(Plato, the first to equate myths with lying. Source)
What is Myth? Crash Course World Mythology #1
- A myth in the context of mythology is a story that has significance and staying power
- Significance - the story is important to the reader in some way. Ex. something important, how the world works, or how things are the way they are
- Staying power - Stories that last over multiple centuries and generations, which is a sign that the story has great meaning to those people
- The "American Dream" is a myth, not because of religious significance like other myths, but because of its staying power
- The "Persephone" myth has significance by explaining why we have seasons
Theories of Myth: Crash Course World Mythology #12
- Mythology - systematic study of myths
- Plato was the first to equate myths with lying, which is an idea that still exists today. He reasoned that because myths were irrational then they were false. However he deemed that philosophical myths that "served a purpose" were true
- Myths from multiple languages were derived from a single language known as Prodo-Indo-European, which came from a group called Ayrians.
- Anthropologists who studied myth say it's not symbolic but instead a direct expression of subject matter by expressing and enhancing beliefs, safeguarding and enforcing morality, and contains practical rules for the guidance of man
- Psychologists Freud and Jung claim that the source of myths are from the subconscious and mythical characters are projections of the unconscious
- Structural theory breaks down myths into a structure of patterns
The Hero's Journey and the Monomyth: Crash Course World Mythology
- What are heroes?
- Contemporary scholars say that we are all heroes in a way, struggling in our own adventures and engaging in our self development and finding our purpose in life
- Monomyth - the idea that all heroic stories follow a certain pattern
- Part One: The hero leaves the known world and goes to the realm of the unconscious
- Initiated by a Call to Adventure
- Part Two: The hero's trials and victories of initiation, changing into the person they're destined to be along the way
- The exciting part consisting of tasks they have to overcome to prove their worthiness
- Hero achieves enlightenment, taking an object that symbolizes this
- Part Three: Hero's integration to society
- More common in older myths than the modern ones
- Ends with hero living happily ever after
Bibliography
What Is Myth? Crash Course World Mythology #1 by CrashCourse
Theories of Myth: Crash Course World Mythology #12 by CrashCourse
The Hero's Journey and the Monomyth: Crash Course World Mythology #25 by CrashCourse
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