Chapter 1 Interpretation and definition of classical mythology Flashcards
Allegory
A sustained metaphor which is a symbolic depiction
Aitia
“Cause” or “reason” for a fact, ritual practice , or institutio
Animus/anima
Image of the female that each man has within him; it is the concept that he responds to when he falls in love/ archetypal concept of the male that a woman instinctively harbors within her.
Archetypes
Dramatic abbreviations of human behavior
Bronislav Malinowski
Anthropologist and ethnographer,stranded among Trobriand islanders during WWII myths as “charters” of social customs and beliefs. Related to practical life , explained existing facts and institutions by reference to tradition. Confirms institution, custom, or beliefs.
Carl Jung (psychological)
Instead of myths connected to dreams of the individual unconscious it’s the collective unconscious “ a revelation of the continuing psychic tendencies of society” they contain “archetypes “ anima/animus
Claude Lévi-Strauss (anthropological/sociological)
Mode of communication. Partial versions combine to reveal total structure including relationships and between the parts and as a whole. “Binary structure” negotiations and resolution of opposites through myth
Collective unconscious
Revelation of the continuing psychic tendencies of society
Dream-work
Freud. Consists of 3 primary mental activities
- Condensation of elements (they are abbreviated or compressed)
- Displacement (changed, particularly in terms of allusion and a difference of emphasis)
- Representation of elements ( transmission of elements into imagery or symbols)
Euhemerism
From Euhemerus c.a. 300 BC who claimed that gods were men deified for their great deeds, the opposite extreme of the metaphorical approach
Electra complex
Female version of Oedipus complex, girl loves her father and jealous of mother (Freud/Jung)
Etiological approach
Myths as explanations of some facts, rituals, institutions, or customs. From the Greek word aitia which means “cause” or “reason”
Folk tales
Often stories of adventure peopled with fantastic beings, hero/heroine that triumphs in the end. Primary goal to entertain and contain many familiar characters and motifs.
J.G. Frazer
Author of The Golden Bough which remains a pioneering monument in it’s attempts to link myth with ritual. Full of comparative data between kingship and ritual. Has some limitations
Joseph Campbell
Well known comparative mythologist who embraces mythologies of every sort and has contributed much to the popularization of comparative mythology although he doesn’t really deal with Classical Greek and roman mythology. Recognize kindred spiritual values through a comparison of different peoples mythologies over the centuries.
Legend/saga
Used interchangeably, these stories contain a kernel of historical truth and generally focus upon the adventures of a hero.
Max Müller
19th century influential theory that myths are nature myths, all referring to meteorological and cosmological phenomena
Mircea Eliade
Proflific 20th century writer who believed that myths are distant memories of the mystical and the divine
Eliade
.
Motifemes
A concept used in the elucidation of stories by identifying their patterns; it is a functional element or unit of action in a story. Ex: hero and hero’s mother
Girl is secluded
Girl impregnated by god
She suffers
She is rescued and gives birth to a son as reward
Myth
No one definition is suitable. A classical myth is a story that, through its classical form, has attained a kind if immortality because it’s inherent archetypal beauty, profundity, and power have inspired rewarding renewal and transformation by successive generations
Myth proper
Primarily concerned with the gods and their relations with mortals
Mythos
Greek for word, speech, tale, or story
Oedipus complex
Son turns toward mother as object of love and hostile or jealous of the father (freud)
Sigmund Freud
20th century psychological approach to myths, Oedipus complex, dream work, emphasis on sexuality (particularly infantile), the individual unconscious
Structuralism
Focuses on the the relationship among the themes and on patterns of action. An attempt to analyze myths into their component parts.
Vladimir Propp
Structuralist, studied Russian folk tales and divided the basic structure into motifemes or functions/units of action. From one story to the next the characters may change but the functions do not and all of them may not be used but they always appeared in the same order
Walter Burkert
Structuralist.
1) myth belongs to the more general class of traditional tale
2) the identity of a traditional tale is to be found in a structure of sense within the tale itself
3) tale structures, as sequences of motifemes, are founded on basic biological or cultural programs of actions
4) myth is a traditional tale with secondary, partial reference to something of collective importance
Fairy tale
Particular kind of folk tale aimed at children
Religious interpretation
Myths of creation, the nature of god and humankind, the afterlife, and other spiritual concerns
Psychological interpretation
Archetypes and the collective unconscious, a revelation of the continuing psychic tendencies of society
Anthropological/sociological
Myth connected to ritual, myths as social charters of customs and beliefs, related to practical life explaining existing facts and institutions by reference to tradition, structuralists
