Guide For Online Course Myths Legends An

Title Page: English 355
Myths, Legends & Literature
Meet the Author/Instructor: Ronald G. Walker
Course Information/Materials
Course Materials:
English 355: Myths, Legends & Literature
This online Course Guide for English 355: Myths, Legends & Literature is a primary text in the
course. The reading and writing assignments and other important information set forth here
(particularly in the section entitled "Lessons and Assignments") will be invaluable to you
throughout the course. The Course Guide also features a Bulletin Board, which provides an
opportunity to interact online with other class members as well as with the instructor--an
opportunity all the more important given the fact that we do not meet face-to-face as we would
in a bricks-and-mortar classroom. You will therefore need to visit the online Course Guide
frequently as you move through the course. And you should regard it as a participatory space,
involving your own contributions, rather than a mere set of directions to follow on your own.
That learning is in part a collaborative process seems especially appropriate when the object of
study is itself a communally created and preserved entity such as myth.
In addition to the Course Guide, there are several paperback texts from which your required
reading will be assigned (see list below). Included are an anthology of world mythology, a book
of commentary about the symbolic meanings of myth, and six literary works that draw heavily
on mythological events, characters, and themes. You will need to obtain the anthology and
Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces right away, as the material in these two
books is foundational for the course as a whole. The six literary works will be studied in the
order in which they are listed below, beginning with Homer's classic epic poem, The Odyssey,
and highlighting several modern British and American fictional works informed in various ways
by myth. There are also supplementary materials on electronic reserve (ER) in the WIU library
and others available online at Internet sites that will be provided in the Course Guide. Finally,
there are several video clips that are streamed into the Course Guide at strategic points. The
papers and exams in the course will cover this reading/viewing material and additional shorter
selections identified later in this Course Guide; when I evaluate your work, I will expect that you
have read or viewed the assignments carefully and have given serious thought to their
significance.
Here is the lineup of the main texts that we will be studying in the course, all of which may be
obtained through the WIU Union Bookstore. As you will soon discover, the readings are as
fascinating as they are extensive. The following are required:
Joseph Campbell. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton, NJ: Princeton U P,
1968. Needed for Lessons 2-3.
Donna Rosenberg, ed. World Mythology: An Anthology of the Great Myths and Epics.
3rd edition. Lincolnwood, IL: NTC Publishing, 1999. For Lessons 4-6.
Homer. The Odyssey (c. 750 B.C.). Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1996.
For Lesson 7.
John Steinbeck. To a God Unknown (1933). Rpt. New York: Penguin, 1995. For
Lesson 8.
William Faulkner. Big Woods (1955). Rpt. New York: Penguin, 1994. For Lesson 9.
D. H. Lawrence. The Plumed Serpent (1926). Rpt. New York: Vintage, 1992. For
Lesson 10.
Toni Morrison. Song of Solomon (1977). Rpt. New York: Plume/Penguin, 1987. For
Lesson 11.
Arthur C. Clarke. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Rpt. New York: ROC/Penguin,
1993. For Lesson 12.
Recommended Supplementary Text: Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual. 4th ed.
New York: Bedford, 2000.
Homer's epic poem is available in several good translations; although I strongly prefer the Fagles
translation, I do not object to your using others, so long as they are verse translations and not
prose (such as the old Penguin translation by E.V. Rieu) or abridgments. The title by William
Faulkner is a collection of four hunting stories, two of which will not be assigned in this course;
the stories we will be using are "The Old People" and "The Bear." These are also available in a
volume called Go Down, Moses, which Faulkner regarded as a novel and which contains a much
longer version of "The Bear." If you have access to "The Bear" in that book--or in an anthology
of short fiction--you may read it there instead of purchasing Big Woods. Should you do so,
however, I advise that you skip section four (beginning "then he was twenty-one"), which is
scarcely intelligible outside the context provided by Go Down, Moses. Faulkner himself deleted
this section in the version used in Big Woods.
Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces is one of the classic treatments of
mythology. In it, Campbell focuses on recurring themes, characters, and incidents in the quest
myths of the world, elements so similar that he adapted James Joyce's term "monomyth" to
describe the central pattern. You may be familiar with The Power of Myth, the series of
interviews given by Campbell to journalist Bill Moyers, broadcast on PBS in the late 1980's.
Those interviews, preserved on videocassette, are available in many libraries. Because Campbell
was a lively interviewee and a splendid teacher of myth and literature, as a supplement to Hero, I
highly recommend viewing these programs to anyone who can get access to them. Three of
these interviews have been incorporated into the Course Guide as streaming videos. As
indicated above, occasionally I will supplement the main texts with related shorter readings
which I will make available through electronic reserve or online. Titles will appear later in the
Course Guide.
In addition, several of our works have been adapted to the medium of film. The Odyssey has
been filmed several times. Perhaps the best-known version is the one entitled Ulysses made in
1955 and starring Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn. Another, starring Armand Asanti, is more
recent (1997), and I have selected a clip from this film as a supplement to Lesson 7. Of course,
2001: A Space Odyssey is a classic film in the 1960's by the late Stanley Kubrick. The film,
based on a short story by Arthur C. Clarke, actually preceded the novel. I want you to arrange to
see this great picture in its entirety if you have not already done so, or to see it again if it's been a
while. It is widely available on video at rental outlets and in libraries’ audiovisual collections. I
have used a clip from the final sequence of the film as a streaming video link in Lesson 12.
There are other films which, while not directly based on our readings, draw on mythological
themes and reward study in this context. Among these are Quest for Fire, the Star Wars trilogy,
and Legends of the Fall. These films are frequently shown on TV and may be available in local
video rental outlets. A clip from Quest for Fire has been inserted as a streaming video link in
Lesson 1. I encourage you to enrich your study of myth, legend and literature by screening as
many relevant films as you can find.
Finally, if you do not already have one, you will need to have access to an up-to-date writing
handbook for use in preparing papers for this course. In particular, the last paper assignment
involves using the MLA documentation style. If you are unfamiliar with this style, which is
standard in the field of English, it will be essential that you become conversant with it before
attempting that assignment, if not before then. For these reasons I recommend Diana Hacker's A
Pocket Style Manual (4th edition), as a comparatively inexpensive and accessible resource. The
handbook includes a summary of MLA style and has a useful list of standard correction
symbols which I will use in marking your papers. Note: The WIU English Department’s
website has a link to a summary of MLA style. Access this site through the WIU homepage;
click on “academics,” then on “departments and programs,” then on “English & Journalism,”
then on “resources for English majors.” There are other neat features on the department’s
homepage.
Assignments and Deadlines
There will be readings assigned for each of the 12 lessons, divided into two main units. In Unit
I, the first three lessons will be devoted to theories about mythology; we will make extensive use
of Joseph Campbell's ideas as presented in The Hero with a Thousand Faces and elsewhere.
Note: After completing Lessons 1-3 there is a short written assignment. To demonstrate
your commitment to the course, you must submit that paper to me within the first 30 days
of the beginning of the term in order to continue. There will be no exceptions to this
course policy. We will then move on to short but diverse readings in selected myths and epics
from around the world. Drawn mainly from our anthology, these will fall into three large
categories: creation myths, seasonal (or fertility) myths, and hero/heroine myths. At this point,
there will be an Examination over the material studied in Unit I. (Details about the content of
this examination and procedures for taking it and the final exam are discussed later in this Study
Guide.) The "Thinking Points" at the end of each lesson are designed partly to help you to
prepare for the exams by focusing on the large conceptual issues implied in the myths.
Important note: You must complete Unit I--that is, the first six lessons, including the short
paper after Lessons 1-3, and the first examination--BEFORE the end of the regular
semester (i.e., the Friday of Finals Week in the fall) to be eligible to proceed on to Unit II,
Lessons 7-12. Students who do not meet this deadline will, in effect, have withdrawn from
the course. I will NOT accept assignments from Lessons 1-6 after this mid-December
deadline. For those eligible, Unit II may be completed by the extended deadline allowed by
the Independent Study Program.
For the remainder of the course in Unit II, we will study outstanding literary works that make
use of mythological elements, consciously adapting them to artistic purposes. We begin this unit
with the story of the Greek hero Odysseus (or Ulysses, as he was later called by the Romans) and
proceed to a series of 20th-century British and American fictional works which draw in various
ways on ancient myth, or create new myths for the modern world. Supplemented in some cases
by shorter readings, these works will each be the focus of one lesson.
Each of the lessons in Unit II will include a series of Thinking Points (described above) followed
by Study Questions; the latter are for you to answer in writing, turned in to me. In general,
these questions will be discursive rather than factual in nature; your responses will be mini-
essays (usually one or two paragraphs per question will suffice) in which you will interpret the
readings and make connections of various kinds among them. For such interpretive questions
there are no "correct" answers, only ones that are reasonably presented and based on evidence
and those that are not. You may consult any of the recommended supplementary readings and
websites in completing these papers, if you wish.
When you have completed the study questions for a given lesson, fax or snail-mail the typed
answers to me. The fax number of the WIU English Department is 309-298-2974. Mark your
faxed cover sheet "Attn. Prof. Ronald Walker." (I prefer these methods of sending assignments
instead of attaching them to email, since there has sometimes been difficulty in the past in
receiving such attachments.) Note: Please do not submit more than one lesson at a time,
and submit them in the order indicated in this Course Guide. All of your submissions will
be promptly graded and returned to you, if possible before you have completed the next lesson.
I would like very much to avoid a log-jam of papers arriving at the very end of the course, a
busy time for me as well as for you!
There will be a Final Examination chiefly focusing on the literary works from Homer through
Arthur C. Clarke. This will be an essay test in which you discuss similarities and differences
among the literary works, in terms of the ways in which they utilize mythological materials.
You should also be prepared to draw on the major concepts and recurrent themes from Unit I of
the course (the kind of issues included in the "Thinking Points") in answering these questions
about the literature.
The last assignment is a Comparative Paper on two of the literary works that you will have
studied. Six to nine typed (double-spaced) pages in length, this paper will demonstrate not only
how well you have understood the conceptual framework of the course but also how well you
can apply it to the analysis of two works of literature. You should draw on Campbell as well as
other critical sources in writing this paper. For this purpose I will provide a list of
supplementary readings (both traditional and online) after each lesson. However, with both the
literary works and the critical commentary, you must quote or paraphrase accurately,
documenting your borrowings fully with in-text citations, using MLA style. (For MLA
documentation style, see Diana Hacker's A Pocket Style Manual.) More detailed instructions for
the Comparative Paper will appear later in this Course Guide.
N.B.: All of the lessons in Unit II, the final examination, and the comparative paper must
be completed and sent to me on or before the extended deadline stipulated by the
Independent Study Program. Students who have not submitted all of the assignments by
this deadline will be severely penalized in their course grade. As a rule I will accept NO
further work after the extended deadline. If you are unable to meet the deadline, you
should contact me beforehand to explain and to explore your options.
Examinations
There are two examinations in the course. The first will occur after the completion of Unit I
(Lessons 1-6) of the course and will cover the material studied up to that point: the introduction
to the study of myth, Campbell's approach to myth as presented in The Hero with a Thousand
Faces, the lesson on Golden Bough, and the myths selected from our anthology, World
Mythology and supplementary readings online. Taking no more than an hour, this First
Examination will combine objective questions (matching, multiple choice, fill-in) and a short
essay; it will focus on key concepts and terms; on recurring themes, motifs and symbols in the
myths; and on analysis of the significance of these elements as they appear in myths. In other
words, the central emphasis is conceptual and not narrowly factual--it will not be worthwhile,
for example, to memorize the names of all the specific characters, dates, and places. As
explained elsewhere, this First Examination must be taken before the end of the regular
semester. Completion of it by this deadline will be necessary to continue in the course.
There will also be a Final Examination covering the course as a whole but with particular
emphasis on the literary works studied after the first exam: i.e., from Homer's The Odyssey to
2001: A Space Odyssey. The final will be open-book--you may consult your notes and your
texts, which you may bring into the room where you take the exam. It must be completed within
two hours. The exam will involve two essay questions (no objective questions this time)
requiring you to discuss similarities and differences among the literary works and their
deployment of mythological materials. You should review the study materials in Lessons 1-12,
refresh your memory of Campbell and Frazer and the issues raised by each literary work. (The
Thinking Points, Study Questions, and Glossary should be useful here.) The aim of this test is
to determine your ability to synthesize diverse materials--to make clear and significant
connections among them--and not your recall of the small details of each work.
The procedures for taking these two examinations are explained in the sections immediately
following. Download and print out the examination request form for each exam; please send the
completed forms to the Independent Study Program Office at WIU, and not to me.
Examination Request Form
Procedures
Supervision
Grades
This course is graded on a letter-grade basis as determined by the instructor--that is, based on his
evaluation of your written work. The grade for the course will be determined as follows: 20
points possible for the Short Paper on Lessons 1-3; 50 points for the first Examination (on
Lessons 1-6); 60 points altogether for the Responses to Study Questions (Lessons 7-12); 60
points for the Final Examination; and 60 points for the Comparative Paper. The grading scale
for the course as a whole is as follows
250-225 points A
224-200 points B
199-163 points C
162-138 points D
Below 138points F
Unless specifically requested by the instructor, revisions of papers submitted for a grade are not
allowed. N.B.: Penalties for not adhering to end-of-term deadlines will negatively affect
the point totals and thus the final grade in the course. In grading your work, the instructor
will take into account not only your comprehension and insight into the material studied but also
the organization and stylistic clarity and effectiveness of your writing. Excessive spelling and
grammatical errors will detract from your rhetorical effectiveness and may thus result in a lower
evaluation. It is always best, of course, to proofread your work carefully and make necessary
corrections before submitting it to the instructor. Feedback from the instructor on your written
work should serve as the basis for improvement of subsequent assignments, with regard to both
writing style and content. Indeed, suggestions that are not put to use will be regarded as
evidence of carelessness or lack of effort and will result in a lower evaluation. Any questions
about grades or other feedback from the instructor should be raised--on email or by telephone to
the instructor--as they arise rather than be deferred until the end of the course.
Board of Trustees students should note that a grade of D or F does not earn credit in the degree
program.
Time Limits
Important notice:
Because of the substantial amount of reading and writing involved in this course, it is
essential that sufficient time be allowed to complete the assignments and to receive full
benefit from the instructor's feedback. Deferring all of the assignments until the extended
deadline mentioned above will NOT be acceptable in this course. You must make a
demonstrable commitment to this course in the form of the timely completion of
assignments. Specifically, (1) the Short Paper following the first three lessons must be
submitted within 30 days after the beginning of the term; (2) the First Examination (on
Unit I) must be taken before the end of the regular term in which you enrolled for the
course; (3) all lessons must be submitted singly and in proper sequence; (4) students must
have completed and received the instructor's evaluation of Lessons 7-12 before taking the
Final Examination; and (5) students must have taken the Final Examination before
submitting the Comparative Paper. In short, waiting until the end of the term to submit a
cluster of exams and papers is absolutely unacceptable in this course and will result in severe
penalty. If you are unwilling to abide by these course policies, please withdraw from the
course immediately and spare yourself and me from unnecessary difficulty later on.
Withdrawals/Tuition Credit
Independent Study Course Withdrawal Form

