Chapter 3 Myth and the Origin of the Humanities Review

                            An  Overview of Chapter 3

"Myths are clues to the spiritual potentiality of the human life" -Joseph Campbell

          There are many forms of Humanities, mythology included as being long running. It has been expressed for generations through music and dance. All humanities are closely related in the roots of myths in fact. They are commonly traditional but fabricated to explain things such as phenomenons of nature, origin of humanity, customs, religion, etc. This can be correlated with the quote above by Campbell where it talks about myths connecting with ideals with share throughout our lives.





1981 Film 'Excalibur'

" The human passions transform man from a mere thing into a hero, into a being that spite of tremendous handicaps tries to make sense of life"- Erich Fromm

            Archetypes are the models we follow to understand ways of thinking, humans, and the nature of universe. Carl Jung is a psychologist-philosopher who came up of the idea that everyone has some sort of universal knowledge of archetypes.As it states in the text when referring to Jung's ideas " Jung believed these models are shared by societies all over the world" ( Janero & Altshuler , The Art of Being Human: The Humanities as a technique for living, 2011, p.39).  These archetypes being passed down generations are labeled as collective conscious by Jung. There are two ideas of how these myths and archetypes are spread and sympathized universally. One is the migratory spread of stories where it kind of just naturally traveled to different regions and cultures. This is the more scientific approach.  Another is that humans in general just share common needs , no matter where they are geographically.

               A common archetype is the hero. It's a culturally universal story progression for most myths and media in general. Monomyth is a coined concept from Irish novelist James Joyce and basically is the belief that "hero" is same no matter where. This can be supported by the quote above where it talks about the intricate of heroes in myths and how they are just trying to get though obstacles thrown at them to get through life. The hero is sort of like a place set for the viewers to relate with and cheer on.

         

           The birth of the hero is one trope that is shown within myths. This usually occurs through circumstances whether it be a superstitious figure or destiny. In some circumstances this birth can also be seen as a curse to the hero or those affected by the hero.

      A hero destined is usually point out early on especially for deeds. In the text, an example given is " ....young Arthur's removal of the sword Excalibur from the stone that had held it until the rightful owner should come along"( Janero & Altshuler , The Art of Being Human: The Humanities as a technique for living, 2011, p.40). With these recognition usually being early in life, there is a theme of the idea for the need for acceptance in terms of a monomyth. The idea of an adolescent from an ordinary or even dreary background being recognized for greatness or becoming important is one that has connected with people in there daily lives.

    The hero's great deed is the indicator of a hero finally growing up and marking the end of childhood. An example of this is with Theseus killing the Minotaur of Crete. Critics have interpreted this act as Theseus ending his childhood and entering maturity for this deed. Most of these deeds in mythology are physical but they can also be emotionally. These feats or the hero themselves can be empathized by the audience and celebrated. We can correlate with the hero's accomplishments in our daily life whether it be a birthday , marriage, etc.

   The hero' loss of power is a downfall part in their journey. Myths don't always end happily, especially in the west, The death of the hero is one example of the hero's loss of power.  In return for this death though the hero is remembered for their good.  History reflects the notions of this with historical heroes that might've been controversial during there time but uplifted long after there death.The failings of the hero can also make them greater if they can overcome them. A sentence that supports this is " Great heroes fail , but their failures only testify to the bigness of their lives"( Janero & Altshuler , The Art of Being Human: The Humanities as a technique for living, 2011, p.42). 

      The special someone is the person we can relate with and try to connect with when comparing them to our lives. They have several accomplishments and are recognizable to us.  This can be a correlation between ordinary people and athletes or celebrities who have achieved several things in their lifetime in comparison.

       Words hold power in terms of what the hero says. They can be catchy or emotional but are almost always memorable in the end. This is like wise with numbers. An example of the power of numbers in the number of verses in the ten commandments

     The circle in myths can come in a variety of forms/ideas and physical shapes. As it states in the text " ....the circle is an unbroken line with out beginning or end that encloses a uniform space, people have used it symbolize oneness, and eternity"( Janero & Altshuler , The Art of Being Human: The Humanities as a technique for living, 2011, p.45) . Culturally, the circle is universal for being more than something or having to do with the roundness of subjects essentially if I had summarize it.

