EXAM CLASSICAL
MYTHOLOGY
Martijn Vermeulen
2024-2-25 [Bedrijfsadres]
,Inhoud
Note on this summary:........................................................................................... 3
Lecture 1: Myth, its definition and subcategories; Mythology and its different
schools................................................................................................................... 3
Traditional stories that aren’t myths:..................................................................4
Mythology and the study and interpretation of myth.........................................4
Myths as primitive science: Tylor, Müller, Lang; functionalism; Malinowski........4
E.B. Tylor............................................................................................................. 5
M. Müller............................................................................................................. 5
The problem with social Darwinism....................................................................5
Functionalism: Malinowski..................................................................................6
Lecture 2: Myth and religious places;....................................................................6
Lecture 9: Myth-ritual school, Smith, Frazer, Harrison; Journeys into the
underworld............................................................................................................. 6
William Robertson Smith: myth as the secondary reason for obligatory ritual. . .7
James George Frazer: religion is myth + ritual aimed at controlling fertility of the
land........................................................................................................................ 7
The role of myth:............................................................................................. 8
The transformation of the primitive myth...........................................................8
Lecture 10: Myth-ritual school. Katabasis myths and their connection to initiation
rights. Coming of age in both myth and fable........................................................9
Myth and Fairy tales.......................................................................................... 10
Lecture 3: Creating order; culture hero’s and the heroic quest; Perseus.............11
Hero quests as ongoing creation......................................................................11
The figure of the hero....................................................................................... 12
The Perseus myth............................................................................................. 12
Lecture 3b: Why are hero quests so similar in structure? Freud, Jung, Campbell (!)
............................................................................................................................ 13
Freud:................................................................................................................ 13
Jung:................................................................................................................. 13
Joseph Campbell: The hero with a thousand faces...........................................14
Lecture 4: Tricksters, Prometheus; structuralism, Lévi-Strauss............................14
Structuralism.................................................................................................... 15
Prometheus as a trickster................................................................................. 15
Post-Structuralist approach to Cyclops’ island..................................................16
Lecture 5: Gender and the Interpretation of Myth...............................................16
When mortals change their sex........................................................................16
, Idealized men and women................................................................................17
Gender in other classical genres.......................................................................17
Freud and gender in myth................................................................................. 17
Retellings.......................................................................................................... 18
Lecture 6: Mythology: sources and methods; the interpretation of the ancients;
afterlife of mythography...................................................................................... 18
Sources for Mythology...................................................................................... 18
How the ancients saw their myths: a case study of Mythography....................19
Classical scepticism:......................................................................................... 19
Euhemeros................................................................................................... 19
Lucian of Samosata: A True story..................................................................19
Christianity and the reception of myth.............................................................19
Example: Fulgentius the mythographer.........................................................20
Towards modernity: the later mythographical tradition....................................20
Lecture 7: Homer’s Iliad....................................................................................... 20
Who was Homer................................................................................................ 20
The story........................................................................................................... 21
The Themes of the Iliad.................................................................................... 21
Fate................................................................................................................ 21
Homeric Heroic code and its subversion........................................................22
Justice and Fair Distribution...........................................................................22
The gods in the Iliad......................................................................................... 22
Additions and changes...................................................................................... 22
Historical background....................................................................................... 22
Lecture 8: Homer’s Odyssey................................................................................23
The themes of the Odyssey.............................................................................. 24
Lecture 11: Myth and Modern Media....................................................................25
Sword-and-Sandal Epics................................................................................... 25
Clash of the Titans 1981 vs 2010......................................................................25
Euhemerism in Modern Media..........................................................................25
Some direct representations:............................................................................26
Indirect representations:................................................................................... 26
Myth in Games:................................................................................................. 26
Lecture 12: The transmission of myth across space: between Greek mythology
and the stories in the Pre-Islamic Arabian peninsula...........................................26
What do we mean when we say that myths are alike?.....................................27
Context: The Arabian Peninsula: Pre-Islamic 5th century...................................27
, The War of Basus epic...................................................................................... 28
Parallels with other stories................................................................................28
Lecture 13: The transmission of myth across space: Islamic culture and the
Adoption of Myth.................................................................................................. 29
Story of Sindbad.................................................................................................. 30
Note on this summary:
Most of the information of the book ‘Myth a very short introduction’ is
incorporated in this summary, but I have left out authors that were in the book,
but were never mentioned in the lectures as those will not appear on the exam. I
also changed the order of the lectures in order to create a more logical
progression in the course material, the numbers in the title represent the original
order of the lectures in this course. At the end I have included a summary of the
myths found in Gustav Schwab’s collection of the Greek myths. These summaries
are quite dry and are better used to refresh your memory after you’ve read the
myths yourself.
Lecture 1: Myth, its definition and
subcategories; Mythology and its different
schools
Mythology either means (a) the total of collected myths of a particular culture, or
(b) the study of myth. In this course we mainly use mythology in the second
sense, and it is mostly applied to the collection of Greek and Roman myths.
But what exactly is the object of this study? Myths are:
a. Stories (Mythos Gr. = story)
b. It is often allegedly a ‘traditional’ story.
c. A myth is a meaningful story
d. Myth is tied to religion
e. Myth is a functional story: it explains something in the (social) world
W.Burkert: ‘’a myth is a traditional tale with secondary, partial reference to
something of collective importance.’’
Myths aren’t like the stories we read in most of current fiction. The stories are
often illogical and inconsistent. They have several (local) versions, and different
myths influence each other. Due to the way myths are told they are constantly in
flux, when they were finally written down (recorded) they were probably already
far removed from their original versions.