Sequence of Lessons and Assignments
Overview of the Course
Unit I
Lesson 1: Introduction to the Study of Myth

Overview
1.1 Reading Assignment
1.2 Thinking Points
1.3 Supplementary Reading
1.4 Recommended Websites
Lesson 2: Joseph Campbell and The Hero with a Thousand Faces (I)
Overview
2.2 Thinking Points
Lesson 3: The Hero with a Thousand Faces (II)
3.1 Overview
3.3 Thinking Points
Brief Paper on theories of myth
Lesson 4: Creation Myths

4.1 Overview
4.2 Reading Assignment and Notes
4.3 Thinking Points
Lesson 5: Seasonal Myths
5.1 Overview
5.3 Thinking Points
Lesson 6: Hero/Heroine Myths
6.1 Overview
6.3 Thinking Points
First Examination
Unit II
Lesson 7: Homer's The Odyssey as Exemplary Quest

Overview
7.2 Thinking Points
7.3 Further Reading Assignments
7.5 Recommended Web Sites on The Odyssey
7.6 Study Questions: Written Responses Required
Lesson 8: Paradise Found and Lost in John Steinbeck's To a God Unknown
8.2 Thinking Points
8.4 Recommended Web Sites
8.5 Study Questions: Written Responses
Lesson 9: Initiation in William Faulkner's "The Old People" and "The Bear"
9.2 Thinking Points
Lesson 10: D. H. Lawrence's Mythic Mexican Revolution in The Plumed Serpent
10.2 Thinking Points
Lesson 11: Flights To/From the Kindred Self in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon
11.4. Recommended Web Sites
Lesson 12: Through and Beyond the Star Gate in Arthur Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey
Overview
12.1 Reading (and Viewing) Assignment
Final Examination*
Comparative Paper*
*See "Time Limits."