      The journey is the whole of what the hero goes through to achieve his goal. We expect progress and growth in the character with the journey they accept. This is different from the circle because e" whereas the circle guarantees life without end , journey is supposed yield important results"( Janero & Altshuler , The Art of Being Human: The Humanities as a technique for living, 2011, p.46).

       The garden can be interpreted as sort of a paradise in contrast to the circle or journey. It's the peace from obstacles or troubles. This is mostly notables in biblical works such as Adam and Eve.

   Bods as human beings is an odd one. Greek mythology is most notable with personifying gods. They were given appearances , although being said to be more beautiful than humans, were still somewhat attainable. This is despite their physical perfections too. They also had personalities, often unpredictable.

" Evil enters like a needle and spreads like an oak tree" - Ethiopian proverb

        Mythology has been expressed  by our ancestors as ways to explain the unknown. The main ideas they tried to explain was natural phenomenon and how to deal with problems hat come in life.

         Creation myths is the myth that tries to explain how things came to be. This has range culturally from Asian mythology to Greek mythology. How things actually came to be is still debated to this day between several contrasting ideas.

      

       The point of the Natural world myth is to explain natural and daily phenomenons that occur in nature. An example of this is the belief that the deity Freyr was what brought about good harvest in Scandinavian communities. Greek mythology is another good example with trying to explain the seasons with Greek gods. 

     Our ancestors often had questions about what brings about humans to do generally evil things.  The quote above taken from an Ethiopian proverb is a good way to describe human suffering specifically caused by other humans through wars and such by describing it as starting with one person and it spreading and effecting everyone.Through mythologies, the concept of human suffering is explored to reassure the idea of justice and what is right at the time. It was also to find the cause of human suffering in general or why it happens. One common example for explaining this concept is that it happens because a god was disobeyed or offended. Being cursed by fate is another way to explain human woes and this curse s usually caused by a sin being passed down generations.

Little red riding illustration by Daniel Egenus

" The fairy tales take a child's anxieties and dilemmas very seriously and addresses itself  directly to them: the need to be loved and the fear that one is thought worthless; the love of life and the fear of death"- Bruno Bettelheim

             Many people are exposed to stories at a young age. Childhood tales can teach alot of basic lessons that can stick with them in life whether they realize or not. These tales can teach them specific lessons or just be a breather and escaped from the stress of life. The quote from Bettelheim  fully expresses the ideas of fairy tales where it's just taking fears of the child and putting it into a positive light and try to teach them something out of these feelings they might have or just relieve them from these negative feelings.

There are a few stereotypes in terms of appearance of those in the tales where the good guys are usually attractive while the bad guys are the unattractive. Where they live also contrasts greatly in stereotypical ways along with other factors. This to me doesn't take away from the lesson if we take these myths from first value.

   Names in these take can help children develop ways to identify new language and make identifications  within the child themselves.

  Childhood mythology can at times highlight on certain dangers usually those that can be disturbing. An example is with Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where the story itself underneath is about how greed is bad and destroys things despite it's go lucky tone. These stories , although dark at times, can teach children important lesson and focus on themes that may not be fully obvious to a child but convey a message.

" Truth is one , the sages speak it by many names"- The Vedas

      Mythology can help produce common sayings within a society. These sayings can seem cliche but all have truths to them in the end. The quote above reflects this idea because some sayings can be said in a variety of ways but will send the same message if they share the same message in the end. Some of these common sayings are " All you need is Love", " It must be Fate", " There's always room at the top" and "Everybody does it".

Prometheus unbound , AESCHYLUS & SHELLEY, Percy Bysshe , John Farleigh

" I've always preferred mythology to history. History is truth that becomes an illusion. Mythology is an illusion that becomes reality"- Jean Cocteau

         Mythology can enhance the appreciation of the humanities. Some works listed in influencing humanities such as drama and cinema is Endymion and Prometheus Unbound. Both are myths that go out of their way to explain certain questions and contemplation in people's daily lives.  This connects with the ideals that of humanities that are meant to spread ideas and come up with explanations of life.  Mythology giving us context to life can relate with the quote above by Cocteau where they compare mythology to history. Mythology is so close with us that it's something that sticks with most for life.

Conclusion

In conclusion, mythology is a really powerful form of humanities. It has been recreated and retold through generations and are universal in many ways. To our ancestors , myths were meant to explain the unknown but as we grow up with them they start leaning more teaching lessons are being used as class studies on the heroes of the said myths. Myths is one thing that despite it's longevity in humanity , will never fade away.