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World mythology

World mythology. Spring 2012. Defining Mythology. “ a story about something significant in which the main figures are personalities ” (Segal) “ Traditional stories a society tells itself that encode or represent [its] world-view, beliefs , principles, and often fears ” (Vandiver)

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World mythology

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  1. World mythology Spring 2012

  2. Defining Mythology • “a story about something significant in which the main figures are personalities” (Segal) • “Traditional stories a society tells itself that encode or represent [its] world-view, beliefs, principles, and often fears” (Vandiver) • Stories • Old or “sacred” • “special seriousness and importance” (Fry)

  3. “Mythology”: origins in western thought • Mythos: story or fiction • Created by a poet: poetry is “made” • “a beyond located in a faraway time and a distant place” • Plato: replaced by logos (“truth”) and philosophy • Five classes of inhabitants (Plato) • Gods • Daemons • Inhabitants of Hades, the dead • Heroes • Men of the past

  4. “Myth” and Mythology • “-ology”: “study of” • Are we studying myth itself or the study of myth? • “Modern” Religion versus Classical “Myth” • Myths and Truth • “inside” vs. “outside” • Myth does not mean “false” • Everyone believes his/her myths are “true” • Learning Disinterestedness

  5. Myths, Legends, Folktales • Myth: Gods and their rites (rituals) • Legend: traditional stories rooted in historical fact • Pre-history vs. History • Folktales: folk-tales, not aristocratic • primarily for “entertainment” • Humor rather than tragedy (“awe-ful”) • Actors are “like us”; ordinary people (or animals) • Example of alligator “urban legend” (5-6)

  6. Myth and Science • 19th Century Views: Science replaces myth • E. B. Tylor: Myth explains and understands the world • In modern world, science does what myth did • J. G. Frazer • Not theory, but applied “science” • Myth explained how ritual worked • Example: “Creationism” vs. Evolutionary Theory

  7. Understanding Myth • Aetiology: origin or cause of something • Not just scientific (contra p. 7) • Psychology: How do “I” work? • what does it mean to be a human being? • Sociology: how do groups work? • society/communities • Anthropology: cultural values • History: what happened? • Tells us about the past

  8. The Trojan War: A “case study” in myth • The Judgment of Paris: who is the most beautiful goddess • Menelaus, Agamemnon, and the sacrifice of Iphigenia (“the family of Atreus”) • The Trojan War lasts 10 years • The Iliad: the last year of the war • Odyssey: journey of Odysseus home • Return of Agamemnon, and murder

  9. The Trojan War: the judgment of Paris • Paris son of Priam, king of Troy, who kidnapped Helen, wife of Menelaus • Marriage of Thetis, sea-goddess • Desired by Zeus & Poseidon • Son greater than father, so married to human male • Eris (“Strife”) & Themis (justice) showed up uninvited • Eris throws in apple, “to the fairest” • Paris must decide which goddess gets the apple • Aphrodite bribes with the “most beautiful woman in the world”

  10. Aphrodite (footnote) • Not goddess of love • Goddess of sexual desire and passion • Desires someone else to meet one’s own needs and urges • Not concern for the well-being of other • Not “romantic” love • ≈ Ishtar (181), sexuality and war • Desires Gilgamesh (180) • Sexual passion destroys

  11. Questions • What is the story “about”? • Why tell the story? • Is it a myth? • Narrative • Role of gods • Historical Basis • H. Schliemann discovered “real Troy” and Mycenae

  12. Understanding Myth and the Trojan War • Aetiology • ruins of Mycenae • why did Paris “do it”? Why did Agamemnon sacrifice his daughter? • Psychology: nature of sexual passion • Sociology: role of heroes; why does war occur? • Anthropology: glory in battle, • History: led to discovery of Troy and Mycenae

  13. Processes of Mythic Production • Oral, memorized • Rhythmic and/or rhymed • Formulaic: repeated, fixed, stock phrases • “Paratactic” vs. “syntactic” storytelling • different parts of the narrative exist side by side • different parts are connected, added to each other • “Literary Frame”: retelling a story to make a specific point, communicate some new idea • Rationalize: make up (invent) reasons

  14. Example of “retelling”: the Europa Myth • Europa raped by Zeus, disguised as a bull • Taken from Phoenicia to Crete • Sons and brothers look for her • Herodotus: Europe not descended from Europa • Rome used myth to justify power • Horace: “Stop your sobbing…half the world will bear your name” • European Union uses this to describe and symbolize its identity

  15. Greek Creation Myths: Origins of the gods • “live forever” • Calls on Muses • Chaos (“gap”, “void”), Gaia, Ouranos • Eros “makes men weak” • Tartarus: underworld • Chaos, Night, Erebos (“darkness”) • Sea god (Pontus), fresh water (Oceanus) • Cyclopes, Hundred Handed (see 31) • Ouranos hates them

