1. Chapter 3: Myth and the Origins of the Humanities
THE ART OF BEING HUMAN
9TH EDITION
Aim of Chapter: To provide a foundation for the study of the humanities by looking at some of
the mythology which can be found in the creative expressions of all cultures in various time
periods.
Chapter 3:
Myth and the Origins of the Humanities

2. MYTHS AND MYTHOLOGY
Myths – Tales and beliefs transmitted from generation to generation containing psychological truths or fulfilling some deep-rooted need. Mythology – The collective myths of a specific culture or group of cultures.
Before there were any formal arts, mythology probably existed in varying guises in all early
cultures as a means of establishing their identities, their heritage, and lending meaning to
their rituals.
2. Mythology can be defined as the science or study of myths; a collection of all the myths of a
specific people or about a specific being; a traditional story of unknown authorship,
ostensibly with a historical basis, that serves to explain some phenomenon of nature, the
origin of humanity, and the place of a particular people within humanity; or the origin of
evil.
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3. ARCHETYPES IN MYTHOLOGY
Archetypes are mystic characters, events, symbols and buried assumptions.
Myths are also responsible for creating archetypes, models, such as that of the hero, by
which human beings organize their understanding of the world.
4. Myths are often mistakenly thought to be falsehoods which people believe but probably
shouldn’t, such as in a newspaper headline that reads MYTHS OF CALORIES EXPOSED.
In popular understanding of the term, a myth is the opposite of a scientific fact; but there is
much more to mythology.
5. We owe the theory of the archetypes to philosopher/psychologist Carl Jung (1875–1961),
who defined archetypes as mythic characters, events, symbols, and buried assumptions
transmitted from one generation to another through the collective unconscious. What Jung
found extraordinary in the collective unconscious was the fact that it was universal and
similar myths could be found in the heritage of cultures that, as far as we know, had no
contact with each other.
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4. COMMON ARCHETYPES The monomyth – the myth of the hero
According to most mythologists, the myth of the hero is shared by nearly every culture
(prompting James Joyce to call it the world myth).
Otto Rank, a disciple of Freud, identified several universal elements in the hero myth:
• son of highborn parents (in some cases, even deities)
• child sent away because of bad prophecy
• raised by humble new parents
• eventually performs a wondrous feat that proves his noble parentage
But the myth of the hero in Western mythology seldom ends with that recognition. Usually
the myth shows the hero gaining, then losing power, only to be recognized once more after
his death, as though the underlying, message were that we need to believe in heroes but also
resent the glory they receive.
In the West, the hero myth is by no means a thing of the past. Celebrities are not only
adored, but we can add that we love scandals that tarnish their glory, even as heroes of
old usually fell from their high stature.
David, by Donatello, CE

5. COMMON ARCHETYPES Continued
The power of magic
The power of words
The power of numbers
• The power of words. You can add, for example, Internet and ATM passwords, as well
as code terms that are known only to members of a club.
• The power of numbers. For example, Dante’s nine circles of hell; thirty-three cantos
plus one more to get the perfect number, 100; the Trinity; the seven deadly sins;
Kaballah studies in mystic numbers in the Hebrew Bible, such as that there were 620
original commandments, and the ten we all know contain 620 letters. Also represented
In Greek architecture, in the Golden Mean, Polykleitos. The ratio of the height to the widths
\ of the east and west ends is approximately 4 to 9. The ratio of the width to the length is
approximately 4: 9. the diameter of the columns relates to the space between columns at a ratio of four: nine.
Ictinus and Callicrates, PARTHENON, Acropolis, Athens, ca BC (view from the northwest)

6. COMMON ARCHETYPES Continued
The circle
The journey
The garden
• The circle. Found in almost every culture. Suggests that the universe is not a random
collection of unrelated phenomena and that the mind is a unified entity capable of
comprehending the universe. The mandala is a ubiquitous manifestation of this
archetype.
• The journey. Represents life as having purpose and destination. In journey stories
there is usually a goal (such as the Mount of Doom in the Lord of the Rings trilogy or
the land of Canaan in the Hebrew Bible). It is significant that in both of these
examples, as in others, the hero, though completing the journey’s mission, is not
allowed to enjoy its success. In non-Western mythology, journeys have less clearly
defined destinations. [Siddhartha, for example, knew he was dissatisfied with his life,
renounced his wealth and its trappings, set off on foot without a destination.]
• The garden. Eden; the Age of Innocence; again, the land of Canaan; Rousseau’s state
of nature; the New World. [You can add, for environmentalists, the planet as it should
be.] The important point to make about the garden myth is that human beings are
always thinking about some “other place,” where things are or were much better.
Wheel of Time, Tibetan sand mandala.

