CLAS 104 Notes 2
CLAS104 – Classical Mythology
University of Waterloo – Spring 2012
Chapter 1 – Interpretation and Definition of Classical Mythology
The word myth comes from the Greek word mythos which means “word”, “speech”, “tale”, or “story”
The story must have proved itself worthy of becoming traditional
Myths can be told by means of various mediums: oral, written, music, painting, dance, etc
True Myth / Myth Proper
Refers primarily to stories of the gods and humankind’s relations with them
Saga / Legend
Myths and stories with roots in historical fact
Folktales / Fairytales
Stores of adventure which are meant to entertain, with familiar characters and motifs
Starts with “once upon a time”, ends in “happily ever after”
Problems imposed by rigid definitions
There are rarely pure examples of stories that can be classified by these definitions
Problems occur when classifying myths by rigid definitions
Myth and Truth
Myth is known as fiction
Myth is a many-faceted personal and cultural phenomenon created to provide a reality and unity to what is transitory and fragmented in the world we experience
Myth and religion
True myth is primarily stories of the gods, religion and the super natural
Mythology and religion are intertwined, mythical conceptions of deity may still be considered true today and provide the dogma for devout religious belief
Mircea Eliade – prolific 20th century writer on myth, believed that god once in a holy era created the world and became the original myth, a model for creations of every kind
True myths are fundamentally paradigms and explations and most important to an individual and society
Myth and etiology
Etiology: from the greek work for cause (aitia), in this view, the mythmaker is a kind of primitive scientist, using myths to explain facts that cannot otherwise be explained within the limits of society’s knowledge at that time the theory that myth should be interpreted narrowly as an explication of the origin of some fact or custom “the
University of Waterloo – Spring 2012
Chapter 1 – Interpretation and Definition of Classical Mythology
The word myth comes from the Greek word mythos which means “word”, “speech”, “tale”, or “story”
The story must have proved itself worthy of becoming traditional
Myths can be told by means of various mediums: oral, written, music, painting, dance, etc
True Myth / Myth Proper
Refers primarily to stories of the gods and humankind’s relations with them
Saga / Legend
Myths and stories with roots in historical fact
Folktales / Fairytales
Stores of adventure which are meant to entertain, with familiar characters and motifs
Starts with “once upon a time”, ends in “happily ever after”
Problems imposed by rigid definitions
There are rarely pure examples of stories that can be classified by these definitions
Problems occur when classifying myths by rigid definitions
Myth and Truth
Myth is known as fiction
Myth is a many-faceted personal and cultural phenomenon created to provide a reality and unity to what is transitory and fragmented in the world we experience
Myth and religion
True myth is primarily stories of the gods, religion and the super natural
Mythology and religion are intertwined, mythical conceptions of deity may still be considered true today and provide the dogma for devout religious belief
Mircea Eliade – prolific 20th century writer on myth, believed that god once in a holy era created the world and became the original myth, a model for creations of every kind
True myths are fundamentally paradigms and explations and most important to an individual and society
Myth and etiology
Etiology: from the greek work for cause (aitia), in this view, the mythmaker is a kind of primitive scientist, using myths to explain facts that cannot otherwise be explained within the limits of society’s knowledge at that time the theory that myth should be interpreted narrowly as an explication of the origin of some fact or custom “the