  16. Muses • 3 Titans • Practice • Song • Memory • Mothers of: • “Olympian” Muses: music, song, dance • Nine “genres” of chanting and knowledge • E.g., epic, tragedy, comedy, history 

  17. Eros • Desire (not “love”) • A primal god • Comes “before” Aphrodite • Later considered son or companion of Aphrodite • Multiple Erotes = Cupids 

  18. The castration of Ouranos • Ouranos hates his children • “shameful acts” (ll. 71, 77) • Genitals removed by Kronos • Blood creates • Furies • Giants: primal powers of nature • Nymphs: spirits of ash tree • Foam becomes Aphrodite • Accompanied by Eros • Lines 114-116

  19. The Titans: Kronos and Rhea • Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Zeus • Kronos swallows children • Rhea replaces Zeus with stone • Kronos regurgitates children • Omphalos: sacred stone

  20. Zeus & his mates • Lighting, thunder, kingship, law • Themis —> Order, Justice, Fates • Demeter —> Persephone • Mnemosyne —> the 9 Muses • Leto—> Apollo, Artemis • Hera —> Hebe (youth, first cupbearer), Ares • Other sons: Hermes, Dionysus, Heracles

  21. Children of Zeus and Hera without copulation • Athena Parthenos (“the Virgin”) • Wisdom subservient to Zeus • Avoids fate of father and grandfather • Hera • Hephaistos • Poseidon

  22. Pandora (1) • “all-gifts” • Ironic? • Bad & Good Strife • Eris: fighting • Good competition, incentive to improve • Prometheus (“fore-thought”) • Tricked Zeus into choosing bones of sacrifice over meat • Zeus hid fire, Prometheus stole it

  23. Pandora (2) • Figure of Pandora • Made of water and earth • Weaving • Charm, desire, cares • Slyness, “morals of a bitch” (“lies, crafty words, deceitful nature”) • Epimetheus (“after-thought”) • “don’t accept the gifts of the gods”—Why not? • Pandora opens “the cask” • Evils, diseases, cares, pain, work • Only hope remains, caught in the lid

  24. Ages of Man (1) • Golden • Long lives “untouched by work and sorrow” • Died as if one went to sleep • Became “[pure] spirits of the earth,”“givers of wealth” • Silver • Children for 100 years, short adulthood • Had never developed self-control • Failed to sacrifice • Became spirits of the underworld

  25. Ages of Man (2) • Bronze (from ash tree: staffs of spears) • Violent and war-mongers • Nameless in Hades • Heroes, Demi-Gods • Just before present: e.g., Trojan War heroes • A few now live carefree life on the Blessed Isles • Iron Age • “work and grieve unceasingly” • Future loss all morality & propriety (ll. 82, 90, 99) • Aiodos (Shame), Nemesis (Righteous Indignation)

  26. Ovid’s Creation Story • “sing of metamorphoses” • “science,” i.e., speculative theories • Monism • All is water • Not a single thing, but a boundless universe of change from one opposite to another (e.g., wet to dry) • How can “boundless” be a thing? Density • Pluralism • “the many” come from 4 things, which make everything through “love” and “strife” • Not 4 things, many “seeds” ; a thing is whatever “seed” predominates

  27. The World • Chaos: undefined, “confused” • “at war” • Definition • Fire, air, water, earth • Everything has its place • Climate zones of earth, Wind • Stars can appear • Man (not sure of origin) • “seeds of the sky” • Mixture of fire and air emulates the form of the gods

  28. Ages of Man according to Ovid • Gold (Saturn = Cronos) • No need for law • No intrusion into natural harmony, no farming • Silver: rule of Jove (Zeus) • Origins of seasons, hot, cold • Man needs a house and farming • Bronze: cruel and violent, yet not “sacrilegious” • Iron • Impiety, property, plunder, plots (ll 181-2, 200-1, 204ff.)

  29. Enuma Elish: Background • Powers (58) • Sumer(ian) 3000-2350; 2100-2000 • Akkad(ian) 2350-2100—>Assyrian (1600-612) • Babylon(ian) 2000-1600; 612-539 • Marshes of Persian Gulf (map bottom) • Salt and fresh water • Central Plant: Reeds • Biblical symbol: Garden of Eden, coming together of rivers

  30. Marshes and Reeds

  31. Marsh Culture

  32. The First Gods of Enuma Elish • Salt water, fresh water • Tiamat: chaos, female(see ll. 135-145, 430ff.) • Apsu, “vizier” Mumma (fog) • Ea (at first “Nudimmud”) • Fourth generation • Also, “Enki”(lord [en] of the earth/soil [ki]) • Comes from Apsu

