Chapter 1 Flashcards
Where was Ancient Greece?
Not a specific place, but basically wherever Greek speaking people lived
What was the importance of the gods in Greek society?
Helped to make sense of stories and society
What was William R. Boscoms idea of a myth?
Myths have a high emotional content, and discuss the sacred. They also happened in the remote past and only deals with prose.
What was Don Cupitts idea of a myth?
Myths discuss the sacred (essence of God, place of man etc). They represent traditional beliefs that are passed down by oral tradition
What is the difference between a myth and a legend?
Myths are typically nonhuman, legends include human entities
What were some of the things that Cupitt and Boscom excluded from their definition of myths?
- Myths in the form of visual arts, drama, poetry
- Works with a known author
- Stories that do not include supernatural beings
- Stories that do not include the sacred
What was William G. Doty’s definition of a myth?
Myths can be told in many forms and are rich in metaphors and symbols. Art condenses myths, but provides new elemental clues. Myth serves a purpose for individuals, groups, and societies, grounding behaviours in a general framework of the order of society. Myths are defined by the values and meanings they promote
What is etic?
Approach using modern categories of analysis, derived or devised by the investigators on the basis of their own cultural or scientific assumptions
What is emic?
Approach which aims at analyzing and understanding a cultural phenomenon from a culturally internal perspective. Doesn’t impose modern preconceptions. Inclusive of cultural variations. How myths work in relation to how society works
What is mythology?
Spoken utterance or a tale + logos = the study of myths.
What is a saga?
Myths with a basis in history. Taken from old Icelandic clan tales (emic use of Saga to become Etic)
What is a legend?
Any myth with only a kernel of truth or historicity.
What is legenda?
Things to be read or worth reading-example is the compilations of Christian Saints lives
What is a folk-tale?
Term invented in the 1800s to describe traditional and oral tales of ordinary people (ETIC)
What is a fairy story?
Variant of a folk-tale used to describe a variety of folk talks with the supernatural as the dominant feature. Etically applied
What is Greek Mythology?
A shared fund of motifs and ideas ordered into a shared repertoire of stories. These stories link with, compare and contrast with, and are understood in light of other stories in the system.
What is intertext?
Constituted by all representations of myths every experienced by its audience-every new repetition gains its sense in how it is positioned relative to society
What can art help us do?
Bridge the gap and redefine the story in modern times
What is classical mythology?
Refers to myths of ancient Greece and Rome
What does classical mean?
A renaissance term for a standard of excellence and progress
Which poems (myths) occured in the Archaic period?
Homer’s the Iliad and the Odyssey, Hesiods Theogony and Works and Days.
During which period did Greek civilization peak?
The Classical Period (490-323 BCE)
What happened during the Hellenistic period?
Was three centuries before the fall of the last Greek speaking kingdoms under Rome (323- 30 BCE)
When was the Imperial Roman period?
30BCE- 476 CE
What did Homer and Hesoids works contribute to?
Peoples ideas about the Gods and Goddesses
What happened when people began to examine myths in the classical period?
They noticed discrepancies between the real world and their stories. Started to question myths using rationalism.
When did scholars begin to collect myths?
The Hellenistic period. Romans continued this practice and attempted to save stories
What happened in the 5th Century CE?
The Romans became Christianized and mythological system became not significant
When did the Hittite Empire rule in the Ancient Near East (Anatolia)
18th-14th century BCE
How were the ideas of the Levent spread through the Mediterranean?
Through Phoenicians.
What were some of the similarities between Greek ideas and Hebrew Ideas?
Both had similar ideas on the moral universe and between stories like the flood
How many Gods did the Levent people believe in?
One
What was the Epic of Gilgamesh?
Sumerian myth written during the Babylonian empire. Provided influence on Greek epics like the Iliad
How does Greece have an Indo-European Heritage?
Human history and pre-history is a history of movements, contacts, migrations, and settling. They entered and spread throughout Greece, mingling or ruling over existing pops.
How are stories preserved over time?
Orally preserved and told. Preserve what is perceived to be fundamental traits, and any aspects that are no longer relevant can be altered or dropped.
What is comparative research?
Research about mythological complexes of Indo-European cultures. Investigates how stories evolved in search of common themes
How do Roman myths differ from Greek myths?
They don’t have a lot of their own stories. Many of them are transformed through contact with the Greeks by the time they were known. Roman myths are not sacred narratives (but still have symbolic and traditional relevance)
What is the one Roman story that predates Greek contact?
Romulus and Remus
Why should we study classical myths?
Mythic forms of thinking still inform how we view and understand the world in the 21st century. We are still drawn to heroic tales and making sense of the world. Myths provide narrative strategies, communication, politics. Understanding them helps us to not be controlled by them.
