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Mythmythologyandfolklore 160407062020
Mythmythologyandfolklore 160407062020
mundi
World] :
[Navel of the
An
Introduction
to Mythology
and Folklore
Developed by: Richard M.
Bañez Batangas State
University,
JPLPC Campus
Module
1: Introduction to Mythology and
Folklore
Topic 1:
The Nature of Mythology and
Folklore
The Nature of Mythology and
Folklore
Philippine Lower Mythology. A painting in oil that shows creatures of the night and
deities of the underworld. (Joel Magpayo Snr.)
The Nature of Mythology and
Folklore
Anituo. a Pilipino
Reconstructionist
religion based on the
Pre-Hispanic beliefs of
the people of what is
now known as the
Philippines prior to the
arrival of Christianity
and colonialism.
The Nature of Mythology and
Folklore Mythology
It is the study of myths and the myths
themselves, which are stories told as
symbols of fundamental truths within
societies having a strong oral traditions.
Folklore
This includes the traditional elements of
the way of life of a group of people and
creative expressions developing
naturally as part of this culture.
The Nature of Mythology and
Folklore
Review and analyze the given definitions of mythology
and folklore. Briefly answer the following questions.
• How does mythology relate to folklore?
Rationalism
Naturalism
Theory Diffusionism
Euhemerism
Evolutionism
Freudianism
Jungian archetypes
The Nature of
RationalismMythology
– According to this theory, myths represent an early
form of logical thinking: they all, have a logical
base.
The Nature of
Mythol
Etymological ogy
Theory
– This theory states that all myths derive from and
can be traced back to certain words in the
language.
The Nature of
AllegoricalMythol
theoryogy
– In the allegorical explanation, all myths contain
hidden meanings which the narrative
deliberately conceals or encodes.
The Nature of
EuhemerismMythology
– Euhemerus, a Greek who lived from 325-275 BC,
maintained that all myths arise from historical
events which were merely exaggerated.
The Nature of
Naturalism Mythology
– In this hypothesis, all myths are thought to arise
from an attempt to explain natural phenomena.
• People who believe in this theory narrow the source
of myths by tracing their origins from the worship of
the sun or the moon.
Historical-critical theory
– This theory maintains that there are a multitude of
factors which influence the origin and development of
myths and that no single explanation will suffice.
• We must examine each story individually to see how it began
and evolved.
Topic
2:
Myth and other Allied
Sciences
The Nature of
Mythology
Myth and Truth
– Myth is a many-faceted personal and cultural
phenomenon created to provide a reality and a
unity to what is transitory and fragmented in the
world.
– Myth provides us with absolutes in the place of
ephemeral values and with a comforting
perception of the world that is necessary to make
the insecurity and terror of existence bearable.
– Myth in a sense is the highest reality; and the
thoughtless dismissal of myth as untruth, fiction,
or a lie is the most barren and misleading
definition of all.
The Nature of
Mythology
Myth and Religion
• Religious and cults are based on
ceremonies
mythology.
Mircea Eliade
– He defines myth as a tale satisfying the
yearning of human beings for a fundamental
orientation rooted in a sacred timelessness
– Myth provides in the imagination a spiritual
release from historical time
The Nature of
Mythology
Myth and Etiology
– Myth should be interpreted narrowly as an
explication of the origin of some fact or custom.
This theory is called etiological, from the Greek
word for cause (aitia).
– 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 the time.
The Nature of
RationalismMythol
ogyMetaphor, Allegory
versus
and Symbolism
Max Muller
– In Allegorical Nature Myths, he tells that
myths are nature myths, all referring to
meteorological and cosmological phenomena.
The Nature of
Mythology
Myth and Psychology
Sigmund Freud
– His discovery of the significance of dream-
symbols led him and his followers to analyze
the similarity between dreams and myths.
– Myths reflect people's waking efforts to
systematize the incoherent and
visions of their sleep world. The patterns in
impulses
the imaginative world of children, savages,
and neurotics are similar, and these patterns
are revealed in the motifs and symbols of
myth.