Myths, Legends and Literature: Course Overview
According to the WIU catalog, this class involves "a literary study of myths and legends, with
special emphasis on European myths and legends and their relationship to literature." We will
begin by looking at several theories about myth, with emphasis on those of Joseph Campbell (as
presented in The Hero with a Thousand Faces and elsewhere). Our readings will include a
selection of creation myths, seasonal or fertility myths, and hero/heroine myths from around the
world. These will be examined with attention to similar and recurring themes, symbols,
character types, and motifs. Special emphasis on European myths will be reflected partly by the
attention given to the stories surrounding the Greek hero Odysseus in Homer's epic poem, a
19th-century poem by Tennyson, an excerpt from the premier 20th-century novel Ulysses, by
James Joyce, and the space-age counterpart of the quest found in Arthur Clarke's 2001: A Space
Odyssey. Other Greek, Norse, and British myths and legends will be studied, as will selected
myths from the Middle East, the Far East and Pacific Islands, Africa, and the Americas. We will
consider the origins and functions of the myths, their significance, and methods for analyzing
and comparing them meaningfully.
By looking at literary works that deploy mythic characters, symbols, and themes, we will also
investigate the ways in which authors have drawn upon these traditional narrative models to
enrich their own imaginative creations, providing readers with a more fundamental, universal
experience of the works than would otherwise be available. Investigating literature with
emphasis on "archetypal" patterns sheds light on the basic nature of this experience--which is at
once communal and profoundly personal, traditional and innovative.
Like other classes in the humanities, English 355 stresses the importance of literature and
language, the value of cultural and cross-cultural contexts, and narratives of universal experience
that help us to realize and appreciate what it means to be fully human, whether we imagine
ourselves living in Sumeria 2000 years before the Christian Era, in the Camelot of King Arthur
and Guinevere, in the Toltec city of Tula, sacred to Quetzalcoatl, or aboard the spaceship
Discovery approaching the moons of Jupiter in the 21st century.
UNIT I
Lesson 1: Introduction to the Study of Myth
What is a myth? How and where do myths originate? What are the functions and meanings of
myths? What do myths from diverse cultures and historical eras have in common? What are the
various approaches to the study of myth? These are among the primary questions that will
concern us in this introduction, which aims to provide a basic conceptual background for the
lessons that follow.
Toward a Definition of Myth
Because it involves so many factors and has been approached in so many different ways, myth is
notoriously elusive of precise, generally agreed-upon definition. Each academic discipline
concerned with myth uses the term in its own way: the anthropologist defines it according to its
cultural roots and functions; the psychologist, in terms either of its origins in the mind or its
symbolic relation to subconscious experience; the classicist, according to its formal structure and
its relation to ancient history and art; the literary critic, according to its prefigurative relationship
to the canon of great literary works produced in subsequent historical periods. Of course, in
everyday parlance myth is synonymous with falsehood. All of these conceptions of myth, even
the last one, contain elements of truth, but none alone is sufficient.
For our purposes we can say, in a very preliminary way, that myths are traditional, communal
narratives, often involving fantastic or supernatural figures and events. Generally, myths that
have survived for a long time are sooner or later written down by a particular scribe or
antiquarian, and may even be given a new, creative interpretation and stylistic flourishes
traceable to a single person known as an "author." (For example, Sophocles imaginatively
recreated the existing Oedipus myth in his superb tragedy Oedipus the King). In their inception,
however, myths are transmitted orally, and both their authorship and their audience are
anonymous and communal; they gradually become part of an oral tradition, changing a little
perhaps each time they are told, with fugitive inspirations accounting for the omission of certain
elements or the addition of new ones designed to hold a particular audience, but the essential
events kept intact. In this regard myths have much in common with legends and folktales.
Like legends and folktales, too, myths tend to deal with the long ago and far away--they are
seldom set in the contemporary world. In fact, they typically have a timeless, generic quality,
with no specific historical setting, unless it's something like "before there was fire," or "after the
people [i.e., tribe] arrived," and so forth.
Stylistically, myths tend to be presented in a kind of naive or deadpan manner. Even though
they may deal with gods, monsters, and fantastic events--events that are unreal, or at any rate not
empirically verifiable--they tend to present these things as if they were not only real but almost
commonplace. Subjective, inner experience is expressed as if it were outer, sensory experience.
Although myths are usually full of symbols, the symbols are presented in a literal fashion, as if
the teller does not recognize them as symbols at all. As a result, myths often blur the
conventional distinctions between real and unreal, inner and outer, literal and symbolic. The
"naively" literal surface of myths, however, is a mask that one must learn to see through, and
beyond. As we shall soon discover, the essential meanings of myths lie in the special language
of the symbols they use so profusely.
The structural logic of myths is often elusive. At times they can seem arbitrary, casual,
whimsical, redundant, or confusingly elliptical. As in folktales and fairytales, repetition is often
a key element in mythic narratives. (The opening chapters of Genesis in the Old Testament offer
a famous example of the Creator, at each stage, beholding that "it was very good," as if to
provide reassurance, by means of reiteration, that the creative act and its motives and outcomes
are essentially beneficent.) There is often no clear or explicit motivation for actions, no cause-
effect relationship between events, something we have come to expect from most stories even in
our post-literate society. Joseph Campbell's famous assertion comes to mind here: "The myth is
the public dream, and the dream is the private myth" (Power of Myth 48). As in dreams, the
organization of elements in myths may seem more random and subjective than logical, and on
the surface at least their appeal seems to be more emotional than rational. Nevertheless, like
other kinds of narrative including dreams, ultimately myths may fulfill a basic human need for
order and meaning (referred to as "affectance motivation" by psychologists).
Thematically, myths tend to involve dangerous encounters with the unknown--with chaos, dark
and threatening forces, inscrutable adversaries, lawless but powerfully destructive energies. The
hero confronts a dangerous mystery (for example, an angry dragon) and, by means of
remarkable courage, skill, cunning, magical weapons or armor, eventually conquers or
assimilates it. Or the heroine goes up against the forces of what appears to be chaos (as when
the Greek corn goddess Demeter discovers that her daughter Persephone has been abducted by
the Lord of the Underworld, her disappearance concurrent with that of the grain crops); and this
encounter makes possible the production of some kind of order that had not before existed
(Persephone returns to her home and divides her time thereafter between it and Hades), or was
not before recognized as such (the cycle of the seasons coinciding with Persephone's annual
departures and returns). This recurrent pattern suggests one of the main functions of myth--to
come successfully to terms with challenging problems and to resolve otherwise puzzling
dilemmas. The myth of Demeter and Persephone symbolically enacts the awareness that all life
including the human is fleeting and death is unavoidable; at the same time, through its symbolic
recovery of the "lost" daughter and the harvest associated with her, it offers reassurance that
death and life are cyclical and there is promise of new life. As Dylan Thomas would write more
than 2500 years later, "Death shall have no dominion." In short, there is a problem-solving
element in myths, and this can provide a kind of reassurance about human resourcefulness as
well as a recognition of universal human anxieties. But again, myths operate in this way on the
symbolic level rather than the surface or manifest level of the story. If myths have universal
meanings, it is because the basic dilemmas of life--birth, maturation, mating, propagation,
death--essentially do not change from historical era to era or from culture to culture. They are,
rather, the constants of human experience, and not even modern science and technology can
quite succeed in eliminating their wonder. Through their symbols, myths recapture that wonder,
and this is one reason that modern writers like Dylan Thomas so often steep their works in myth.
Origins of Myths/Myths of Origin
As with the definition of myth, theories of its origins are many and diverse. These range from
the idea that myths have a common historical origin and were transmitted by cultural diffusion to
different peoples, to the notion that myths are the inevitable product of certain universal features
of human consciousness. These positions represent the opposite extremes, respectively, of those
who stress external and material causes and those who favor internal or psychological ones
inherent in all humans. Neither extreme seems to offer a completely satisfactory explanation for
the power and complexity of the myth-making propensity of humans
It seems reasonable to assume that myths exist to satisfy a human need that cannot be so fully
satisfied in other ways. In a general sense, I have already suggested the fundamental nature of
that need (i.e., for reassurance and problem-solving). The real question here is how to account
for the near-universal appeal of myth--even in a scientific age such as ours, in which one might
suppose most people would look elsewhere for the answers to life's mysteries. After all, few still
believe in Zeus or Poseidon, and even Jesus for some has been reduced to little more than a
series of slogans repeated by rote. Yet as films such as Star Wars suggest, we can still respond
powerfully to well-told stories recounting the reckless and daring deeds of heroes confronting
and ultimately overcoming a malevolent, quasi-supernatural Force. Why is this?
Students of physiology have constructed a jargon-filled sentence to explain the fact that the
development of the human embryo follows (very roughly) the basic stages of the evolution of
the human species: "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny." (Ontogeny is the development of the
individual embryo, phylogeny the evolution of the species.) Psychologists such as Carl Jung
have asked whether the same principle holds for human psychological development. That is, in
the course of our psychological maturation as individuals, do we at certain times re-enact or
"recapitulate" the psychological experience of our prehistoric ancestors? Do we, in some recess
of the mind, retain the residue of the primordial psyche? If so, how do we come by it? Do we
inherit a predisposition toward certain primordial states of mind, or do we acquire them through
acculturation? These are large questions, and no final answers have been generally agreed upon,
but there are several plausible theories worth mentioning here.
One is that concerning the stage of development unique to humans, labelled "neoteny" by the
psychologist Weston LaBarre in The Ghost Dance (1970). Neoteny is the term used by Labarre
to identify the prolonged period of a human child's dependence upon his or her parents. In no
other species is the period of dependence so extended--other species are more fully developed
when born and if healthy can generally survive on their own much earlier in life. During the
stage of neoteny, human children engage in a powerful fantasy life; struggling for their own
identity they imagine their parents and other adults to be monstrous beings; or they invent
boogie men or fairy princesses: mythic figures, in short. Even as late as adolescence humans
still "recapitulate" the experience of their terrified, threatened primitive ancestors, like them
inventing characters and stories in which their fears and anxieties and other problems are
dramatized in symbolic form and are triumphantly resolved or overcome. As adults they retain
this fantasy experience as part of their psychological make-up. It can be triggered into
consciousness again by a dream, a hallucination, or a story (in a novel or film) that contains
elements of myth. Among psychologists, C. G. Jung (1895-1961) probably had the most to say
about such experience.
Like his mentor Sigmund Freud, Jung believed that human behavior often is driven by
compulsions that originate in the unconscious mind; unlike Freud, however, Jung tended to
stress that beyond the individual's unconscious, there was a collective unconscious shared by all
people, "a deeper level of the mind than could be explained in terms of personal repression" of
an individual's experiences during infancy (Storr 9). This collective unconscious is the inherited
predisposition toward symbol-making, a propensity to which all have access through myth,
ritual, dream, and the creative activities of the artist. The contents of the collective unconscious
are archetypes. Archetypes consist of the primordial images or universal symbols retained in
the collective unconscious of the human race, e.g., the Shadow, the Wise Old Man, the Terrible
Mother. These are generic forms whose specific content may vary (e.g., the boogie man, the
prophet, the wicked witch) according to differences in culture, geography, and language.
Though there are such variations, the generic images--the archetypal figures--are constant in the
dream life of mankind, otherwise known as mythology. Archetypes may be embodied in a
character, a place, an object, an event, or an idea represented in a myth; their significance is
generally not overtly expressed and must be decoded.
The Meaning and Function of Myth
There have been at least five explanations given for the function of myths. All of them have
some validity, but none is complete in itself as an account of the diverse purposes that myths can
serve. Furthermore, as will become apparent, the explanations tend to overlap. Let's examine
them.
1. Myths dramatize people's fears and beliefs about life changes (rites of passage),
the nature of the gods, the mysteries of birth, death and fertility in both humans
and the natural world. [The myth of Demeter and Persephone is an obvious
example.]
2. Myths are basically etiological, i.e., they explain and validate the origins of
important objects, places, names, etc. [For example the Aztec myth about the doomed
love between the Smoking Warrior and the Sleeping Woman offers a symbolic
account of where the twin volcanoes, Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl, came from and
how they were named.]
3. Myths explain and justify a culture's charter, i.e, they provide sanction for its
unique identity, its particular customs and values. [The story of Moses leading the
Israelites out of bondage in Egypt in search of the Promised Land provides a
virtual definition of the Hebrews' sense of being God's Chosen People.]
4. Myths explain and justify rituals, which precede the myths. [For instance, a
fertility ritual gives rise to a myth about a goat-god, Pan, who embodies the life
spirit, telling of his death in winter and his rebirth in spring--a story publicly
dramatized in the earlier ritual involving the sacrifice of a young male goat each
spring.]
5. Myths are symbolic, speculative exercises in problem-solving. As such, they mediate
troubling contradictions [e.g., the conflict between life and death, mediated by a
myth about a hero's rebirth or afterlife, as in the story of Osiris and Isis]. According
to the French structuralist anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, "The purpose of myth
is to provide a logical model capable of overcoming a contradiction." [E.g., the
conflict between nature--what Levi-Strauss termed "the raw"--and culture--"the
cooked"; the mediator is provided in myths about the discovery of fire, the
element that transforms the raw into the cooked and enables the tribal group to
survive against the deprivations of untamed nature.]
To these five theories I would add a qualifying footnote. All of the theories summarized above
assume an underlying seriousness to myth, in which its ostensible meaning gives way to a latent
meaning, usually a weighty one. All of the theories focus on a heuristic function, that is, the
discovery and validation of a covert, serious meaning embodied in the myths of a particular
culture. While these serious heuristic functions are each plausible, it is equally plausible that
myths also satisfy the human need for diversion, for play, for sheer entertainment and
inventiveness, in a way that other forms of discourse, because of some formal or rational
constraint, do not, at least not so readily. Among other things, these fantastic yarns are simply
good fun, both in the telling and in the hearing. They openly engage what is sometimes called
the ludic impulse (derived from the Latin phrase, Homo ludens, which may be roughly translated
"playful man"). And if myths sometimes frighten us, and act out our nightmares, it is worth
remembering that such enactments can nonetheless be intensely enjoyable--as such films as
Friday the 13th, Alien, or Nightmare on Elm Street suggest--for reasons as much aesthetic as
psychological.
Approaches to the Study of Myth
If we think of a myth merely as a text, we may conceive of two very general ways of analyzing
it: the intrinsic and the extrinsic approaches. These in turn may be subdivided into different
methods of analysis.
1. Intrinsic approaches focus on internal relations between elements within the

myth rather than between the myth and things outside it.
a. Using this approach one could analyze the form or structure of the myth
itself, considering such elements as the organization of incidents, the method of
transition between them, the use of repetition or ellipsis, the deployment of
motifs or images, and the means of closure.
b. One could also analyze the myth's themes, both overt ones and latent or
symbolic ones.
2. Extrinsic approaches build on analyses of a myth's formal and thematic elements by

considering also its relationships to things outside the myth itself: the tellers, the
listeners, the culture that produced the myth and that is reflected in it, other
myths produced by the same culture and by other cultures. Let's look at each of
these in turn.
a. The relationship between a myth and its tellers, in most cases, is difficult to
determine because authorship is anonymous and communal, and the myth
is passed down orally through generations. Once the myth is written down and
preserved, however, it becomes possible to make inferences about the
author
as an historical agent and to consider how the myth expresses the
author/teller's own experiences and concerns, how it manifests an
identifiable authorial style, and so forth. This approach is known as the
expressive theory. In the case of literary works using mythological elements,
such as Sophocles' dramatization of King Oedipus' story, Freud and his
followers concerned themselves with the presence of subconscious
compulsions expressed in the text (in this case, the Oedipus complex).
b. The relationship between a myth and its listeners or audience is the purview of the
affective theory. The "audience" may include both the original listeners (to the
extent anything is known about them) and modern persons who hear the
myth told or read it or witness a performance of it. How does the myth
affect the audience? Why do they respond so powerfully to certain types
of characters and events? What are the psychological mechanisms triggered
by or enacted in the myth? How can these effects be understood? Freudians,
Jungians, Lacanians and others of a psychoanalytic bent all provide answers.
c. The mimetic theory concerns itself with the relationship between the myth and the
culture that produced it. Here, the analyst considers how that culture's
history, customs, and institutions shaped the myth and are reflected in it. Is
there
something uniquely Greek about the myth of Theseus? Does it reflect Greek
political ideals about leadership and the organization of power? Are Greek
religious beliefs about death and the afterlife inscribed in the story of Theseus'
descent into the Cretan labyrinth and his battle against the Minotaur? Can we
detect actual features of Aegean geography and relations with neighboring
peoples in the story of Odysseus' wanderings? Mimetic theorists are inclined to
regard myths as more or less realistic reflections (mimesis was the Greek word
meaning imitation or likeness) of the actual world. For them, myths are often
concerned with cultural charters and etiologies or origins of key objects,
places, and names. They may even tell the early history of a nation (sometimes
called Euhemeristic myths, named after the man who first proposed the idea).
By concentrating on the mimetic relationship between a myth and the culture
of its origin, the analyst stresses culturally specific features that may not be
shared by myths that originated in other cultures. In any event,
particularists, as such analysts are sometimes called, are not chiefly
interested in identifying common features, believing that the differences
outweigh the similarities in importance.
d. Analysts who compare a myth with other myths of the same kind use the
comparativist theory. There are several possibilities here. (1) One might
study a particular version of a myth against variants of the same myth.
The structuralist ethnographer Claude Levi-Strauss compared all
extant Bororo myths about the discovery of fire, looking for patterns of
emphasis that would reveal things about the myth's underlying meanings, i.e.,
the ways in which it mediates significant contradictions. (2) One might
compare and contrast different myths from the same or closely related
cultures, looking for significant parallels in terms of recurrent themes,
character types, motifs, and so forth. For instance, one could compare the
stories of Greek heroes such as Theseus, Prometheus, Dionysus, Hercules, and
Odysseus to determine whether there are comparable elements of form and
theme. Or (3) one might compare myths from widely different cultures (e.g.,
Moses, King Arthur, Quetzalcoatl, and the Buddha) to see if there are
significant parallels despite culturally-specific differences. Do these myths
have a similar structure? Are the heroes' experiences parallel in some sense?
Do similar symbols and motifs appear in the myths? Are the same underlying
themes involved? If so, how can we account for these similarities, and what
do they tell us about human nature?
As we will see in the next two lessons, Joseph Campbell primarily uses the comparativist
approach to raise questions such as these last, which lend themselves to an essentialist
interpretation of human nature. Drawing especially on Jung's concepts of the collective
unconscious and archetypal symbols, Campbell developed a very influential cross-cultural
theory for analyzing world mythology. It is an approach that also may be applied fruitfully to
the study of literature, in which similar patterns may be discovered and understood in terms of
perennial human concerns. By way of introduction, here is one of the interviews in The Power
of Myth series, with Campbell and journalist Bill Moyers.
[Insert clip here: “The Message of the Myth”]

