Chapter One: Terms Flashcards
Myth
A traditional story with collective importance
Traditional Definition
Beliefs and customs passed down orally
Story Definition
A plot with a beginning middle and end, we often know how they will end
Collective Definition
A group, culture, family, city
Importance Definition
Influences beliefs, morals, etc.
Oral traditions
Came First
Religion
A set of beliefs that condition/motivate to action
Cult
Very devout worship to a specific deity
Ritual
A repeated action with some significance, prayers, sacrifices, washings, etc…
Divine Myth
Stories about gods and goddesses
Legend
Stories about heroes and important mortals
Folktales
Stories about everyone else, woman, and animals with human behaviors
Mythos
Author takes responsibility
Logos
A reasonable account by someone who stands by it
Philosophy
Tells stories to avoid telling simple truth, or to keep things hidden
Came out of a need for an explanation
Philosophical Allegory
Made up story to explain something
Aetiological
Explains why you believe what you believe
Creation Myth
How it all started, universe, world, etc…
Cosmology
How the universe was born
Theogony
Where the gods came from
Foundation Myth
Where did your city come from?
Charter Myth
How social customs started
Cambridge Ritual Theory
Myth and ritual explain each other
Etymology
Origins of a word, name
Eschatological Myth
Myth about the end of things
Soteriological Myth
Myths about afterlife, better death, or defeat of death
Mystery
Cult that involves initiation, secrets, and better death
Xenophanes
Thought that old stories taught immoral behavior and that we simply created gods to be in our image
Euhumerus
Thought that there is no divine myth, only legends
Palaephatus
Taught naturalist logic, created new, more probable stories in place of myth
