Greek Mythology

1. Greek Mythology Dr Toni Badnall toni.badnall@nottingham.ac.uk

2. What is a myth? Dictionary.com definition a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, esp. one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature. stories or matter of this kind: realm of myth. any invented story, idea, or concept: His account of the event is pure myth. an imaginary or fictitious thing or person. an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution. Origin: < LL mȳthos < Gk mŷthos story, word Synonyms:1. See LEGEND. 3. fiction, fantasy, talltale.

3. Implication of falsity...but... These were the most powerful navies. And even these, although so many generations had elapsed since the Trojan war, seem to have been principally composed of the old fifty-oars and long-boats, and to have counted few galleys among their ranks... Thucydides 1.14

4. Greek etymology • mu=qoj • word, speech • public speech • conversation • thing said, fact, matter • thing thought, unspoken word, purpose, design • saying • talk of men, rumour • tale, story, narrative • fiction (opp. lo/goj , historic truth) • generally, fiction, legend, myth • professed work of fiction, children's story, fable • plot of a comedy or tragedy

5. Myth as a function of social ideology • Csapo 2005 p.9: “…narrative which is considered socially important and is told in such a way as to allow the entire social collective to share a sense of this importance…”

6. Towards a definition • Spoken • Narrative/story • Connotations of falsehood/‘legendary’ • But – deeply rooted in culture/identity

7. How do we study mythology? • Literature • Visual culture • Ritual? • No coherent picture • Meaning within a particular text • Meaning within a particular social context

8. Mythological theory • Comparatism • Psychoanalysis • Ritual theory • Structuralism • Ideology/cultural criticism

9. Comparatism • Study of myths from different cultures in order to identify shared characteristics. • Associated with discovery of Indo-European language • Also with European cultural superiority • Max Mueller • Myths = Aryan poetic metaphors for celestial phenomena • James Frazer • Age of magic, Age of religion, Age of science

10. Psychoanalysis • Myth as an expression of repressed ideas in human consciousness • Sigmund Freud • Unconscious mind/dream interpretation • Analyses of Oedipus, Prometheus and Medusa myths • Carl Jung • Theory of “collective unconscious” • Archetypes (inherited ‘archaic’ patterns)

11. Ritual Theories • Scholars coming to realise that myth is product of social, not individual thought (Durkheim) • Myth exists in a significant relationship to ritual • Jane Harrison & the Cambridge Ritualists • Explain meaning & function of myths by relating them to rituals – absolute dependence • Walter Burkert • Sociobiology • Close relationship between myth & ritual – both cluster round essential needs, common crises and dilemmas of individual and society.

12. Structuralism • Analyses myth as a complex system (structure) of interrelated parts • Ferdinand de Saussure • Structuralist linguistics • Claude Levi-Strauss • Structuralist anthropology • Jean-Pierre Vernant • Analysis of mythology

13. Ideology • Cf. Vernant’s structuralism: ideological/cultural analysis aimed at placing myth in social context • Cultural criticism • Feminism • Queer theory • Post-colonialism • Post-structuralism: Derrida/Foucault • Marxism • Emphasis on social/ideological change, rather than rigidity