The Nature of
Mythology
Myth and Psychology
Carl Jung
– Myths images or
contain archetypes,
traditional expressions of collective dreams,
developed over thousands of years, of
symbols upon which the society as a whole
has come to depend.
– An archetype is a kind of dramatic
abbreviation of the patterns involved in a
whole story or situation, including the way it
develops and how it ends; it is a behavior
pattern, an inherited scheme of functioning.
The Nature of
Mythology
Myth and Society
Sir J. G. Frazer
– His The Golden Bough remains a pioneering
monument in its attempts to link myth with
ritual. It is full of comparative data on
kingship and ritual, but its value is lessened
by the limitations of his ritualist
interpretations and by his eagerness
establish dubious analogiestobetween myths of
primitive tribes and classical myths.
The Nature of
Mythology
Myth and Society
Jane Harrison
– Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion
and Themis, are of seminal importance.
Harrison falls in the same tradition as Frazer,
and many of her conclusions about
comparative mythology, religion, and ritual
are subject to the same critical reservations.
Bronislav Malinowski
– In Myth as Social Charters, he discovered
close connection between myths and social
institutions, which led him to explain myths
not in cosmic or mysterious terms, but as
charters of social customs and beliefs.
The Nature of
Mythology
The Structuralist
Claude Lévi-Strauss
– Myths are derived ultimately from the
structure of the mind. And the basic structure
of the mind, as of the myths it creates, is
binary; that is, the mind is constantly dealing
with pairs of contradictions or opposites.
The Nature of
Mythology
The Structuralist
Vladimir Propp
– He divided his basic structure into thirty-one
functions or units of action which have been
defined by others as motifemes,
on the of morphemes and
linguistic analysis.
analogy phonemes in
– These functions are constants in traditional
tales: the characters may change, but the
functions do not.
The Nature of
Mythology
The Structuralist
Walter Burkert
– He believes that the structure of traditional
tales cannot be discovered without taking into
account cultural and historical dimensions.
– The structure of a tale is
anthropomorphic the needs and
ineradicably
and
expectations of fits teller the
both the and
audience.
The Nature of
Mythology
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
Morford, Mark P. and Lenardon, Robert J. Classical
Mythology. New York, USA: Oxford University
Press, 2003
Topic 3:
The Emerging Approaches in
Studying
Myths
The Nature of
• Trace the Mytholodefinitions
developing gy of myth and mythology
through identifying the contributions of various mythologists
throughout time. Complete the given matrix below to
showcase the various periods and contributions that led to the
development of mythology.
Priorities or
Periods Mythologists Contributions
Concerns
The Nature of
1.
Mythol o gy
Describe the shifts in priorities that had happened in
the study of myths.
Historical Myths
• Atlantis and Tara, Theseus and the
Minotaur, King Arthur and his
knights of the Roundtable, Moses
and his promised Land.
Man, Myth, and
History
Myth can intrude upon documented history.
• Independent invention
– made by a story maker
• Diffusion
– borrowing in space
• Inheritance
– borrowing in time
The Psychological
Perspective
The Psychological
Perspective
Case Study:
Dream
Interpretation
Dream account of
The Psychological
Perspecti
Freud and Jung ve four-fold hierarchy model
theorized
in interpreting dreams.
1. The conscious mind – governed by ego, the rational self-
aware aspect of the mind.
2. The preconscious contains materials accessible to the
conscious mind upon demand, such as facts, memories,
ideas and motives.
3. The personal unconscious stores half-forgotten
memories, represses traumas and emotions, and
unacknowledged motives and urges.
4. The collective unconscious is a genetically inherited
level of the mind containing what Jung called the Vast
historical storehouse of the human race,
• a mental reservoir of ideas, symbols, themes and archetypes
that form the raw material of many of the world’s myths,
legends and religious systems.
The Psychological
Perspecti
Three main classes ofve
dreaming by Freud and Jung.
1. Level 1 is the most superficial class, drawing primarily
upon material in the precious mind.