1:1 Reading Assignment
Gerald Clarke, "The Need for New Myths." Time, January 17, 1972, pp. 50-51. (A copy was
included with my letter welcoming you to the course.)
The following myths are on electronic reserve: "The Origin of the World" (The
Mission Indians of California); "The End of the World: The Buffalo Go" (Kiowa);
“Popocateptl and Ixtaccihuatl” (Mexican/Toltec)
The following myths from our anthology, World Mythology: "Osiris, Isis, and Horus"
(Egyptian; pp. 15-21); "Demeter and Persephone" (Greek Homeric Hymns; 94-99);
"The Taming of the Sun" (Polynesian; 361-65); and "The Origin of Life and Fire"
(African/Bakuba- Boshongo; 515-17)
The following myths, which are available online at the following links:
“Pan” at http://has.brown.edu/~maicar/Pan.html
“Theseus” at http://hsa.brown.edu/~maicar/Theseus.html
“Moses” (from Exodus, Chs. 3-4, 13-15, 19-20, 24) at http://bartleby.com/108
1.2 Thinking Points
Note: Thinking Points are simply a series of questions and issues raised by the lesson.
They are intended to call your attention to central concepts so as to facilitate
understanding and to promote further inquiry. You should find these points
useful also for the purpose of reviewing this material later in the course, when
relationships between this lesson and material studied later on will become evident.
Thinking Points, as the phrase suggests, are designed to generate productive
thinking; you may benefit from writing down your thoughts in a journal, for future
reference. Or you may wish to share your thoughts with classmates on the course
Bulletin Board. However, I do not require that you formally submit to me
your responses to the Thinking Points to me.
1. What are the most important characteristics of a myth? What does myth have in
common with other traditional narratives such as folktales, legends, fairy tales, and
epics? How are myths different from these other kinds of stories? If you are uncertain
about any of these terms, look them up. (See Glossary.)
2. What specific stylistic elements are typical of myths? What is meant by the term
"deadpan" used to describe the manner in which myths are typically presented? How is
this manner related to the "illogical" way in which the incidents of a myth are organized?
How do these qualities contribute to the effect of a myth on the listeners (or readers)?
Try to find examples of these stylistic characteristics in the sample myths assigned in this
lesson.
3. How do you understand Campbell's analogy between myth and dream?

. How does the idea of the physiological development of an individual organism
"recapitulating" that of the species correspond to human psychological development?
What is the connection between "neoteny" and the human propensity for myth-making?
What do you think is the psychological function of such myth-making on the part of
emotionally insecure, dependent children and teens? Do you think adults retain, on some
level, the effects of such "neotenous" experiences? In other words, do traces of
childhood anxieties, fantasies, and private "myths" persist in later life? If so, how do
adults gain access to them? Is such access, when it can be gained, psychologically
traumatic or healthy? (Or is this perhaps a false dichotomy?)
4. As citizens of an advanced, highly industrialized and technologically sophisticated

society, most of us would like to think that we have moved far beyond the deprivations
that limited the lives of our "primitive" ancestors to an endless battle for mere survival.
Surveying the world today as reflected in the news, can you think of any evidence that
our primordial nature has not been entirely overcome? What residue of "primitive"
behavior persists? On the other hand, are there valuable qualities we have lost from our
ancestors?
5. How do the five main theories about the functions of myth overlap? What do charter
myths, etiological myths, and myths explaining or validating a people's rituals have in
common? Try to think of examples of each in the sample myths assigned. What do
myths dramatizing a people's fears and beliefs have in common with those providing a
symbolic exercise in problem-solving? Again, consider possible examples from the
sample myths. How is "affectance motivation" provided by all five functions? Is the
"ludic impulse" consistent with the idea that all myths are in some sense
"heuristic"? (Again, look up terms you're uncertain about.)
6. Are the various approaches to the analysis of myth mutually exclusive, or are they
compatible? For example, how might one use both the "intrinsic approach," focusing on
a particular myth's form and structure, and the "affective theory," which involves
consideration of "extrinsic" relationships? Consider the possibilities of identifying a
connection between a myth's structure and the impact it has on the audience. For
example, what is the effect upon the reader of the many repetitions in the opening
chapters of the Book of Genesis? Or, to switch for a moment to fairytales, how do such
formulaic lines as "once upon a time" and "they all lived happily ever after" affect the
child listener?
7. In addition to the collective unconscious and archetypes, what explanation might there be
for the similarities in theme, character, symbol, and motif in myths that originated from
widely different cultures and historical periods? Does the comparativist theory
inevitably point to an essentialist view of human nature? How well does the
multiculturalist movement accommodate such a view? What features of the sample
myths would be highlighted by a particularist? by a comparativist?
8. I strongly recommend the film Quest for Fire (directed by Jean Jacques Annaud) as a
convincing portrayal of "primordial" life. Made in 1981, the film is available on video
and well worth the price of rental. It is about the conflict between two primitive tribes (at
different stages of development) over access to the wonderful new discovery: fire. The
new force gives these ancient hominids the edge in their struggle for survival, even before
the development of language. This scene involving a wooly, long-tusked mammoth is a
very suggestive demonstration of how the "neoteny" analogy could operate. It also shows
how rituals of propitiation could have come about. These, in turn, provide images that
may be understood in terms of archetypes.
[Insert clip from Quest for Fire here]
Finally, the film fully satisfies the "ludic impulse” of all good yarns.
1.3 Supplementary Reading (Note: The following sources were cited in Lesson 1)
Campbell, Joseph. The Power of Myth. Ed. Betty Sue Flowers. New York: Anchor,
1988.
Jung, C.G. Collected Works. 18 vols. Ed. Herbert Read, et al. London: 1953--.
LaBarre, Weston. The Ghost Dance--Origins of Religion. Garden City, NY:

Doubleday, 1970.
Levi-Strauss, Claude. "The Structural Study of Myth." In Structural Anthropology.

New York: Farrar, Strauss, Giroux, 1963. 206-31.
Storr, Anthony. C.G. Jung. Ed. Frank Kermode. Modern Masters. New York: Viking,
1973.
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?idxref=220288
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dbrown/storfolk.html
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~cbsiren/myth.html
http://has.brown.edu/~maicar/index.html
http://members.nbci.com/searcheagle/lore/index0.htm
Lesson 2: Joseph Campbell and The Hero with a Thousand Faces (I)
For this lesson, I want you to read the following sections of the Campbell text: Prologue: The
Monomyth; Epilogue: Myth and Society; and Part II: The Cosmogonic Cycle. The prologue
and epilogue are the two most theoretical parts of the book, while Part II offers a useful focus for
our study of creation myths in Lesson 4. In the next lesson I will assign the rest of the Campbell
book, which focuses in detail on the hero's quest. This material should prepare us for the study
of seasonal myths in Lesson 5 and, especially, for the hero/heroine myths in Lesson 6. I have
again included a handful of sample myths in the reading assigned for this lesson. Before really
immersing ourselves in the myths themselves, however, I think that it is important to establish a
strong foundation in the theory of mythology.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces was originally published in 1949. Although written very early
in Campbell's long career, which would see him write more than a dozen other titles (including
the four-volume Masks of God, the encyclopedic The Mythic Image, and The Power of Myth, the
best-selling companion volume to the Moyers interviews aired on PBS), it remains his most
influential and best known book. While Campbell's standing among folklorists, anthropologists,
and other academic specialists is somewhat controversial, his concept of the "monomyth" as
presented most fully in Hero has had a powerful impact on teachers of literature, on creative
writers, on filmmakers and other creative artists over the last several decades. For example,
George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars saga, has openly acknowledged his indebtedness to this
book as a major source of his inspiration. Recently, I viewed the Tom Hanks film Cast Away
and was once again made aware of how pervasive the structure and symbolism of the monomyth
have become in popular culture today. This pervasiveness seems to provide evidence of the
book's accessibility to a wide audience and--ultimately more important--its persuasiveness as an
explanation of how myths work their magic on us just as they did on our ancient ancestors. That
is why I selected it as a text for this course.
* * * * *
In his Preface, Campbell raises several key questions: From what depth of the mind does myth
derive? Why is myth "everywhere the same, beneath its varieties of costume?" (4). And what is
the function of myth? Now we have touched on these questions in Lesson 1, so you should be
able to provide your own answers.
Campbell defines myth as a kind of poetry, that is, as a spontaneous symbolic expression of the
inner truth of experience. Its symbols "are not manufactured; they cannot be ordered, invented,
or permanently suppressed. They are spontaneous productions of the psyche, and each bears
within it, undamaged, the germ power of its source" (4). Myth has much in common with dream
and ritual. In the Time essay, Campbell says that "Myths are public dreams. Dreams are private
myths," a clearer version of the analogy than that used in Hero (see p. 19). Both dream and
myth, in other words, are expressions of the unconscious or, in his words, "vehicles of
communication between the conscious and the unconscious" (Time 51). Ritual, which
Campbell defines as the public "enactment of a myth" (Power of Myth 228), stems from the
same source and provides the same function. Campbell dwells especially on rites of passage,
which involve the rituals most closely corresponding to the myth of the hero's quest. Both
"supply the symbols that carry the human spirit forward" (Hero 11). Rites of passage
(ceremonies commemorating such key stages of development as circumcision, puberty, baptism,
marriage) involve the same basic tripartite separation-initiation-return pattern as the hero myths.
More to the point, rituals, like dreams and myths, draw heavily on archetypal images, which
Jung defined as "Forms or images of a collective nature which occur practically all over the
earth as constituents of myths and at the same time as autochthonous [i.e., home-grown, native]
individual products of unconscious origin" (quoted. in Hero 18n.18).
Campbell borrows the term monomyth from Irish novelist James Joyce and formulates it as
follows: "The mythological adventure of the hero is a magnification of the formula represented
in the rites of passage: separation-initiation-return: which might be named the nuclear unit of
the monomyth. A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of
supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the
hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow
man" (30). His famous circle diagram appears on the same page. A bit later he offers a
somewhat different spin on the "nuclear unit": now it involves "a separation from the world, a
penetration to some source of power, and a life-enhancing return" (35). Campbell proceeds to
elaborate the three basic stages appearing on his circle diagram:
I. Separation or Departure
--Signs of the vocation of the hero, or the Call to Adventure
--Refusal of the Call, or the folly of flight from the god
--Supernatural aid, the unsuspected assistance offered to one who has accepted the
call
--The Crossing of the [First] Threshold
--The Belly of the Whale, or passage into the realm of night
II. Trials and Victories of Initiation

--The road of trials, or the dangerous aspects of the gods
--The meeting with the goddess (Magna Mater), or the bliss of infancy regained
--Woman as temptress, e.g., the realization and agony of Oedipus
--Atonement with the Father
--Apotheosis (i.e., transformation of a mortal into a god)
--The ultimate Boon
III. The Return and Reintegration of the Hero with Society

