CLAS 180 Exam 1 Questions and Answers

CLAS 180 Exam 1 Questions and Answers Define "myth" A story; comes from the Greek word mythos (word, speech, tale, or story) Can be expressed orally, through writing, and/or through art Define "true myth" Stories about gods/goddesses and their interactions with humans Define "saga" Myth rooted in history; stories about heroes Define "classical myth" A story that, through its classical form, has attained a kind of immortality because its inherent archetypical beauty, profundity, and power have inspired rewarding renewal and transformation by successive generations Define "folktale" Adventures, clever strategies used by hero/heroine, triumph of hero/heroine, fanciful creatures Meant to be entertaining Not focused on the gods; may be focused on ordinary people and familiar characters Define "fairytale" A special kind of folktale Short, imaginative, traditional tales with a high moral and magical content Often designed for children and have more magical content What did Aristotle associate with myth? Used the word myth to mean the plot of a play; developed association with fiction Myths have beginning, middle, and end Characters; recognition & reversal; catharsis How are myth and religion related? Religious aspects of myth: creation, relationship with the gods, the afterlife Myths may be believed as aspect of religion Greeks & Romans had religious ceremonies connected to myths Mircea Eliade believed myth was related to __________ The timelessness of religion The spiritual release from historical time Myths provide spiritual experience and escape from everyday life According to Mircea Eliade, the human experience is separated into __________ and __________ space and time "sacred" and "profane" Myths about origin/creation make it possible to focus on the "sacred" Define "etiology" Explanation for the origin of a fact or custom From the Greek word "aitia," or cause Myths provide explanations for the unexplainable; literal and metaphorical explanations for the causes of things What were the Luperci? Priests who preformed a sacrifice in the Lupercal (cave where she-wolf cared for infants Romulus and Remus) for the Lupercalia, February 15th Roman holiday Ran naked and stuck women with leather straps to make them fertile What is Euhemerism? From Euhemerus, who wanted to explain myths in a rational way Claimed that gods were originally ordinary people; they became gods as a reward for their accomplishments Zeus was a mortal king, then became king of the gods after deposing his father Cronus What is antirationalism? Metaphorical interpretation of myths What did Max Muller believe about myths? Believed that all myths were allegories for nature (meteorological and cosmological phenomena - weather and creation; "cosmos" = universe) Many myths are related to nature, but that cannot apply to all myths Who were the two major 20th century psychological theorists? Sigmund Freud & Carl Jung Metaphorical interpretations of myth connected to psychological interpretations (looking for hidden meaning) What did Sigmund Freud's theories involve? Sexuality, the unconscious, interpretation of dreams Oedipus Complex Controversial theories Describe Freud's dream theories Dreams express concealed/suppressed desires and anxieties through symbols; myth can perform a similar function Dream-work process includes "condensation," "displacement," and "representation" of dream elements Describe Freud's Oedipus Complex Children direct their first sexual imposes toward their mothers and are jealous of their fathers Jung called the female version the "Electra Complex" Impulses remain unconscious and suppressed; Oedipus myth brings them to light Describe Carl Jung's major theories Collective unconscious and archetypes Collective unconscious: "continuing psychic tendencies of society;" separate from individual conscious Myths include archetypes: symbols/similar aspects that are recognized by society; behavior patterns that are part of the collective unconscious What are Jung's Animus/Anima? Anima: archetype of the female Animus: archetype of the male Men and women have internal concepts of these archetypes; they react to these archetypes when they fall in love How does J.G. Frazer interpret myth? Links myth with ritual in his book "The Golden Bough" How does Jane Harrison interpret myth? Similar to Frazer; links myth to ritual How does Robert Graves interpret myth? Interprets "true myth" as "ritual mime;" separates myth from other literary categories; overly narrow because not all myths are connected with ritual How did Bronislav Malinowski interpret myth? Myth as social charters Studies the customs of the Trobriander islanders from an anthropological perspective and discovered a connection between myths and social charters Myths confirmed existing institutions, customs, or beliefs by reference to tradition Describe structuralism An attempt to analyze myths into their component parts Investigation of the formal structure of myths Application of structuralism leads to recognition of patterns and shared structure, facilitating comparison of myths Who were the three major structuralists? Vladimir Popp, Claude Levi-Strauss, Walter Burkert Describe Claude Levi-Strauss' views on structuralism and binary oppositions Structure is encoded into myth; myths can be broken down into parts Myths based on binary pairs/oppositions (life/death, good/bad, male/female); finds resolution between conflicting opposites Structure of human behavior and society consistent; structure of the mind based on binaries Describe Vladimir Propp's views on Linear Structure/Motifemes Structuralist interpretation of myth in Russian folktales Russian folktales shared the same linear structure; time sequence remains constant Basic structure based on thirty-one functions or units (later termed motifemes); characters change, but functions remain the same and are in the same sequence Describe Walter Burkert's theory of the four theses Developed four theses about myths Combined structuralist theories while also adding to them Myths have a "historical dimension," change over time to fit culture, circumstances, and needs of story teller Myths are products of culture What are Walter Burkert's four theses? 1. Myth belongs to the more general class of traditional tale 2. The identity of a traditional tale is to be found in a structure of sense within the tale itself 3. Tale structures, such as sequences of motifemes, are founded on basic biological or cultural programs of action 4. Myth is a traditional tale with secondary, partial reference to something of collective important Who was Joseph Campbell, and what were his theories? Comparative mythologist; studies myths from different cultures and time periods Similar spiritual values in myths across time periods Sees similar elements in stories of heroes and their journeys What are the main stages of the Monomyth (hero's journey), according to Joseph Campbell? 1. Departure 2. Initiation 3. Return Describe feminist theory as it relates to myth Interpret myths from the perspective of women; focus on women in myths Intersects with structuralist binary oppositions (male/female) Reconstruct treatment and position of women in Greek and Roman society Describe how the theme of rape is represented in myth Complex theme to interpret; disturbing; different interpretations Often the seducer is a god; both men and women are seducers Persephone; Daphne and Apollo; Hippolytus and Phaedra; Hylas Describe how homosexuality is represented in myth Myths portray male and female homosexual relationships Homosexuality and bisexuality were accepted as part of life in the ancient world, especially in Athens What are some examples of sagas? Trojan saga: stories of the legendary war between the Greeks and Trojans; led to destruction of Troy Mycenean Saga: saga built around the family of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae History, or just legends?