• Dreams from this level tend to revolve around the events of the day,
and opinion is divided as to whether or not they are particularly
meaningful.
2. Level 2 deals with the material from the personal
unconscious, using predominantly symbolic language,
much of it specific to the dreamer.
3. Level 3 contains what Jung called grand dreams. These
deal with material from the collective unconscious,
operating only in symbols and archetypes.
4. Cosmic Dreams are characterized by extremely
important and extra ordinary dreams that is truly awe-
inspiring and occurs rarely, once in a lifetime.
• They are ones in which the qualities of the universe itself are the
major themes.
• they are an attempt by the unconscious to make
sense of the vastness of the universe and our place within it.
The Psychological
Perspective
I dreamed that I was reshingling our roof.
Suddenly I heard my father's voice on the ground
below, calling to me. I turned suddenly to hear him
better, and, as I did so, the hammer slipped out of my
hands, and slid down the sloping roof, and
disappeared over the edge. I heard a heavy thud, as
of a body falling.
Terribly frightened, I climbed down the ladder to
the ground. There was my father lying dead on the
ground, with blood all over his head. I was
brokenhearted, and began calling my mother, in the
midst of my sobs. She came out of the house, and put
her arms around me.
The Psychological
Perspective
“Never mind, son, it was all an accident,” she
said. “I know you will take care of me, even if he is
gone.”
As she was kissing me, I woke up.
I am the eldest child in our family and am
twenty-three years old. I have been separated from
my wife for a year; somehow, we could not get along
together. I love both my parents dearly, and have
never had any trouble with my father, except that he
insisted that I go back and live with my wife, and I
couldn't be happy with her. And I never will.
The Psychological
Perspective
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fontana, David. The Secret Language of Dreams: A Visual
Key to Dreams and Their Meaning. San Francisco, USA:
Chronicle Books.1994.
Leeming, David. Mythology: World of Culture. New York,
USA: Newsweek Books, 1977.
O'Connell, Mark. The Ultimate Illustrated Guide to Dreams,
Signs & Symbols. China: JG Press, 2008.
Van de Castle, Robert L. Our Dreaming Mind. Denton,
Texas, United States of America: Random House
Publishing Group, 1995.
Topic
4:
THE STRUCTURE OF
MYTHS
The Hero with a Thousand
Faces
Overview
• There are several types of culture hero.
– One who represents the shared values
of an entire nation – national heroes.
• Aeneas symbolized the Romans’
deviation from what they considered corrupt
Greek traditions.
– One who represents religion.
• Jesus of Nazareth and Gautama Buddha
– One who combines religious and
national impulses.
• Joan of Arc and Mao Tse-tung
The Hero with a Thousand
Faces
Overview
• The true hero is a medium for
culture language
–ofThe
myth.
wonderful song of the soul’s high adventure,
Joseph Campbell.
• A hero repeatedly tests himself in a series of
adventure that also serve to establish his
identity.
• These adventures may be national, religious,
cultural, or ideological, but at their deepest
level, they are also psychological.
The Hero with a Thousand
Faces
Types of Heroes
The Hero with a Thousand
Faces
Types of Heroes
• Hero. In mythology a mighty warrior who is often
the son of a god or king and goes on an epic quest
• Hero. (2) Main character of a story who often
displays admirable qualities
• Anti-hero. Main character of a story who is flawed
in some way and often does not display admirable
qualities
• Tragic hero. Main character of a tragedy whose
tragic flaw leads to his or her destruction
• Byronic hero. Rebellious main character who has a
troubled past and indulges in self-destructive
behaviors that threaten to doom him or her.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
• The Structure of a Monomyth by Joseph
Campbell
– Joseph Campbell defined a classic
sequence of actions that are found in
many stories.
– It is also known as the Monomyth, a
term Campbell coined from James
Joyce's Finnigan's Wake.
The Hero with a Thousand
THEFSaTRUCTURE
ces OF A MONOMYTH
The Hero with a Thousand
Faces
• I. Separation / Departure
– The first section of the story is about the
separation of the hero from the normal world.
