authoritative speech

word

speech

tale

connected series of utterances by which meaning is communicated

spoke or written communication regarded as consisting of such utterance of word speech and tale

discourse

logos is a kind of discourse but not the same as mythos

a mythos is always authorless and always unconditionally/ true

logi unsually have authors (sometimes unknown) who take responsibility for the truth of what they have said

divine myth

legend

folk tale

creation stories: why the world is as is

theogony,cosmogony, (genealogy)

etiology

supernatural beings (often immortal)

personified abstractions

nature elements

metamorphosis

In an oral culture:

legend is analogous to history as myth is analogous to science and features

extraordinary humans (Orestes,Theseus)

may contain kernels of historical truth

hardly distinguishable from legend

types and motifs:

Cinderella type

abused young sister motif

spirit helper motif

token (glass slipper) motif

earth - Gaea

sky- Mt. Olympus

underworld - Hades

Greece: Athens, Thebes, etc.

Anthropomorphism: greek morphe = shape; anthropos = human

Theriomorphism: therion = beast

case study: Potnia Theron = Mistress of the Beast

set of stories, symbols, beliefs, and practices,often with a supernatural quality that gives meaning to the practitionr's experiences of life through reference to an ultimat power or reality

may be expressed through prayer, ritual, meditation, music and art, among other things. It may focus on specific supernatural, metaphysical, and moral claims about reality (the cosmos, human nature) which may yield a set of religious laws, ethics, and particular life style. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology as well as personal faith and religious experience

1. a traditional story containing ideas or beliefs about ancient times or natural events (such as the 4 seasons)
2. sacred tale
3. such stories collectively
4. an imaginary person or thing
5. an unfounded idea > part of the beliefs of a group or class

recording and compiling

functions

inter-culture connections

significance:

explain, justify educate, explore, reconcile

Kirk's monolithic theories of myth

it can only be called a myth if....

1. it explains natural phenomena
2. it explains something in the world
3. it explains/justifies a social custom
4. it evokes the creative era
5. it explains or gave rose to a particular religious ritual
6. it is a product of the subconscious working out repressed conflict