7. MYTHS AS EXPLANATIONS
Myths are ways to understand the mysteries of the universe and pain and hardships of living in it.
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8. EXPLANATIONS Creation "The Birth of Venus" Sandro Botticelli, 1482
Myth as explanation. Creation
• in Taoism—from a single egg which suddenly appeared in the Void.
• in Greek mythology—from Chaos, which was always here and then gave birth to
children.
• in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—from the single God, who was always here and
created the universe and humanity out of nothing (Creatio ex nihilo).
"The Birth of Venus" Sandro Botticelli, 1482

9. EXPLANATIONS The natural world Bella Coola Eagle Memorial Pole
Myth as explanation. The natural world in
• a Greek myth describes the four seasons as having come about when Zeus allowed
Persephone to be with her husband, king of the underworld, six months of the year
(hence, fall and winter), and with her mother, Demeter, goddess of the earth, for six
months.
• an African myth (from Ghana) accounts for a devastating drought in the past in a
story about a young man who beheads a deadly serpent only to have it grow seven
new heads, each of which is severed. As the last head flies off, it sends a curse—
namely, that the country will have seven years without rain.
• Native American lore—four created worlds did not work, but the gods said that a fifth
would work only by the daily and nightly sacrifice of a Navajo.
Bella Coola Eagle Memorial Pole

10. EXPLANATIONS Human suffering Laocoon and his sons in the Vatican
Myth as explanation. Human suffering (the problem of evil)
• comes from offending a deity or transgressing against divine law, as in the story of
Pandora; the forbidden fruit; (in Africa) a woman who delays her flight from death in
order to go back for grain; of Orpheus and the loss of Eurydice because he did not
trust a god’s promise; (and in the East) bad karma that results in one’s having to go
through the life cycle yet again; of the doomed family–an ancestor’s sin bringing
down a curse on future generations.
The Laocoon is a Roman copy of late Hellenistic work.
In Greek mythology, Laocoon was the Trojan priest of Poseidon who warned
against bringing the Trojan horse into Troy during the Trojan war.
Subsequently he and his sons were attacked by serpents, enact
the Trojans interpreted as a sign of the gods disapproval of Laocoon’s prophecy.
Laocoon and his sons in the Vatican
1st or 2nd century BCE

11. EXPLANATIONS The doomed family
This image shows the interior of a 19th century Tlingit Chief’s home,
called the “Whale House.” The wooden feast bowl, with the face carved at one end,
represents a mythical giant woodworm, which a family ancestor called Kaakutchaan
\had found, and secretly adopted as her child. The creature was destroyed by the girl’s
parents howver, after being discovered eating the food in the winter storehouses.
The inconsolable girl died of grief, and her family claimed the woodworm as a family crest in her honor.
Interior of an 1800’s Tlingit Chief’s home, called the “Whale House.”

12. MYTHS OF CHILDHOOD Reassurance of safety and love
A recognition of stereotypical gender roles, class distinctions, and the notion that good and evil are based on physical appearance
A recognition of the importance of names
A recognition of the dark side
Childhood myths, popularly known condescendingly as “fairy tales,” contain archetypal
influences that stay with us through life, such as the need for reassurance; the importance of
being attractive and rich; class differences affecting how we think of ourselves and relate to
others; the importance of names [which would also include the reputation that goes with the
name]; and, very important, the dark side of things—evil forests with witches and goblins,
voracious wolves that eat grandmothers.
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13. POPULAR MYTHOLOGY
Popular mythology identifies and evaluates certain thought and emotional patterns.
Common phrases:
What goes around comes around.
All you need is love.
It’s destiny.
Isn’t that just like a man/woman?
In addition to the popular myth elements discussed in the chapter—all you need is love; us
versus them; there’s always room at the top; isn’t that just like a man/woman—ask the class
to bring in some very recent examples that can be considered mythic.
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14. HOW MYTHS INFLUENCE THE HUMANITIES
A knowledge of mythology enhances our understanding and appreciation of what is seen, heard or read. Example: William Butler Yeats( ) “Leda and the Swan”
A reading of this poem, for example, is more meaningful if we know the
Myth of how a woman named Leda was raped by Zeus, disguised as a swan.
Leda bore him two daughters, one of whom was Helen, whose love for
The Trojan prince led to the Trojan war.
As we have seen, myths can become a major part of our everyday awareness,
And we find mythology in film, television, literature, art, and even comic strips.
Deconstructing underlying myths is an important aspect of critical appreciation,
And allows us to expand our knowledge of ourselves, and our world.
Read poem from poets.org
A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.
How can those terrified vague fingers push
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
And how can body, laid in that white rush,
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?
A shudder in the loins engenders there
The broken wall, the burning roof and tower
And Agamemnon dead.
Being so caught up,
So mastered by the brute blood of the air,
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?
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