Separation has symbolic echo of infant transition
away from the mother and so has a scary feel to
it.
• I.1 The Call to Adventure
• I.2 Refusal of the Call or Acceptance of the Call
• I.3 Supernatural Aid
• I.4 Crossing of the First Threshold
• I.5 Entering the Belly of the Whale
The Hero with a Thousand
Faces
The Hero with a Thousand
Faces
• II. Initiation
– In the main part of the story the hero is initiated
into true heroic stature by various trials and rites.
Through daring and battle, the true character
emerges.
• II.1 Road of Trials
• II.2 The Meeting with the Goddess
• II.3 Woman as Temptress
• II.4 Atonement with the Father
• II.5 Apotheosis
• II.6 The Ultimate Boon
The Hero with a Thousand
Faces
• III. Return
– After initiation thehero can cleansed and
return in triumph to deserved recognition,
although
in itself this
may not be without trials and
its tribulations.
• III.1 Refusal of the Return
• III.2 Magic Flight
• III.3 Rescue From Without
• III.4 Crossing of the Return Threshold
• III.5 Master of the Two Worlds
• III.6 Freedom to Live
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
• Another eight-step formulation was given by
David Adams Leeming in his book,
Mythology: The Voyage of the Hero:
1. Miraculous conception and birth
2. Initiation of the hero-child
3. Withdrawal from family or
community for meditation and preparation
4. Trial and Quest
5. Death
6. Descent into the underworld
7. Resurrection and rebirth
8. Ascension, apotheosis, and atonement
The Hero with a Thousand
Faces
Miraculous
conception and birth
The modern mother,"
"great appropriately points
oversized, of the past do to asthe child
madonnas
miraculously visible in a mandalic
womb. By so doing she reminds us that
the hero—the Self within—can
child meaningful focus to the
provide disparate activities of a
otherwiseworld.
distorted
Death
Crucifix: The cross and the X
here are symbolic, as they always have
been, of the hero's crossing from one
sphere of existence to another—of his
confronting that which takes life but in
so doing defines it.
[Thomas Chimes, Crucifix (1961), oil on canvas, 36 x 36in
(91.5 x 91.5 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Larry Aldrich Foundation Fund. Photograph © 1998 The
Museum of Modern Art, New York. Reproduced with
permission.]
The Hero with a Thousand
Faces
Ascension,
apotheosis, and
atonement
Mandalas, general
sense of
symmetry,
strangely
a meaningful
connections, and upward movement
create a sense of and
wholeness that apotheosis
heroic life
humanis adventure. the or
[Max Ernst, Men Shall Know Nothing of This (1923), The
Tate Gallery, London/Art Resource, N.Y. Reproduced with
permission.]
He who follows the hero gains a true
self through the loss of the illusion
of
personal and local self.
• Articulator
– gives voice to the human soul through language
– wild-eyed poet, singer of tales
The
The MythmakingMythmakers
Process in Samuel Taylo
Coleridge’s Kubla Khan r
SHAMAN
Mental State Most Potent
an experience CONCEPTUALIZATION
solitude A guardian spirit
appeared and gave him Medicine
the power to see
Physical State vision WORD
fasting PRODUCTION through a
Uttered trance-induced
hunger song trance-induced
die a little song
The
Mythmakers
Shamanism in Tlingit Indian
folktale
• Shamanic elements
– Two sets of paraphernalia
– Voyage to the underworld
– Ritual actions
– Retrieval of a lost person
– Instruction by guardian spirits
– Miraculous return from apparent death
The
“All trueMythmakers
poetry is based on a mythic
language that is made up of a few
formulae .”
(Robert Graves, The White Goddess)
tm
Module
8: Methodologies in Understanding Myths and
Folktales
Methodologies in
Understanding Myths
and Folktales
Overview
• The myth critic is concerned to seek out those mysterious
elements that inform certain literary works and that elicit
dramatic and universal human reactions.