--Refusal of the return, or the world denied
--The magic flight, e.g., the escape of Prometheus
--Rescue from without
--Crossing of the return Threshold, or the return to the world of common day
--Master of the two worlds
--Freedom to live, the nature and function of the ultimate boon (Hero 36-37)
Campbell asserts that in the myths of the world there is "astonishingly little variation in the
morphology [i.e., structure] of the adventure, the character roles involved, the victories gained.
If one or another of the basic elements of the archetypal pattern is omitted from a given fairy
tale, legend, ritual, or myth, it is bound to be somehow or other implied--and the omission itself
can speak volumes for the history and pathology of the example . . ." (38).
Another interesting formulation of the monomyth of the hero is that of David Adams Leeming,
in his book Mythology: The Voyage of the Hero (3rd ed., 1998), which breaks the story into
eight stages, as follows:
1. Miraculous conception and birth of the hero ("The World Child")

2. Childhood, initiation, divine signs
Child performs acts that show he's a true hero, receives magic charms or weapons
3. Preparation, meditation, and withdrawal ("The Unknown Within the Self")
Hero withdraws from the world to meditate in preparation for his later trials
4. Trial and quest ("The Summer of Life")
The heart of the monomyth: Hero faces a series of severe tasks he must perform to
succeed in his quest; the tasks are incrementally difficult and dangerous. The land is
fertile.
5. Death and the scapegoat ("Death and the Promise of a New Life")
The hero endures a violent death (hanging, crucifixion, castration, dismemberment) and is
ritually mourned by loved ones; often accompanied by a curse on the land
6. Descent into the Underworld ("The Night Journey of the Soul")
The hero descends into the land of death, the Underworld, and there encounters the
specter of Death itself. The land is barren.
7. Resurrection and rebirth ("Union with the Cycle of Nature")
The hero is ritually restored to life and returns to the world. Fertility returns to the land as
the curse is broken.
8. Ascension, apotheosis, and atonement ("The Discovery of the Unknown")
The resurrected hero is transformed into a diety and ascends into heaven to unite with
the Sky Father
As you can see, this schema has much in common with Campbell's, although it proliferates the
stages of the hero's quest, expanding from three to eight. In so doing, Leeming refocuses
attention on the beginning and end of the story, which is to be seen as circular, cyclical,
recurrent. His first three stages are what he calls "the childhood cycle," which is much
attenuated in Campbell's tripartite structure focusing mainly on the hero's initiation. Moreover,
unlike Campbell, Leeming stresses the hero's actual death and rebirth, not just his symbolic
"rebirth" when he returns across the threshold to the familiar world. Campbell emphasizes the
hero's ultimate task of "bestowing a boon" upon the community after his return, while Leeming
is more concerned with the hero's apotheosis. It is significant that Leeming places the hero's
atonement with the father at this last stage, whereas Campbell locates it much earlier in the
narrative. Still, these two variations of the hero's monomyth are essentially compatible and
complement each other usefully.
One further benefit of supplementing Campbell's formulation of the monomyth with Leeming's
is that the latter explicitly ties in the hero's story with the seasonal cycle. The stages of the
hero's life are roughly parallel to the cycle of the seasons: his childhood is analogous
symbolically with spring; the initiation that amounts to his prime corresponds with summer; his
sacrificial death is parallel with the fall; his descent into the Underworld correlates with winter;
and his rebirth is analogous to spring. Moreover, Leeming is careful to link the central stages of
the hero's quest to the ebb and flow of life in nature during the progression of seasons. Thus,
during the hero's prime, nature is fecund and plentiful; after his death, a curse falls upon the
land; during his descent into the Underworld, the land is barren; and fertility returns with his
rebirth in the spring. Thus Leeming's formulation of the monomyth makes it easier to see how
the monomyth of the hero's quest is amplified in seasonal or fertility myths. This analogy, in
turn, is consistent with Campbell's own claim that the hero monomyth is but the microcosmic
analogue of the myths of creation, also known as cosmogonic myths. Indeed, Campbell sees
the three kinds of myths--hero, seasonal, cosmogonic--essentially as permutations of the basic
monomyth, involving the same archetypal images and embodying the same vision of life.
The monomyth, with its interlocking corridors and chambers, is a remarkably complex and
variable structure. But as Campbell sees it, the underlying meaning is always the same: "all the
visible structures of the world--all things and beings--are the effects of a ubiquitous power out of
which they rise, which supports and fills them during the period of their manifestation and back
into which they must ultimately dissolve" (Hero 257). This power is variously named--mana,
energy, God's power, elan vital, the Freudian libido. In the cosmos its manifestation is "the
structure and flux of the universe itself" (258). The hero's quest activates that power, or
manifests it in the world and reveals its ultimate source and unity. "The two--the hero and his
ultimate god, the seeker and the found--are thus understood as the outside and inside of a single,
self-mirrored mystery, which is identical with the mystery of the manifest world. The great deed
of the supreme hero is to come to the knowledge of this unity in multiplicity and then to make it
known. . . . The effect of the successful adventure of the hero is the unlocking and release again
of the flow of life into the body of the world" (40). The goal of the monomyth, whether in its
heroic, seasonal, or cosmogonic form, is essentially the same: "to realize the All in the One, the
Whole in the Self. . ." (386), and to make us experience this unity for ourselves.
But the unity itself is a supernatural mystery too powerful and sublime to be apprehended
directly by the finite human mind. We can recognize it only in reflections or oblique
manifestations in the phenomenal world. Myth and ritual function so as to facilitate, by symbol
and metaphorical implication, awareness of the operations of this numinous power, which is "a
truth or openness beyond" the temporal world; "the ultimate is openness--that void, or being,
beyond the categories--into which the mind must plunge. . . . God and the gods are only a
convenient means--themselves of the nature of names and forms, though eloquent of, and
ultimately conducive to, the ineffable. They are mere symbols to move and awaken the mind,
and to call it past themselves" to the primal transcendent power (258). In other words, gods are
symbolic personifications of this "ineffable," "numinous power" that animates all of life and that
is beyond the finite mind's capacity to apprehend unmediated.
The underlying theme of the cosmogonic cycle is the coming into being of the finite or
phenomenal world perceptible to the finite mind of man, and its ultimate dissolution back into its
numinous, transcendental state perceptible only to a kind of superconsciousness beyond man's
normal cognitive powers. Stories of the Fall symbolize "the lapse of superconsciousness into the
state of . . . consciousness. . . ." It is to this "constriction of consciousness" that "we owe the fact
that we see not the source of the universal power but only the phenomenal forms reflected from
that power" (259). This constriction, so to speak, "creates the world. Redemption consists in the
return to superconsciousness and therewith the dissolution of the world" (259). Cosmogonic
myths provide an image of this process of constriction and expansion, just as the myth of the
hero from conception and birth to death and rebirth does. Like the hero's quest and the
progression of seasons, the cosmogonic cycle repeats itself endlessly (261); or rather, the End is
forecast in the Beginning, and the End itself is a new Beginning, over and over and over again.
The first phase of the cosmogonic cycle, according to Campbell, is "the breaking of
formelessness into form" (270), which he terms "emanations." The immediate effect of these is
"the framing of the world stage of space; the second [effect] is the production of life within the
frame: life polarized for self-reproduction under the dual form of the male and female" (273).
Thus we have such images as Sky/Father and Earth/Mother. The whole movement of the
creation is from the One to the Many, often represented by "a great crisis, a rift, [which] splits
the created world into two apparently contradictory planes of being. . . . Yet we know that
behind the scenes the Unmoved Mover [i.e., the One] is at work, like a puppetmaster" (281).
With the fragmentation there appears the potential for strife and conflict, which may produce
further fragmentation. Yet in myth such conflict is not what it seems; a paradoxically dual focus
operates. For "from the perspective of the [divine] source, the world is a majestic harmony of
forms pouring into being, exploding, and dissolving. But what the swiftly passing [finite]
creatures experience is a terrible cacophony of battle cries and pain. The myths do not deny this
agony. . . ; they reveal within, behind, and around it essential peace. . ." (288). For her part, the
Earth Mother is a personification of the primal element, a transforming medium through which
"the world generating spirit of the father passes into the manifold of earthly experience" (297).
She is the shell of the Cosmic Egg containing the world-to-be. Yet she is necessarily a virgin
"because her spouse is the Invisible Unknown" (297).
When human life is introduced into the created world, consciousness contracts, perspectives
become flat, depths recede, and the sense of overall harmony is lost. Man becomes involved in
conflict and fragmentation, and "society lapses into mistake and disaster." As a result, "the
people yearn for some personality who, in a world of twisted bodies and souls, will represent
again the lines of the incarnate image" (308). Thus a hero is born to a virgin, and the unfolding
of cosmic destiny is renewed, overthrowing the Pharoahs, Nimrods, and Herods of this world,
who had constricted vital energy by their oppression. The hero is "the perfect microcosmic
mirror of the macrocosm" (347). His quest brings about a crucial link in the underlying
continuity between Beginning and End.
The "dissolution" of the cosmos is a gradual return toward the primal chaos that preceded it. It
culminates in the Apocalypse, which marks the End of one cosmogonic cycle and precedes the
Beginning of the next cycle, the creation of a new cosmos out of chaos, form out of void. This
parallels the hero's death and rebirth, and the progression of seasons through winter to the
reappearance of natural life in the spring. This holistic vision of life as an eternal cycle of loss
and return is a means of conferring a sense of order--sacred order--upon the mere passing of
time, giving it a unity and direction, a profound sense of purpose and significance. Thus
Campbell's monomyth provides what amounts to a kind of non-sectarian religious vision of life.
The Prologue, Part II, and the Epilogue in Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand
Faces
The following sample myths from the anthology: "Telepinu" (Hittite; 22-25);"The Creation
of the Titans and the Gods" and "The Ages of Man" (Greek, Hesiod; 82-92); "The
Creation, Death, and Rebirth of the Universe" (Hindu; 291-95); "The Creation,
Death, and Rebirth of the Universe" (Norse; 459-66); "The Quarrel Between Sagbata
and Sogbo" (Fon; 518-20); "The Creation" (Maya; 595-99); "The Emergence"
(Navajo; 615-21); and "Sedna" (Inuit/ 637-42)
2.2 Thinking Points
1. Ritual may be defined as a set of prescribed ceremonial acts performed periodically by

priest or shaman in order to express, on behalf of a community, certain profound human
fears, needs, and desires. Experts disagree about whether rituals are designed to exert
occult power so as to influence events (e.g., the coming of harvest), or to express human
submission to the forces of nature. The former would involve propitiatory rites, the latter
rites of passage. Which view does Campbell seem to favor?
2. Is there a difference between asserting that dreams, rituals, and myths are analogous and
asserting that they are equivalent? Which assertion does Campbell make most
frequently? What important differences are there between myth, ritual, and dream?
3. How does Leeming's eight-point schema complement Campbell's tripartite version?