  33. Noisy Gods and Ea’s conquest of Apsu • Gods of Ea’s generation disturb the “old” gods • Tolerated by Tiamat • Confronted by Apsu and Mummu • “How can we destroy what we created?” • Apsu and Mummu plot • Ea seizes control • “stilled the waters” (ll. 63, 68) • Kills Apsu, ties up Mummu • “set dwelling…on top of Apsu”

  34. Marduk created to defeat Tiamat • “superior in every way” (l. 92, see 104) • Given authority by Anu: sky/heaven • Marduk’s “grandfather,” removed from immediate authority • Winds stir up Tiamat (ll. 110, 119, see 229) • Creates monsters as weapons • Qingu commander of army: “cast a spell” (l. 151) • Initial defeat of Anu and (father) Anshar (Ll. 173-4) • Summoning of Marduk • “what kind of man?,”“Tiamat, of womankind”(ll. 194, 195) • Asks for council; power of unchanging decrees

  35. Marduk’s War against Tiamat • Gods authorize worship of Marduk (ll. 260-270) • Power of creation and destruction • “path of peace and obedience” (l. 292, see l. 471) • Winds as weapons (Tiamat has her monsters) • Battle of spells (ll. 319, 329) • Tiamat seems to praise Marduk (331); he rejects • Who has rejected compassion (l. 338; see 45)? • Given power to whom it does not belong • Threatened Ashar and Anu • Marduk sends winds, Tiamat tries to swallow, Marduk shoots inside

  36. Division of Tiamat: primal sea controlled • Ties up enemies; takes Tablet of Destinies • Tiamat’s body makes sky and earth • Takes over worship of older gods (ll. 400 ff.; 458 ff.) • Ribs becomes gate-posts • Constellations, time, moon, sun (Shamash) • Poison = fog; head & udder = mountains; eyes—> 2 rivers; tail and thigh fixes cosmos • Reads tablets and establishes worship (l. 474) • Establishes Babylon

  37. Creation of man and Kingship of Marduk • To serve the gods • Need a victim: Qingu incited the war • Assigns gods to sky and earth (300 each) • Need to rest, ask for a shrine (l. 544-5; see 488) • The banquet of the gods • Anu names Marduk’s bow • Confirm Marduk’s “kingship” and “mastery” • Fifty names of Marduk • = Elil (syncretism)

  38. Creation in Genesis (the Hebrew Bible) • “in the beginning…[of?]” • Tohu va-bohu • The Deep = Tehom = ?Tiamat • “Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters” • “And God said…” • Light: Night and day • Firmament=expanse • Sea and dry land, vegetation • Sun, moon, stars • animals in sea & air • Land animals, man • “very good”: God rests

  39. water Rakiya =“firmament”/expanse Light Day Earth, land Dark Night water The deep: Tehom Based on the work of Norbert M. Samuelson Void

  40. Based on the work of Norbert M. Samuelson “Windows” Rakiya “seas” “fountains of the deep” Earth, land

  41. The Garden of Eden, Man and Woman • Heaven and earth already; no rain, only mist • Man formed from dust; “the breath of life” • God plants the garden “in the east” • Tree of life and tree of the knowledge of good and evil • Man to till the garden: don’t eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil • A Companion for man • Naming of the animals; but none are appropriate (“fit”) • Woman created from rib • Both are naked but unashamed

  42. The Loss of Paradise • Serpent: how does the woman change the command? • You will be like elohim. • Elohim (“God”) and Yhwh (“the LORD”) • Was the serpent right? • Knowledge: nakedness • “hear the sound of the LORD God” • Ashamed • Curses • Clothing; cast out of the garden

  43. Prose Edda: Historical Background • Celts (middle Europe) • France > British Isles > Wales, Scotland, Ireland • Germans (Nibelungenlied), Anglo-Saxon (Beowulf) • “Norse” peoples • “Vikings,” became Swedes, Danes, and Norwegians • Iceland became Christian in 1000 CE • Swedes were sacrificing to Odin as late as 1070 • Snorri wants to preserve ancient traditions

  44. http://www.germanen-plakat.de/der-kosmos-die-drei-ebenen-der-germanischen-welt/http://www.germanen-plakat.de/der-kosmos-die-drei-ebenen-der-germanischen-welt/ Asgard Utgard =“outer-world” Utgard-Loki A giant Midgard Ice/frost- giants World-serpent Niflheim “fog-world”

  45. Nidhögg gnawing at world-tree, Yggdrasil

  46. Aesir: warrior gods • Odin (=German Wotan) • “All-Father” • Shaman, god of runes, knowledge, wisdom • Motivates warriors • Valkyries: bring dead to hall of Valhalla • Thor • Lightning, thunder • Hammer • Giant-killer

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