• He examines how certain works of literature project an
image of reality to which readers give perennial responses.
• A critic may study in depth the archetypes or archetypal
patterns that the writer has drawn from the structure of his
masterpiece which influences the reader.
• Mythology tends to be speculative and philosophical; its
affinities are with religion, anthropology, and cultural
history.
Methodologies in
Understanding Myths
and Folktales
Overview
• Myths are the symbolic projections of a people's hopes,
values, fears, and aspirations.
• To analyze a myth is to analyze it from the viewpoint of
some theory.
• Theories need myths as much as myths need theories. If
theories illuminate myths, myths confirm theories.
• A theory is to show how well it works when its tenets are
assumed – this on the grounds that the theory must be
either false or limited if it turns out not to work.
Methodologies in
Understanding Myths
and Folktales
Methodologies in Understanding
Myths and Folktales
1. Man and His Symbols by
Carl Gustav Jung
2. TheStructural Study of
Myth by
Claude Levi-Strauss
3. Morphology of The Folk
Tale by
Vladímir Propp
Methodologies in
Understanding Myths
and Folktales
Man and His Symbols by Carl Gustav
Jung
– According to Jung, heroism involves, in addition,
relations with the unconscious.
– Jungians at once analyze all kinds of myths, not just
hero myths, and interpret other kinds heroically.
» Creation myths, for example, symbolize the
creation of consciousness out of the unconscious.
– For Jung, the unconscious is inherited rather than
created and includes far more than repressed
instincts.
– The goal of the uniquely Jungian second half of life
is likewise consciousness, but now consciousness of
the Jungian unconscious rather than of the external
world.
Methodologies in
Understanding Myths
and Folktales
The Structural Study of Myth by
Claude Levi-Strauss
– Claude Lévi-Strauss’ contribution to the study of
myth is the invention of a structuralist approach
to myth.
– Humans as argued by Lévi-Strauss, think in the
form of classifications, specifically pairs of
oppositions, and project them onto the world.
Methodologies in
Understanding Myths
The Structural and Folktales of Myth
Study by
Claude Levi-Strauss
– For Lévi-Strauss, the distinctiveness of myth among these
phenomena is threefold.
» First, to be able to organize even myths into sets of
oppositions would be to prove irrefutably that order is
inherent in all cultural phenomena and that the mind must
therefore underlie it.
» Second, myth, together with totemism, is the only
exclusively primitive phenomenon among the ones that
Lévi-Strauss considers. To prove that it is orderly would
prove that its creator is orderly, hence logical and
intellectual, as well.
» Third and most important, myth alone not only expresses
oppositions, which are equivalent to contradictions, but
also resolves them for the purpose of myth is to provide a
logical model capable of overcoming a contradiction.
Methodologies in
Understanding Myths
and Folktales
Morphology of The Folk Tale by
Vladímir Propp
– Notably, the Russian folklorist Vladimir Propp
wrote on the common plot which described most
myths as literature,
– Propp deciphers in Russian fairy tales is his
structure.
– Propp’s structure remains on the narrative level
and is therefore no different from the kind of
‘structure’ found by Otto Rank, Joseph Campbell,
and Lord Raglan.
Methodologies in
Understanding Myths
and Folktales
Activity:
Spearhead a seminar/workshop on
the methodologies in understanding
myths.
• The class will conceptualize a theme for
the seminar/workshop and design a programme for
event.
• The class will be divided into three groups. Each group
will deal with each of the following topics;
a. Man and His Symbols by Carl Gustav Jung
b. The Structural Study of Myth by Claude Levi-Strauss
c. Morphology of The Folk Tale by Vladímir Propp.
Methodologies in
Understanding Myths
and Folktales
Activity:
• Each group shall prepare a presentation on assigned topic.
a. The Presentation shall include the following.
An introduction which will serve as an overview of the chosen
method dealing with the proponent, history, and the general
concepts.
Methodology which will expound on the processes and
procedures in understanding myths using the chosen method.
Praxis which will demonstrate how theories of the chosen
method are put into application.