Does Leeming's version seem compatible with Campbell's claims about the central
theme of the monomyth? Another mythologist, Harry Slochower, has summed up the
theme as follows in his book Mythopoesis: ". . . myth addresses itself to the problem of
identity, asking 'who am I?' And it proceeds to examine the questions that are
organically related: 'Where do I come from?', 'Where am I bound?', and 'What must I do
now to get
there?' In mythic language, the problems deal with Creation, Destiny and with the
Quest." Does this view of the monomyth's central meaning seem closer to the one
embodied by Campbell's version or to that of Leeming? (Still other versions of the
monomyth include the following: The Hero [1936], by Lord Raglan; American Imago
[1941], by Geza Roheim; The Myth of the Eternal Return [1954], by Mercea Eliade; and
Anatomy of Criticism [1957], by Northrop Frye.)
4. Do Campbell's claims about the macrocosmic/microcosmic parallelism between the

cosmogonic, seasonal, and hero myths seem to be born out in the sample myths assigned
for this Lesson and Lesson 1? Which myths fall into each category? Do you see some
overlapping between the categories? Are there recurrent motifs, events, and character
types? Or are such similarities sometimes trumped by strong, culturally-specific
content?
5. In his epilogue, Campbell laments the death of the old gods and the collapse of "the
timeless universe of symbols" which, he says, have "lost their force" and "no longer
interest our psyche" (387). What developments in modern society have contributed to
this change? Despite lamenting that "The lines of communication between the conscious
and the unconscious zones of the human psyche have all been cut, and we have been split
in two" (388), Campbell concludes with a rousing call for a rediscovery of myth. How
do you understand this latter transformation? That is, if our minds are split in two and
we have lost contact with our unconscious, how are we capable of rediscovering myth?
Do you think he means the old myths, or new ones such as those mentioned in the Time
essay you read for Lesson 1? What would be an example of a "new" myth? Can myths
disappear altogether from awareness? If so, what are the consequences? Are myths
always benign in their influence, or may they be appropriated for destructive
purposes? Can you think of any examples of the misuse of mythology for such
purposes?
6. One of the criticisms of Campbell's work is that he sometimes seems to move beyond
merely describing the characteristics of myths and to become an advocate for the
meaning he insists they all express. What begins as a scholarly cross-cultural and
psychological exploration of the subject eventually becomes, according to such critics, a
kind of overblown sermon in the doctrines of Campbell's own eclectic brand of
mysticism. Do you share this concern?
Eliade, Mircea. The Myth of the Eternal Return. Trans. W. R. Trask. New York: Harper
& Row, 1954.
Frye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP,
1957.
Leeming, David Adams. Mythology: The Voyage of the Hero. 3rd ed. New York:
Oxford UP, 1998.
Raglan, Lord, F.R.S. The Hero. London: 1936.
Roheim, Geza. American Imago. 2. 1941. 278.
Slowchower, Harry. Mythopoisis: Mythic Patterns in Literature Classics. Detroit, MI:
Wayne State U P, 1970.
http://geocities.com/Athens/Troy/2967/Campbell.html [Joseph Campbell Page]

http://www.pacifica.edu/cglibrary/campchron.html [Campbell Chronology]
http://www.pacifica.edu/cglibrary/campabout.html [Pacifica Graduate Research Library Pg.]
Lesson 3: The Hero with a Thousand Faces (II)
Having set forth in his prologue the comparativist theory of myth that he espouses, Campbell
proceeds in Part I to delineate the nature of heroism and the structure of the hero's adventure.
This is the heart of the book, and it should be worthwhile to examine closely its ideas and their
application.
Who is the hero, and how does his heroic nature reveal itself? To begin with, says Campbell,
unlike the heroes and heroines of fairy tales, the mythological hero is universal rather than local.
As he observes in the prologue, the hero's adventure is "world-historical, macrocosmic," whereas
that of the hero of a folktale or fairy tale is "domestic, microcosmic" (37-38). The folk hero
"prevails over personal oppressors," but the hero of myth returns from his trials with a boon that
will regenerate his society and, by extension, the world as a whole. Mohammed, Jesus, and the
Buddha "bring a message for the entire world," but Moses, Raven, and Tezcatlipoca offer theirs
to "a single folk" (38). The mythic hero is the vehicle by which "the world destiny is realized
and carried forward" (315). In Part II, Campbell explains that the character of the hero evolved
through two stages: first, the prime mover and gods who created form out of the void in the
cosmogonic myths; and second, the demigods and patriarchs and city founders who embody the
transition from the cosmic to the human sphere (e.g., Moses, Prometheus, Gilgamesh). Such
figures are often emperors or kings, though their stature is demonstrated through their actions
more often than by official titles or positions.
As we saw in Lesson 2, Campbell posits a three-part structure for the hero's adventure. The first
stage is departure. Before he can depart, however, he must be born into the world. There is
often something odd or even miraculous about his conception and birth. A virgin birth is not
uncommon; or conception resulting from the mating of a mortal and a god. Indeed, the mating
of a mortal and a god does not destroy virginity but enhances it. "Her womb, remaining fallow
as the primordial abyss, summons to itself by its very readiness the original power that fertilized
the void" (308). This suggests that herohood is predestined and that its inception is linked with
that of the cosmogonic cycle. The birth of the hero is the microcosmic parallel of the creation of
the cosmos in cosmogonic myths. The hero is endowed with extraordinary powers from birth,
or even from conception. His task is to rediscover the metaphysical mystery of creation and, by
embodying it himself, to bring it before us again (320). In his childhood the hero undergoes
"adventures in depth" (i.e., a descent into the psychic mysteries) proportionate to his mature
descent (321). Often this involves "the theme of infant exile and return" so prominent in myth
and legend--e.g., Moses, Jesus, Kutoyis (Blackfoot). In some sense the child's destiny is
challenged or obscured by an antagonist. "The child of destiny has to face a long period of
obscurity. This is a time of extreme danger, impediment, or disgrace. He is thrown inward to
his own depths or outward to the unknown; either way, what he touches is a darkness
unexplored" (326). He is confronted by "unsuspected presences," helpers, ogres, angels, crones,
who challenge him, give him dreams, or teach him lessons about his great powers or destiny.
Yoda and young Luke Skywalker come to mind here. In time, the child proves himself worthy
by facing and surviving such trials; he demonstrates his extraordinary powers--his precocious
strength, cleverness, or wisdom (327). Or he may withdraw from the world into voluntary
meditation, a gathering of his powers for the more severe trials ahead. For this is above all a
time of preparation. The childhood cycle concludes with "the return or recognition of the hero,
when, after the long period of obscurity, his true character is revealed. This event may
precipitate a considerable crisis; for it amounts to an emergence of powers hitherto excluded
from human life. Earlier patterns break to fragments or dissolve; disaster greets the eye. Yet
after a moment of apparent havoc, the creative value of the new factor comes to view, and the
world takes shape again in unexpected glory" (329).
As the lens through which creative energy is located and released into the world, the hero is "the
champion not of things become but of things becoming; the dragon to be slain by him is
precisely the monster of the status quo" (337). This is a figure for what is often a series of trials
and tests he must face in order to "emerge" as the full-blown culture hero. He proves himself as
an adult warrior, lover, or sage (or some combination of the three), by unseating his precursors.
On the other hand, his destiny may require a quest for the unknown father, within which usually
is embedded a series of tests leading up to the ultimate encounter with his most important
"precursor." The encounter may bring about a battle, or a verbal sparring, in which the hero
conclusively proves himself and receives the father's blessing. The hero now returns to the
world to represent the father (346-47).
The hero is now fully prepared for his great adventure, which begins with a summons, a call--
often delivered or announced by a herald--to live, to die, to undertake some high historical
mission or religious quest for illumination. It seems important that the hero's true adventure
begins not as a result of his own initiative but in response to a kind of invitation. Campbell says
that this call marks "the awakening of the self" for the experience of "a mystery of
transfiguration--a rite, or moment, of spiritual passage, which, when complete, amounts to a
dying and a birth. The familiar life horizon has been outgrown; the old concepts, ideals, and
emotional patterns no longer fit; the time for the passing of a threshold is at hand" (51). The call
often occurs in connection with such images as the dark forest, the great tree, a helper in a
loathsome disguise (crone, wise old man, frog, etc.). These are all symbols of the World Navel,
that is, the hero's access (even if he is unaware of it still) to creative energy. The call produces
anxiety analogous to that of the child's first separation from its mother at birth--for this too is a
separation and a birth, activating archetypal images (52). The herald-as-beast represents "the
repressed instinctual fecundity within ourselves. . . the unknown" (53). Campbell cites as the
most famous example of this incident the call of Gautama, the Future Buddha (see 56-58). The
call "signifies that destiny has summoned the hero and transferred his spiritual center of gravity
from within the pale of his society to a zone unknown. This fateful region [is constituted] of
both treasure and danger" and is represented variously as a forest, a subterranean or submarine
kingdom, a distant land, a celestial kingdom, a lofty mountaintop. But "always [it is] a place of
strangely fluid and polymorphous [i.e., multi-formed] beings, unimaginable torments,
superhuman deeds, and impossible delight" (58).
Sometimes the call is refused. Jonah, for instance, refuses the call, and there are dire
consequences. "Refusal of the summons," says Campbell, "converts the adventure into its
negative. Walled in boredom, hard work, or 'culture,' the subject loses the power of significant
affirmative action and becomes a victim to be saved. His flowering world becomes a wasteland
of dry stones and his life feels meaningless," despite his power or wealth or fame (59). He thus
becomes part of the status quo of the world, refusing to give up his own stake in it. In other
words, the recalcitrant hero is controlled by ego, refusing to submit to a larger destiny.
Unwillingness to submit to the gods' will converts them into avengers, monsters like the Cretan
Minotaur (60). Faced with such antagonists, the hero may eventually change his mind and heed
the call to adventure.
For the hero who accepts the call the first encounter is with a guide, helper, or other protective
figure who provides aid and support to the hero during the crucial first steps of his initiation; the
helper may bestow some form of supernatural aid (an amulet, a magic potion, an enchanted
shield, etc.) upon the hero to aid him in the trials ahead. Sometimes the helper is female, e.g.,
Ariadne with her ball of yarn, the Virgin Mary as intercessor, Dante's Beatrice, Faust's Gretchen;
male counterparts include Hermes, Thoth, the Christian Holy Ghost, Dante's Virgil (71).
Proceeding on his adventure the hero arrives at the threshold or "entrance to the zone of
magnified power," where he encounters the "threshold guardian," who may be either protective
or destructive. He is the custodian of the unknown region of darkness and danger (77).
Campbell interprets this threshold as a psychological symbol. The world beyond the bounds of
the ego is the unconscious, peopled by both demonic and sublime figures as in a dream. Passing
beyond this threshold amounts to the "death" of the old ego and the self's transit into "a sphere of
rebirth. . . . The hero . . . is swallowed into the unknown and would appear to have died" (90).
The hero's disappearance inward--imaged in the myths variously as the belly of the whale,
interment in a sarcophagus, entry into a large tree, descent into an abyss--enacts his entry into
the World Navel for renewal (92). Though the hero's body may be dismembered or otherwise
destroyed, an aspect of him (spirit, soul, unconscious) survives, signifying his victory over time
and mere matter. Examples are numerous: Jonah, Ishtar, Attis, Osiris, Orpheus, Christ, Raven.
The macrocosmic parallel of the hero's descent and death is the Flood.
Beyond the threshold the hero moves through "a dream landscape of curiously fluid, ambiguous
forms, where he must survive a succession of trials" (97). The divine power within him, or the
amulets provided by the helper, enable him to succeed ultimately in overcoming the trials. Here
we have moved into the second stage of the monomyth, initiation. The ordeals, culminating in
an encounter with the Lord of the Underworld (a manifestation of the Jungian Shadow
archetype), are actually an elaboration, a "deepening of the problem of the first threshold and the
question is still in balance: Can the ego put itself to death? . . . The original departure into the
land of trials represented only the beginning of the long and really perilous path of initiatory
conquests and moments of illumination. Dragons have now to be slain and surprising barriers
passed--again, again, and again" (109). The hero discovers "the dark side" of himself and learns
that he "must put aside his pride, his virtue, beauty, and life, and bow or submit to the absolutely
intolerable. Then he finds that he and his opposite are not of differing species, but one flesh"
(108).
This ultimate adventure is often symbolized by a marriage between the hero and a goddess, the
Great Mother of both life and death: "The meeting with the goddess (who is incarnate in every
woman) is the final test of the talent of the hero to win the boon of love. . ." (118). Because the
goddess represents life, his union with her enacts his assimilation of life in the fullest, including
all its contradictions (120). Just as the hero sometimes refuses the call to adventure, however, so
he is sometimes repulsed by the image of woman and regards her as an evil Temptresss (the
Terrible Mother) whose aim is to destroy him. This repulsion amounts to a delusional rejection
of life's contraries, a denial of the unconscious by the still-active ego.
The hero's final adventure may also be represented by his confrontation and atonement with a
symbolic father. Just like the female goddess, the father figure has two aspects--he is both ogre
and protector. Father-as-ogre is a symbol of the Freudian superego; conflict with the father is a
representation of guilt and repression. To attain at-one-ment with the father, or union with the
mother, the hero--the self--must relinquish the infantile images of the ego (i.e., a kind of death of
the old self) and transfer the center of psychological energies beyond the self to the Other. This
transfer amounts to a relinquishment to the unconscious, assimilating all its contraries (both male
and female, human and divine, temporal and eternal). The hero's vision that all of the
conflicting factions of life are equally manifestations of the One is a microcosmic re-enactment
of the image of unity at the beginning of the cosmogonic cycle, before the One became the
Many through the act of creating the world out of the void (153-54). Awareness of this holistic
unity of life is the hero's message to the world. This realization marks the hero's attainment of
apotheosis: he and the father/god or the mother/goddess are one, and all opposites are united
into this sacred One. The apotheosized hero is granted the ultimate boon--eternal life--but that,
he now realizes, is inseparable from ordinary, mortal life rightly seen (191).
Unlike other versions of the monomyth, Campbell's adamantly follows the hero's atonement and
apotheosis with his return to the ordinary world he had left behind when he crossed over the
threshold. This is what brings the adventure full circle. For the hero is required not only to
undergo a complete transformation himself but to share it with the world. He must carry his
boon--his Holy Grail, Golden Fleece, Ten Commandments--back to the community so that it can
undergo a parallel transformation. Sometimes, however, this responsibility is initially rejected.
The hero may loathe the prospect of a return to the light of common day and flee from it, or may
doubt that his transcendent vision can be communicated to those who have not themselves
experienced the ordeals he has suffered (193). Indeed to return to the ordinary world is
potentially a painful experience for the hero himself, a re-entry into the world of contraries and
warring fragments. Once again the hero may require a helper to support his crossing over the
return threshold. The citizens of the community may resist the hero's wisdom; after all, it is
utterly alien to their experience of reality, which remains confined to contraries and blind to
transcendental unity. He must somehow win acceptance among them and deliver his life-
enhancing boon or "elixir."
The hero's wisdom, however, is the ultimate boon he can bestow, though it needn't be an
explicitly formulated message and can simply be the truth embodied in his experience. But the
truth lies beneath the surface adventures. As Robert Segal observes in his book on Campbell,
"rightly understood, hero myths describe not the outward, physical adventures of legendary or
historical figures but the inward, mental adventures of adherents to the myths. . . . [A] hero
myth actually describes the rediscovery of a lost part of both the human personality [i.e., the
unconscious] and of the cosmos [i.e., the god dwelling within us and within all of creation]"
(Segal 27). The macrocosmic analogue to the world-transforming message of the hero's
adventure is the Apocalypse, the death of the old world or consciousness necessary before the
new one may be born--a step anticipating the next cycle in both the hero myth and the
cosmogonic myth. For a good overview of the entire hero monomyth, study Campbell's famous
circular diagram on p. 345, heading the chapter fittingly called "The Keys." Here is another of
Campbell’s interviews with Bill Moyers, in which the focus is on the hero’s quest.
[Insert streaming video: “The Hero’s Adventure”]
Campbell concedes that not all myths follow every element of the monomythic schema. "Many
isolate and greatly enlarge upon one or two of the typical elements of the full circle . . . , others
string a number of independent cycles into a single series (as in The Odyssey). Differing
characters or episodes can become fused, or a single element can reduplicate itself and reappear
under many changes" (246). But there are so many similarities in the myths of the world,
Campbell argues, that the parallels can hardly be coincidental. Though differences also appear,
these are, he claims, the result of "local" influences and amount to masks beneath which the
comparativist identifies the archetypal pattern and its message. In this way, the analyst is in a
sense re-enacting the hero's symbolic adventure, culminating in the bestowing of a boon--the
holistic vision of life encoded in the symbols--upon the audience. And what is that vision?
Robert Segal summarizes it well:
The ultimate meaning of hero myths is that all is one. Psychologically, not
only is there an unconscious realm beyond the conscious one, but the two
realms are really one, and consciousness will eventually return to its
unconscious origins. Metaphysically, not only is there an immaterial realm
beyond the material one, but again the two are really one, and the material
realm will one day return to its immaterial roots. . . . Furthermore, the
psychological and metaphysical realms are themselves really one. . . . Indeed,
all distinctions prove illusory: between one individual and another, one nation
and another, one race and another, one class and another, one religion and
another, one generation and other, male and female, father and mother, human
and god, outer and inner, material and immaterial, and life and death. (69)
At various stages of the monomyth, before this unity has fully been realized, the hero may
encounter one or more archetypal characters, that is, recurring figures who represent various
elements of the overall monomyth. These include the following:
The Great Mother or Earth Goddess--on one level, symbolic of nature and
life itself; on another, symbolic of the unconscious.
The Terrible Mother--negative aspect of the Great Mother; a witch, harpy,