Myths can still be categorized however:
1. Cosmogeny and Theogeny: about the beginning of the cosmos and the
gods
MYTHOLOGY
Martijn Vermeulen
2024-2-25 [Bedrijfsadres]
,Inhoud
Note on this summary:........................................................................................... 3
Lecture 1: Myth, its definition and subcategories; Mythology and its different
schools................................................................................................................... 3
Traditional stories that aren’t myths:..................................................................4
Mythology and the study and interpretation of myth.........................................4
Myths as primitive science: Tylor, Müller, Lang; functionalism; Malinowski........4
E.B. Tylor............................................................................................................. 5
M. Müller............................................................................................................. 5
The problem with social Darwinism....................................................................5
Functionalism: Malinowski..................................................................................6
Lecture 2: Myth and religious places;....................................................................6
Lecture 9: Myth-ritual school, Smith, Frazer, Harrison; Journeys into the
underworld............................................................................................................. 6
William Robertson Smith: myth as the secondary reason for obligatory ritual. . .7
James George Frazer: religion is myth + ritual aimed at controlling fertility of the
land........................................................................................................................ 7
The role of myth:............................................................................................. 8
The transformation of the primitive myth...........................................................8
Lecture 10: Myth-ritual school. Katabasis myths and their connection to initiation
rights. Coming of age in both myth and fable........................................................9
Myth and Fairy tales.......................................................................................... 10
Lecture 3: Creating order; culture hero’s and the heroic quest; Perseus.............11
Hero quests as ongoing creation......................................................................11
The figure of the hero....................................................................................... 12
The Perseus myth............................................................................................. 12
Lecture 3b: Why are hero quests so similar in structure? Freud, Jung, Campbell (!)
............................................................................................................................ 13
Freud:................................................................................................................ 13
Jung:................................................................................................................. 13
Joseph Campbell: The hero with a thousand faces...........................................14
Lecture 4: Tricksters, Prometheus; structuralism, Lévi-Strauss............................14
Structuralism.................................................................................................... 15
Prometheus as a trickster................................................................................. 15
Post-Structuralist approach to Cyclops’ island..................................................16
Lecture 5: Gender and the Interpretation of Myth...............................................16
When mortals change their sex........................................................................16
, Idealized men and women................................................................................17
Gender in other classical genres.......................................................................17
Freud and gender in myth................................................................................. 17
Retellings.......................................................................................................... 18
Lecture 6: Mythology: sources and methods; the interpretation of the ancients;
afterlife of mythography...................................................................................... 18
Sources for Mythology...................................................................................... 18
How the ancients saw their myths: a case study of Mythography....................19
Classical scepticism:......................................................................................... 19
Euhemeros................................................................................................... 19
Lucian of Samosata: A True story..................................................................19
Christianity and the reception of myth.............................................................19
Example: Fulgentius the mythographer.........................................................20
Towards modernity: the later mythographical tradition....................................20
Lecture 7: Homer’s Iliad....................................................................................... 20
Who was Homer................................................................................................ 20
The story........................................................................................................... 21
The Themes of the Iliad.................................................................................... 21
Fate................................................................................................................ 21
Homeric Heroic code and its subversion........................................................22
Justice and Fair Distribution...........................................................................22
The gods in the Iliad......................................................................................... 22
Additions and changes...................................................................................... 22
Historical background....................................................................................... 22
Lecture 8: Homer’s Odyssey................................................................................23
The themes of the Odyssey.............................................................................. 24
Lecture 11: Myth and Modern Media....................................................................25
Sword-and-Sandal Epics................................................................................... 25
Clash of the Titans 1981 vs 2010......................................................................25
Euhemerism in Modern Media..........................................................................25
Some direct representations:............................................................................26
Indirect representations:................................................................................... 26
Myth in Games:................................................................................................. 26
Lecture 12: The transmission of myth across space: between Greek mythology
and the stories in the Pre-Islamic Arabian peninsula...........................................26
What do we mean when we say that myths are alike?.....................................27
Context: The Arabian Peninsula: Pre-Islamic 5th century...................................27
, The War of Basus epic...................................................................................... 28
Parallels with other stories................................................................................28
Lecture 13: The transmission of myth across space: Islamic culture and the
Adoption of Myth.................................................................................................. 29
Story of Sindbad.................................................................................................. 30
Note on this summary:
Most of the information of the book ‘Myth a very short introduction’ is
incorporated in this summary, but I have left out authors that were in the book,
but were never mentioned in the lectures as those will not appear on the exam. I
also changed the order of the lectures in order to create a more logical
progression in the course material, the numbers in the title represent the original
order of the lectures in this course. At the end I have included a summary of the
myths found in Gustav Schwab’s collection of the Greek myths. These summaries
are quite dry and are better used to refresh your memory after you’ve read the
myths yourself.
Lecture 1: Myth, its definition and
subcategories; Mythology and its different
schools
Mythology either means (a) the total of collected myths of a particular culture, or
(b) the study of myth. In this course we mainly use mythology in the second
sense, and it is mostly applied to the collection of Greek and Roman myths.
But what exactly is the object of this study? Myths are:
a. Stories (Mythos Gr. = story)
b. It is often allegedly a ‘traditional’ story.
c. A myth is a meaningful story
d. Myth is tied to religion
e. Myth is a functional story: it explains something in the (social) world
W.Burkert: ‘’a myth is a traditional tale with secondary, partial reference to
something of collective importance.’’
Myths aren’t like the stories we read in most of current fiction. The stories are
often illogical and inconsistent. They have several (local) versions, and different
myths influence each other. Due to the way myths are told they are constantly in
flux, when they were finally written down (recorded) they were probably already
far removed from their original versions.
Myths can still be categorized however:
1. Cosmogeny and Theogeny: about the beginning of the cosmos and the
gods
