Unit 1 - The Functions of Mythology

Myth--far from being merely stories about the gods and the exploits of heroes--is a vital way through which human beings orient themselves to the world. Where did we come from and what is our purpose? What happens after we die? Why is there suffering and what can be done about it? Myths provide a rich array of answers to these and many other questions. Through the study of myths we can see diverse cultures wrestling with such fundamental questions, and we can use the perspectives thus provided as ground from which to see our own attempts to understand the nature of the divine, the nature of self, and the obligations we have to others in new ways.

In his influential essay "Mythological Themes in Creative Literature and Art," mythologist Joseph Campbell notes that mythology serves four basic functions: (1) to bridge one's consciousness with transcendent, universal realms, and instill in us a sense of awe, humility, and respect at the wonder of the universe; (2) to provide an understanding of the world according to the knowledge of the time; (3) to support the social order through rites and rituals, or to provide individuals with moral justifications to challenge the existing state of things; and (4) to guide the individual through the psychological crises of life. Thus, through myths each person learns what is good and praiseworthy and what is not; what is beautiful and valuable and what is not; what is true and right and what is not. These understandings are the bedrock upon which societies, religions, and individual lives are built.

Framing our discussion within the context of Campbell's essay, we will begin our course at the beginning: creation. Creation myths tell a special kind of story called a cosmogony, a word deriving from Greek that means, literally, "the birth of order." Order, in this case, refers to the organizing principles of the physical universe and the basic sociopolitical, cultural, and spiritual facts of existence that affect human beings. We will discover how the Genesis story of creation from the Hebrew bible uses philosophical and religious metaphors as scientific explanations to help provide an understanding of the world, and to support and explain the social norms of a particular social structure. Further, we will explore power issues related to gender through the stories of Pandora and Eve, the first women of Greek and Hebrew myth respectively. In both accounts, a previously all-male world order crumbles into chaos almost immediately after the first female is created.

Although in the myths of Pandora and Eve it is the action of a woman that severs humanity's primal tie to nature, some other traditions take a more positive view of woman's mythic role. In the Mesopotamian story of "The Coming of Enkidu" from The Epic of Gilgamesh," the civilizing of a savage male by a temple prostitute is used to show that human culture is necessarily--and tragically--based on alienation from natural instinct. And in the Blackfoot story of "How Men and Women Got Together," the discovery of women brings a much needed balance to the social and natural order of the world.

Campbell lamented that mythology has lost much of its importance in modern Western civilization, which has evolved away from an orientation to Earth to a preoccupation with technology and a control of nature. However, it is important to keep in mind that, in origin, myth was essentially an oral phenomenon, a product of the storyteller's art that was transmitted by word of mouth from generation to generation before being written down. Though we may have relegated the gods and heroes of our ancestors to dusty volumes on library shelves, as Jan Harold Brunvand points out in his essay "New Legends For Old," we still "follow the ancient practice of informally transmitting 'lore'--wisdom, knowledge, or accepted modes of behavior--by word of mouth and customary example from person to person. . . ." The way we transmit this lore today is through the urban legend.

Thus we will end our unit with a look at urban legends--hitchhikers, kidney harvesters, beehive hairdos, and acid-tripping babysitters--and how they shove their way into our psyches through the Internet or by word of mouth. Blatantly fake and eerily compelling at the same time, urban legends play on fears and desires we all share, or incidents spookily similar to some we've really experienced. Beginning with Brunvand's essay, we will try to see what various urban legends have in common, how they differ, and why that matters. What do these myths tell us about whom we are afraid of? What we want or need? What we think about each other and the roles we play in our social drama? Finally, we'll try to figure out how urban legends circulate, and how the stories change in transmission as each new audience becomes the new storytellers.

Like age-old folk legends, modern urban legends circulate largely by word of mouth, and vary constantly in particular details from one telling to another while still preserving the core story. Two widely circulated urban myths are that green M&MŽ Chocolate Candies are an aphrodesiac, and that chomping a few Altoid mints just before engaging in oral sex can elevate the recipient's experience to the "out of this world" category. Source: http://www.snopes2.com