CLAS 104: Classical Mythology

Textbook Notes
Chapter 1: Interpretation and Definition of Classical Mythology
- myth originated from the Greek word mythos which means word, speech,
tale, or story
- true myth: concerned with the gods, religion, and the supernatural
- fairytales: short, imaginative, traditional tales with a high moral and magical
content. Fairytales are folktales for the young
- etiological: in this view, the mythmaker is a kind of primitive scientist who used
myths to explain facts that cannot otherwise be explained with thin the limits of societys
knowledge at the time
- myths usually try to explain matters physical, emotional, and spiritual not only
literally and realistically but also figuratively and metaphorically as well
- Max Muller: believed that all myths are nature myths, all referring to
meteorological and cosmological phenomena