Why study Mythology

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Why study Mythology?

• Understand literature
• Allusions
• Suppose a friend tells you that he has nicknamed
  the new teacher Ichabod Crane. Hes using an
  allusion, but you wont know its significance
  unless you have read
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
• Ichabod is tall, thin, and awkward looking.

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More Allusions

• If you sleep late on Saturday morning, your
  father greets you with Here comes Rip Van
  Winkle. You wont be sure what that means unless
  you understand his reference or allusion. Rip
  Van Winkle slept for twenty years. He was a
  creation of Washington Irving.

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Myths in our modern world

• Lets imagine that when you got up this morning,
  you washed your face with Dove soap. Dove
  Soap-Aphrodite (Roman name, Venus) was the
  goddess of love, beauty, unity, and peace. The
  gentle dove was her symbol

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Our world and the allusion to myths

• While you were eating your cereal, you happened
  to notice a picture of the corn goddess on the
  box.
• Cereal-Demeter (Roman name Ceres) was
• The goddess of agriculture. A popular type of
  breakfast food devices its name from her Roman
  name

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Our world and allusions to the myths

• Just then your mother called to you to hurry.
  You were already late for school, and shed have
  to give you a ride in the Mercury
• Ride in the Mercury- Hermes (Roman name Mercury)
  moved swiftly because he had winged sandals and a
  winged cap.

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Myths in our world

• In your first class, you took out your Venus
  pencil to do your algebra.
• English came next. You were expected to write a
  paragraph, using chronological order.
  Chronological order
• Cronus, was the father of Zeus. You probably
  know him as Father Time, the old man with the
  sickle. In Greek, his name means time.

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Myths in our world

• In science, your teacher explained the
  characteristics of arachnids.
• In science arachnids The goddess Athena taught
  the young woman Arachne to weave. Arachne became
  so skillful that she challenged Athena to a
  weaving contest and so angered the goddess that
  Athena changed the girl into a spider. Ever
  since all spiders are named for Arachne.

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Myths in our world

• After school, you put on your Nike running shoes,
  hoping theyd put wings on your feet.
• Nike, the goddess of victory, rewarded the
  winners of athletic contests.
• Later, the track coach told you that your time
  was off. You thought your Achilles tendon was
  still sore.

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Myths in our world

• When this great Greek warrior, Achilles, was a
  boy, his mother sought to make him immortal by
  dipping him in the River Styx. But she held him
  by his heel, and thus that part of him remained
  forever vulnerable to injury.

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Myths in our world

• Back home, you checked the bulletin board and
  found that your household chore for the day was
  cleaning the bathroom with Ajax cleanser.
• Ajax, a Greek warrior who was capable of
  destroying all who came his way.

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Myths in our world

• Finally, with chores and homework finished, you
  could turn on your Panasonic TV.
• The name of Pan, the god of woods and fields,
  means all or every. From reeds, Pan made
  himself a pipe on which he played sad songs in
  memory of the love he lost.

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Mythology in our world

• Take that Valentines Day cupid-In Roman
  mythology, Cupid (Greek name Eros) was the son
  of Venus, goddess of love. Any victim of Cupids
  arrows was supposed to fall in love immediately.
• Zeus, the most powerful of the gods, had a
  favorite bird, too, the eagle, king of the birds.
  Thus, our American eagle, which appears on the
  Great Seal of the united States, can be said to
  represent freedom and power.

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Mythology and your vocabulary

• Very often, adjectives are formed from a
  mythological characters name
• Example halcyon from Halcyone.
• Halcyon means calm, peaceful, tranquil.
• In the myth, Halcyone was turned into a
  kingfisher by the goddess Thetis.
• The Greeks believed that this birds nesting
  period was at the winter solstice and that the
  kingfiseer raised its young in next floating on
  the sea.

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• Observing that a period of calm weather usually
  occurred at this time, they believed that Thetis
  calmed the sea for the birds benefit. Thus,
  today we say that halcyon days are calm and
  peaceful days.

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Mythology and vocabulary

• Sometimes a mythological name is retained as a
  common noun.
• Example mentor from Mentor.
• Mentor means a wise and loyal adviser.
• In the Greek poet Homers epic poems, the Iliad
  and The Odyssey, Mentor is a wise old man who
  gives advice to other Greeks.

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Mythology and vocabulary

• Some phrases we use have also been borrowed from
  the myths.
• Thus, to have the Midas touch is to have the
  knack of making money.
• To open a Pandoras box is to bring troubles
  upon oneself.
• Even weapons like the Nike and Titan missiles
  take their names from mythological characters.