or succubus. Jung's anima archetype (male images of the female) is
expressed in both figures.
The Helper or Guide--usually an adept whose special knowledge, experience,

or magic assists the hero to meet his trials; an emissary from the gods.
Jung's archetypal Wise Old Man.
The Devil/Dark Double--ostensibly, the hero's main antagonist, who poses

obstacles to the hero's quest; sometimes embodied in a monster (dragon
or serpent), he is really a life symbol (representing the Freudian id or the
Jungian Shadow archetype). Ultimately the hero must accept his bond
with this figure and assimilate him as part of the self.
The Outcast--has affinities with the devil and the double; he can be cast out
because of excessive evil or good. The biblical figures of Cain, Ishmael,
and Judas are familiar examples of the outcast. Such characters are
versions of the id or the Shadow, cast out by the tyrannical superego.
The Scapegoat--takes upon himself (or has put upon him) the sins of the people
and is sacrificed to purge those sins. He may die, be wounded or
cast out in order to purify the community. Scapegoats are associated
with fertility rituals and may appear in myths as fertility gods who
die and are reborn along with the vegetation. Psychologically, the
sacrifice of a scapegoat symbolizes repression or displacement of the
unconscious.
The Temptress--a female figure (anima) related to the dark double and the Terrible
Mother; her aim is to divert the hero from his quest and corrupt his
purity. In reality she is a representative of the unconscious, but she
is demonized by repression into a destructive figure.
The Wise Fool--has no formal learning but can find the right path and do good out of
innate purity. Sometimes he appears as one of the hero's helpers.
The Trickster--usually a helper in disguise (or a stranger not yet recognized by

the hero as a helper); often possesses magic powers or knowledge; may
also oppose the hero's quest, as a minion of the Devil.
Gods--ostensibly paternal figures (Jung's animus archetype, images of the male) but
really androgynous (i.e., both male and female) and holistic. The
archetype that personifies the creative powers animating the world and the self.
In a negative form, the Freudian superego.
Finally, in the monomyth--the archetype of archetypes, one might call it--there are archetypal
places and objects. Mountains, caves, trees, snakes, frogs, dragons (and other monsters), birds,
fish, fire, water, the sun, the moon, rain, clouds or fog or darkness, a garden, doorways and
gates, walls, circles, labyrinths, swords and spears, shields and other armor, ships--all frequently
appear in world mythology and, to the eye of the comparativist, they have universal symbolic
meanings that are intelligible within the structure of the monomyth.
Part I of the Campbell text (Chs. 1-4)
The following sample myths from the anthology: "Esfandyar, the Prince Who Would Be
King" (Persian, Ferdowsi; 58-77); "The Labors of Heracles" (Greek, Apollodorus;
100-105); “Jason and the Golden Fleece” (Greek; 159-203); "Chi Li Slays the
Serpent" (Chinese, Kan Pao; 330-34); "The Death of Balder" (Norse; 467--74);
"Quetzalcoatl" (Toltec/Aztec; 609-14); "Raven and the Sources of Light"
(Haida/Tsimshian/Tlingit; 634-36); and "Caught by a Hair-String"
(Micmac; 643-52).
Read other myths online: Moses (Hebrew: Exodus, Chs. 3-4, 13-15, 19-20, 24) and
Jonah (Hebrew: Jonah, Chs. 1-3: 5) both available at http://bartleby.com/108/ ; Theseus
(Greek) and Prometheus (Greek), available at http://hsa.brown.edu/~maicar/theseus.html
Or http://hsa.brown.edu/~maicar/prometheus.html ; Kutoyis (Blackfoot) available at
http://members.nbci.com/searcheagle/lore/leg100.htm
3.2 Thinking Points
1. What is implied by the unusual circumstances surrounding the hero's conception and
birth? How is the structure of the "childhood cycle" similar to that of the "nuclear
myth"? Why is the child's withdrawal or obscurity important? How is the helper
figure important to the child? How do you account for the fact that this figure may
be either threatening or nurturing? Why are the father-quest and the paternal
blessing necessary? How does the father resemble the helper, in both of the latter's
aspects? Why does the world seem chaotic to the child hero upon his return to it?
2. What different forms can the Call to Adventure take? What do the images associated
with it--the dark forest, the great tree, a messenger or trickster, the amulet, and above
all a threshold--represent? How does Campbell define the World Navel?
How are these images transformed when the hero refuses the call? What
difference is there (if
any) when the hero's guide or helper is female? In what sense is the threshold
crossing a "death" and "rebirth"? How would you interpret these events
psychologically?
3. During his initiation, why is it necessary for the hero to discover and then
accommodate his "dark side"? Why must this encounter occur before the hero
can achieve either a fruitful marriage with a goddess or a true atonement with the
father? What would happen to those unions if the hero were to avoid or deny his
encounter with the dark side of himself? In what sense does the marriage with a
goddess or the atonement with a father amount to the hero's apotheosis?
4. Why is it necessary for the hero to return to the ordinary world? What are the
different forms that his boon might take? What does it represent, spiritually and
psychologically? Why does the community resist the "reborn" hero and his boon?
What is the macrocosmic parallel to the hero's return and bestowing his boon?
5. Jungian archetypes, some of which are mentioned in this lesson, include the
following: Shadow and Persona (the private, "dark" side of the self and the public
image of the self, respectively); anima and animus (the male image of the female and
the female image of the male); great mother and terrible mother; wise old man; god
and devil; and the self (represented by the hero undergoing the processes of
individuation and reassimilation). The list of various achetypal figures at the end of
this lesson is obviously related to these Jungian achetypes, and you should ponder the
links and especially the ambiguities involved. How might the list of archetypal places
and objects also be connected with these character types and the psychological
meanings they embody? For instance, how might such images as the cave, dragons,
labyrinths, and darkness be related to the archetypal Shadow? How might the Great
Mother archetype be related to such images as the earth (especially in the form of
a garden), caves, the sea, the moon, and rain?
6. It is important for you to begin trying to make specific connections between the
monomyth and the myths you are reading. When you look back at the myths, with
Campbell's schema in mind, are you able to find events, characters, places, and
objects that correspond to the monomyth? (It might be helpful to refer back to
Leeming's version of the monomyth described in Lesson 2 as a supplement to
Campbell's.)
What gaps or omissions do you find? What interesting variations? What new or
unique elements? Where do "local" influences make themselves felt?
7. Critics have sometimes complained about the fact that the hero of Campbell's
monomyth is male. As Mary R. Lefkowitz puts it, "In the stories that Campbell cites
as examples of the basic pattern, the heroes are almost always male, and the females
they encounter are essentially passive; they are not so much actors in the story as
ideals or goals, entities from whom knowledge or life may be taken, or who will
produce and nourish the hero's progeny" (430). Do you share this concern? In
answering this question, consider those myths involving a heroine, e.g, those of Chi
Li, Demeter and Persephone, and Psyche. Does the monomyth apply differently to
these characters? Would "essentially passive" female secondary characters be more
adequately represented by a female version of the monomyth? What might
such a monomyth consist of? How do you think Campbell would respond to these
objections?
8. A different but equally important criticism has been made by those who object
to Campbell's appropriation of myths from various disparate cultures, removing them
from their historical and cultural contexts, and fusing them together--often slicing
them up or rearranging them to fit the mold of the monomyth--so as to illustrate his
own quasi-religious "universal" doctrine. One critic, Marc Manganaro, asserts that
Campbell's ahistorical monomyth violates the integrity of the particular narratives he
blends together and virtually ignores the "local" elements that give them their special
flavor. Florence Sandler and Derrell Reeck go further, arguing that "From the
standpoint of those whose myths are appropriated, the process is a form of cultural
imperialism" ("The Masks of Joseph Campbell" 9). Do you feel that such objections
are valid? How do you imagine Campbell might respond to them? Do you think it is
possible to find a balance between the particular and the holistic, the "local"
and the universal, the historical and the timeless? Or are these insoluble
contraries?
Lefkowitz, Mary R. "The Myth of Joseph Campbell." American Scholar. 59.3

