaics
o Sculpture
What is mythology not?
- Different from myths: saga, legend, fable, folktale, fairy tale, animal tale,
urban tale
Saga:
- Germanic term meaning story
- Heroic tale around a historical core
- Set in an elite world
- Usually recorded in a poetic epic style
- Believed to have actually happened
- Limited role of the divine/supernatural
- Example Icelandic stories
Folktale/fairy tale:
- Set in the world of common people
- Time and place are undetermined
- Anonymous protagonists
- Stand-alone stories
- Standardized motifs and compositions (3 times 3)
- And they lived happily ever after
- Not assumed to be based on real events
Fable:
- Allegorical tale
- Animal fable: animals stand in form humans
- A clear often explicit moral
- Vanden vos reinaerde
- Aesop(us); la Fontaine
What is the meaning of myth? / The interpretation of myth
Euhemerism = changing myths in such a way that they are no longer in
opposition to the laws of nature or actual history. Euhemeros suggested that the
gods were originally kings who had been deified after death.
Principal schools in myth explanations:
1. Social Darwinism: myths are form of primitive science (Tylor, Müller)
2. Functionalism: myths establish, explain and legitimize social order
(Malinowski)
3. Myths are to be associated with (religious) ritual; they regulate the conduct
of humans vis-à-vis the gods
, 4. Myths are the products of human psychology, in particular the (universal)
subconsciousness (Freud, Jung, Campbell)
5. structuralism = myths bring order to a chaotic reality (Lévi-Strauss)
6. poststructuralism = same as above but argues that each myth must be
understood in its own specific historical and cultural context
7. myth originally were concerned with organizing the landscape
During the 19th century, scholars came developed a view were they saw biblical
texts and myths as pre-scientific explanations of natural phenomena.
Tylor (1832-1917):
- Social Darwinism
- Primitive Culture (1871):
o The natural sciences and religion are opposites, but they have the
same objective: to understand (and bring under control) the physical
world
o The recorded version of myths are usually of a relatively late, no-
primitive date, but they go back to prehistoric times
o These (presumed) primal myths are primitive explanations of reality,
no longer understood when recorded
Demeter (Ceres):
- A very old, pre-Greek fertility goddess, associated with agriculture and
Spring
- Attributes: Cornucopia (horn of plenty), torch, grain
- Her daughter Persephone or Kore is abducted by the Underworld king,
Hades
Friedrich Max Müller (1823-1900):
- An Indologist who applied current linguistic theories to mythology with the
aim of reconstructing ‘primal myths’.
- These primal myths are originally explanations of cosmological
phenomena, especially the sun, by the first agricultural societies, whose
main concern is the seasons
- These myths spread across Eurasia through the alleged Indo-European
migrations.
Andrew Lang:
- Myths are pre-scientific explanations of the origin of things (= etiological
myths)
Athena & Arachne Main themes: etiology, human conducts towards the gods
(hybris = not good), difference between humans and gods
Summary:
Tylor: myths are primitive, pre-scientific explanations of natural phenomena.
Müller: all (‘Indo-Germanic’) myths share a common background in primitive
‘primal myths’ that explain the coming and going of the seasons, and the rising
and setting of the sun