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In mythology,

• We shall study ancient heroes such as Achilles,
  the great warrior Hercules, the strong man and
  Odysseus, the crafty man who was never at a
  loss.
• From their deeds, we can figure out what ancient
  people expected of their heroes. They had to be
  as brave as Achilles, have the superhuman
  strength of Hercules, and match the cleverness
  and persistence of Odysseus.

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In mythology

• A hero had to be a good leader, a father to his
  followers, merciful to the weak, and merciless to
  his enemies.

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Mythology

• The mercilessness and craftiness that Odysseus
  showed are not necessarily qualities that we
  admire today. Yet in books, movies, and TV
  programs, we like to see the hero triumph over
  the bad guys, by whatever means.

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Mythological characters

• Often received help from the gods. The goddess
  Athena was at Odysseuss side to help him defeat
  his enemies. With her assistance, Odysseus
  became superhuman.

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Mythological characters

• Are never real. They simply represent what people
  at a given time in history saw as the ideal. We
  have inherited those myths, handed down through
  the centuries.

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What are myths?

• Myths often center around stories of direct
  interaction between man and the gods and
  goddesses. The gods and goddesses are often
  driven by emotion more so than reason. Because
  of this, the interaction between man and deity
  isnt always pretty and is almost always
  dramatic.

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What are Myths?

• Religious stories
• Believed to be true by its culture, the myth is
  considered sacred to those within the culture of
  the mythology.
• Although, we do not partake in mythology as a
  religion, it is important and interesting to
  recognize that some people once did.
• Through mythology we learn about people and
  history.

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What are Myths?

• Will offer explanation for creation of the
  universe and Earth.
• Nearly every myth will highlight activities that
  break the laws of nature-people will change into
  inanimate objects, the dead rise and live again,
  and so forth.

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What are Myths?

• They often convey the different planes of
  existence and the interaction between
  them-heaven, hell, the future, and the past.
• One ritual in particular is that of sacrifice.
  The ritual of sacrifice was devised by
  Prometheus, a Titan god who was considered to be
  the champion of mankind.

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Legends

• Differ from myths in that they do not incorporate
  all the essential elements of a myth. A myth can
  be a legend, but a legend is not necessarily a
  myth.

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Legends

• Real-life heroes can never become myths, but they
  can become legends, as more and more stories are
  told about their lives and deeds. Thus, Martin
  Luther King, the great crusader of civil rights,
  has already become a legend Babe Ruth is
  legendary in baseball and Davy Crockett is a
  legendary frontiers man.

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Legend

• A legend is a story handed down through the
  generations, which has no hard evidence backing
  it up. Its roots are founded regarding a
  specific person, place, or historical event.
  Legends are grounded into their association with
  one particular thing.

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Fable vs. myth

• Fable is a fictitious story that often has a
  supernatural element to it. The differentiating
  feature of a fable is that it is intended to
  teach practical lessons, or morals.
• Though myths do sometimes teach lessons, this is
  only an added bonus they arent constructed with
  this purpose in mind

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Folktales Vs. myths

• Folklore is pure fiction and are not founded on a
  particular person, place, or event. Folktales
  often have animals becoming humans. Like
  legends, folktales do not have the essential
  elements of myths and a myth can be a folktale,
  but a folktale is not necessarily a myth.

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Another reason to read the paperback before The
Odyssey

• Many of the gods and goddesses appear in this
  epic poem.
• Who wrote The Odyssey and The Illiad?
• Homer is thought to have been born between 700
  B.C. and 1000 B.C. possibly in western Asia
  Minor. According to tradition, he was blind.
  (Prentice Hall)

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He didnt really write The Odyssey

• Rather, he composed them orally by assembling a
  number of earlier and shorter narrative songs.
  He probably traveled around the Greek-speaking
  world reciting them on many occasions.
• In later centuries the two epics were the basis
  of Greek and Roman education. (Prentice Hall)

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Writing our stories
-Interrogate your life Who are your heroes?

• Bill Moyers has said, The story of our lives is
  crucial to understanding who we are.
• Telling our stories may be the most human thing
  we do. By telling stories we remember our past,
  invent our present and envision our future.
  Telling stories is the most human of all acts.
  Building a personal mythology not only provides
  meaning, but also constitutes a celebration of
  our lives.  
•  

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Writing your story

• Who are your heroes? Who are your villains?
  Where did you come from? Who are your people?
  
• - Contemplate your own life story and those
  concerning your family.- Write down your life
  story.  - Identify your family rituals
  (birthdays, marriage, Thanksgiving, Christmas,
  etc.).