Pedagogical Implications which will give emphasis on the
application of the theories being discussed in teaching English
and Literature.
• Each group shall also provide copy of their lecture to the
audience as well as the supplementary readings used in the
session.
• Evaluation of the performance of each group will be based on
the rubrics prepared by the instructor in the subject.
Mythological and Archetypal Approaches
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
Guerin, Wilfred L. Labor, Earle. Morgan, Lee. and
Reesman, Ieanne C. A Handboook of Critical
Approaches to Literature. 5th ed. Oxford, New
York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Module
3: Myths of
Creation
Creation
Myths
I. The Birth of Order
• Creation myths offer a cosmogony,
meaning “the birth of order.”
• From the Greek words
• cosmos means world
• gignesthai means to be born
• Cosmogony can be distinguished
from cosmology, which studies the
universe at large and throughout its
existence, and which technically
does not inquire directly into the
source of its origins.
Creation
Myths
Creation
Myths
II. Classifying Cosmogonies
• Usually the most important myth in a culture
because it becomes the exemplary model for all
other myths
• Cosmogonies relate how the entire world came
into being
• Some narratives relate the creation of the world
from nothing (creation ex nihilo)
– a. Hebrew – Book of Genesis
– b. Egyptian, Ptah creates through speech
– c. Australian,
– d. Greek, Hesiod’s Theogony begins with great abyss, void
– e. Mayan, Popul Vu
Creation
Myths
II. Classifying Cosmogonies
• Another type of cosmogonic myth is known as the
earth-diver creation story
• A divinity typically sends a waterfowl or amphibious
creature to dive to the bottom of the primordial waters
and bring up mud from which the world grows
• Other cosmogonic myths describe creation as
emerging from the lower worlds
• Navajo and Hope tell of a progression upwards from
lower worlds resulting in the final progression into the
world of humanity
• A Polynesian myth tell of various layers within a
coconut shell
Creation
Myths
II. Classifying Cosmogonies
• Other cosmogonic myths describe creation
emerging from a world or cosmic egg
• Myths from Africa, China, India, South Pacific, Greece
and Japan speak of creation symbolized as breaking
forth from a fertile cosmic egg
• The Dogon people of West Africa describe this egg as
the “placenta of the world”
Creation
Myths
II. Classifying Cosmogonies
• Yet another type of cosmogonic myth is the world-
parent myth
• The Enuma Elish is the creation story of the
Babylonians; Apsu and Tiamat bear offspring who
later oppose their parents; the result of this
confrontation is the creation of the world (more on this
story later)
– This myth (as well as others like it) are also associated with
creation from dismemberment
• Otherworld-parent myths come from the
Egyptians,
Zuni, and Polynesians
Creation
Myths
II. Classifying Cosmogonies
• Another approach from those listed above:
Van Over’s Six Basic Themes
1. Idea of a primeval abyss
2. Originator(s) awakened or eternally existing
in this abyss
3. Originator(s) brood over the water
4. Theme of the cosmic egg or embryo
5. Creation from sacred sound or spoken word
6. Theme of creation from the death of and body parts
of the primeval god
Creation
Myths
II. Classifying Cosmogonies
• Yet another approach: Maclagan’s 8 themes
1. Inner and outer
2. Something from nothing
3. Conjugation of opposites
4. World order and the order of the worlds
5. Descent and ascent
6. Earth body and sacrifice
7. Death, time, and the elements
Creation
Myths
II. Classifying Cosmogonies
• Lastly, Weigle’s nine-part typology
1. Accretion or conjunction
2. Secretion
3. Sacrifice
4. Division or conjugation
5. Earth-diver
6. Emergence
7. Two creators
8. Deus faber
9. Ex nihilo
Creation
Myths
III. Types of Creation Myth
• Accretion or Conjunction Stories
– These stories depict the birth of order as resulting
from the mingling or layering of the primal
elements (e.g., earth, wind, fire, water).
– accretion is a process in which the size of
something gradually increases by steady addition
of smaller parts
• e.g., droplets of water vapor form clouds
• e.g., an increase in land mass through accumulation of
dirt, rock and sand
Creation
Myths
III. Types of Creation Myth
• Secretion Stories
– This pattern involves the cosmos resulting from
divine emissions such as vomit, sweat, urination,
defecation, masturbation, web-spinning and
parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction).
1. Typically the secretions result in human forms but
some stories include secretions resulting in non-
human forms (seas, lands, animals, plants, etc.)
Creation
Myths
III. Types of Creation Myth
• Secretion Stories
2. Example of non-human formations is found in the
story of Ku’urkil, the Chuckchee’s “self-formed”
Father Raven, defecates and urinates, thus creating
the earth and various bodies of water
3. More common are the secretions resulting in the
creation of conscious beings resembling the primeval
creator intellectually and spiritually.
Creation
Myths
III. Types of Creation Myth
• Sacrifice Stories
– In some cosmogonies, the creator god sacrifices him or
herself or someone else in order to complete the work of
creation.
• Division or Consummation Stories
– Weigle says that these types of myths are “usually
associated with discriminating primal matter or a
cosmogonic egg with the consummated marriage of earth
and sky.”
– The consummation motif shares with cosmogonic egg
myths the knowledge that tiny germs contain within them
astonishing potential for organized growth.
Creation
Myths
III. Types of Creation Myth
• Earth-Diver Stories
– In Weigle’s fifth type of creation myth, a god or his agent
dives to the bottom of the primordial deep, from which
most cosmogonies begin, and returns with a few grains of
sand or a bit of mud from which the earth and the rest of
the cosmos eventually arise. Some stories already
mentioned include this typology.
• Emergence Stories
– Emergence myths typically depict the first people or first
person as journeying from an original, cramped world or
womb into this world. Many Native American myths take
this form.
Creation
Myths
III. Types of Creation Myth
• Two Creators
– This type of cosmogony, very common among African
and Native American traditions, depicts two gods creating
the world through cooperation or competition.
– Frequently, one god is more active or more human than
the other.
• Deus Faber
– This term means the Maker God, the quintessential
architect, artisan, or craftsperson.
– Deus faber stories celebrate the astonishing intricacy and
cleverness of creation.
Creation
Myths
III. Types of Creation Myth
• Ex Nihilo = “out of nothing”
– A Latin term, literally means “from nothingness”
or “from spirit”
– Usedto describe cosmogonies in
which the theworld into being
creator brings through
speech, breath, dream, thought,
(Weigle or laughter
)
Creation
Myths
IV. Reading Creation Myths
• Keep in mind, the categories through which we have
discussed creation myths need not be strictly distinct
and unrelated. Many myths exhibit multiple
characteristics.
• Mythologist, once they understand a variety of
types, often ask more probing questions:
– Why do certain cultures depict the creation through one
chosen type rather than another?
– What is the culture ultimately trying to say about itself?
– Do any categories emphasize some values over other
values?
Creation
Myths
IV. Reading Creation Myths
– Do their environments influence the moods or tones of
their stories?
– What kind of relationship is depicted between creators
and humans and does this speak to a culture’s
contemporary understanding of divine beings?
– What symbols are used and what remains significant
about these symbols in more contemporary descendents?
Creation
Myths
Hebrew Book of
Genesis
Creation
Myths
Babylonian Enuma
elish
Creation
Myths
Egyptian Book of Overthrowing
Apopis
Creation
Myths
Hesiod's
Theogony
Creation
Myths
Hindu’s Rig
Veda
Creation
Myths
Japanese Kojiki, “Record of Ancient
Things”
Creation
Myths
Norse Voluspa from the Poetic Edda
Creation
Myths
Finnish
Kalevala
Creation
Myths
Quiche Maya’s Popol Vuh
Creation Myths
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
Leonard, Scott A. and McClure, Michael. Myth and
Knowing: An Introduction to World Mythology.
United States of America: McGraw-Hill, 2003.