(Summer 1990): 429-34.
Manganaro, Marc. Myth, Rhetoric, and the Voice of Authority: A Critique of Frazer,
Eliot, Frye, and Campbell. New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 1992. 151-85.
Sandler, Florence, and Darrell Reeck. "The Masks of Joseph Campbell." Religion.
11 (1981): 1-21.
Segal, Robert A. Joseph Campbell: An Introduction. New York: Meridian, 1990.
Brief Paper on Theory
In a paper of three to five double-spaced pages, discuss the significance of one major
concept that has been raised in Lessons 1-3. This concept may pertain to the definition of
myth, theories of the origin of myth or of its function and meaning, approaches to the
study of myth, Campbell's comparativist approach in general, and his "monomyth" schema
in particular, the psychoanalytic interpretation of myth, or the various objections to
Campbell's approach. In addition to discussing the concept or issue itself, I would like you
to try to draw on some of the myths you have read for these three lessons. That is, you
should not only analyze or interpret the concept itself but also attempt to illustrate your
points by referring to the myths. (Of course, I don't mean all of the myths; select a few that
best demonstrate your ideas about the theory you are discussing.)
Important Note: This paper must be submitted to me within the first 30 days of the
term in order for you to continue in the course. This amounts to the crossing of the first
threshold . . .
Lesson 4: Creation Myths
The readings for the next three lessons will mostly be from the anthology World Mythology,
edited by Donna Rosenberg, supplemented by items on electronic reserve or available online.
Some of these readings have already been assigned in previous lessons to illustrate ideas
discussed earlier in the Course Guide. You should review those selections as you do Lessons 4-
6, according to the kind of myth involved in each lesson.
You will find the anthology a useful resource, not only because of the broad selection of myths
from around the world but also because of other features. The myths are organized according to
the region or culture of origin. Each section is headed by an introduction providing an overview
of the history and culture of each region. There are also introductions for each particular myth,
containing important background information. You should carefully read all of these
introductions as they arise in connection with the myths assigned in each lesson. Additional
information is located in the notes and bibliography at the back of the book. There you will also
find an index of characters (with a pronunciation guide) and page references.
There are “questions for response, discussion and analysis” following each myth in the text.
These are often helpful guides to finding underlying issues, and you should take the time to
ponder the questions after reading the myths. Some of my Thinking Points will be taken from
these questions or will build on ideas in them. In answering the questions, refer back to the
myths and the cultural introductions to find evidence supporting your views.
Read the following creation/cosmogonic myths in the anthology: "The Enuma Elish"
(Babylonian; pp. 2-11); "The Creation of the Universe and Human Beings
(Chinese; 324-29); "The Creation Cycle" (Polynesian/Maori; 351-59); "The Ages
of the World" (Celtic; 369-77); "The Creation of the Universe and Life"
(African/Yoruba; 508-14); "The Creation" (Tiahuanaco; 568-73);
“Wanadi the Creator" (Yekuhana; 578-94); "The Creation Cycle" (Toltec/Aztec;
600-08); and "The Woman Who Fell from the Sky" (Iroquois/Huron; 625-33).
Of course, you should also review the cosmogonic myths read for previous
lessons. From the anthology: "Osiris, Isis, and Horus" (Egyptian; 15-21); "The Origin of
Life and Fire" (African/Bakuba-Boshongo; 515-17); "The Creation of the Titans
and the Gods" and "The Ages of Man" (Greek, Hesiod; 82-92); "The Creation,
Death, and Rebirth of the Universe" (Hindu; 291-95); "The Creation, Death, and
Rebirth of the Universe" (Norse; 459-66); "The Creation" (Maya; 595-99); "The
Emergence" (Navajo; 615-21); "Sedna" (Inuit; 637-42). Online: read “The
Creation” (Hebrew; Genesis, chapters 1-4), available at http://bartleby.com/108/
From the handouts on electronic reserve, read: "The Origin of the World"
(The Mission Indians of California); "The End of the World: The Buffalo Go"
(Kiowa); and “Entropy and Heat Death” (Modern).
* * * * *
Notes: In Lessons 2 and 3 we examined Joseph Campbell’s monomyth (supplemented by David

Adams Leeming’s version) as a means for making cross-cultural comparisons among numerous
myths. This schema proved a useful means of locating similar themes and motifs and
interpreting them psychologically. In the next three lessons we will look more closely at specific
myths within three general categories: creation myths, seasonal myths, and hero/heroine myths.
In studying this material you should consider both the archetypal patterns discussed previously
and the culturally specific elements in each myth. At first the “particularistic” elements may be
difficult to identify; it will take practice to know where to look for them. The text’s cultural
introductions will assist you in this task. The Thinking Points will assume that you have carried
out both kinds of analysis (and made notes on them) as you read.
You should review the five functions of myth described in Lesson 1. Drawing on this list, try to
identify the cultural functions of each myth as you read. Which specific events, characters,
places, or symbols seem to correspond with one (or more) of these functions? Keep a record of
these for each myth.
Secondly, drawing on Lessons 2 and 3, note also the appearance of archetypal elements in each
myth. Which elements seem the most prominent ones in each myth? Which ones are
downplayed or even excluded? What are the central symbols? Here are a few examples of these
two kinds of classification.
“The Enuma elish” (Babylonian)
Cultural functions
1. Dramatizing fears and beliefs. Marduk’s birth, preparation for battle, and
his victory over evil and chaos.
2. Etiologies: The myth explains not only the origins of Babylon (the holy
city) but also the rituals men must perform to keep the kingdom safe and
prosperous.
3. Cultural charter: The role of mankind is seen as one of service to the
gods. The gods must be praised and honored without fail—or else . . .
4. Justifying rituals: The rituals of religious worship, food, incense, sacred
spells and incantations, and the preservation of holy shrines are given,
probably to influence the unpredictable gods to control the flooding of the
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and preserve the land’s fertility as well as the
city’s prosperity.
5. Problem-solving: Marduk mediates the conflict between good and evil,
order and chaos; his victory humanizes nature by linking its elements and
processes with chronological time (months and days).
Archetypal elements
The beginning of the cosmos involves the One becoming the Many.
The principal deities are male (Apsu, Ea, Marduk) or female (Tiamat).
Tiamat represents the Terrible Mother.
The creation of order out of chaos is strongly emphasized.
Marduk’s career follows the monomyth: miraculous birth (fully grown),
divine signs, call to adventure, trials and tests, special
weapons and
armor, battle with the goddess, bestowing a boon.
Symbols: storms, winds, fires; circles, net cells
“Osiris, Isis, and Horus” (Egyptian)
Cultural functions
1. Fears and beliefs: The fear of death and of evil (Set) is overcome by life
and good.
2. Etiologies: Osiris teaches the people the arts of farming, laws, religious
practices; Isis and Horus teach burial rites.
3. Justifying rituals: Ritual preparation of the body for burial helps to insure
an after-life; the cod e of blood vengeance for father’s murder restores
justice.
4. Cultural charters: The rule of an ideal king (Osiris) insures natural
fecundity even after death.
5. Problem-solving: Horus mediates between the living and the dead and
offers hope for an afterlife.
Archetypal elements
Isis is seen variously as the Great Mother, the Helper, and a fertility
goddess.
There are divine signs accompanying Osiris’ birth.
The child (Horus) is hidden away from danger
Set is a dark double (or Shadow) of Osiris.
Osiris’ corpse is dismembered—a profanation.
Isis undertakes a quest to recover and restore Osiris’ body.
Isis descends into the Underworld.
Horus experiences atonement with his father.
Osiris is (re)united with the goddess, in the Other World = dual apotheosis
Symbols: ornate box (coffin), river (the Nile), tamarisk tree, desert (and
papyrus swamp) scorpion, birds wings, magical words.
Genesis, chs. 1-4 (Hebrew)
Cultural functions
1. Beliefs and fears: The myth valorizes the role of humans to domesticate nature
(subdue the earth & replenish it; be fruitful & multiply; have dominion, etc.); sin
leads directly to the “curse” of hard labor in order to make nature fruitful again.
2. Etiologies: Among other things, the myth explains through the story of the Fall
and expulsion of Adam and Eve) the origin of sin and its consequences.
3. Cultural charter: The myth provides a model for monotheism; also for the family
structure: monogamous, patrifocal (male-centered).
4. Justifying rituals: The day of rest following the six-day creation provides a
model for the Hebrew Sabbath; marital and parenting customs are modeled.
5. Problem-solving: Words (logos) mediate between humans and animals (i.e., the
naming process) and between man and God (“Let there be light” = creative deed).
Archetypal elements
Chaos becomes Order becomes (after the Fall) Chaos again.
Creator is a benevolent paternal figure; anthropomorphic god.
The forbidden fruit: a taboo.
Eve represents the Terrible Mother and also the Temptress.
The Devil/Satan (serpent) is a trickster; also represents the “dark double” of God
(Jungian Shadow).
The Fall from grace: initiation.
The curse and the banishment from paradise = human condition.
Symbols: Garden, Tree of Knowledge, river, serpent, words and names
This is how I would like you to organize your reading notes on the myths. Of course, your
analysis of both cultural functions and archetypal elements in the myths may well differ in some
respects from those above. You may be unable to find all five cultural functions in every myth.
However, getting all the exact details “right” is less important than the process of analysis itself.
Learning to see the myths both as particularists do, with emphasis on cultural differences, and as
comparativists do, with emphasis on similarities—that is the objective here.
In reading a lot of these myths, you will notice that some of them include not only beginnings
but also endings. That is, the original creation is sometimes followed by a cataclysmic event
such as a flood, plague, fire, or earthquake, which puts an end to the forward progress of cosmic
development—a sort of erasure—so that the cycle can begin again, with better results. Often
this erasure occurs after a false step of some kind: finite creatures prove to be inadequate, the
gods are displeased with their first attempt, and they start over, with a better plan. Of course,
this mini-apocalypse is a prefiguration of the ultimate end of the cosmos, which is implicit in the
myth, just as death is implicit in conception and birth; and the new beginning is implicit in the
apocalypse, just as rebirth is implicit in death. As Campbell has shown, myth encourages us to
think in terms of these analogies between the macrocosmic and microcosmic levels of being.
4.2 Thinking Points
1. In lesson 1, “affectance motivation” was cited as one of the meanings of myth. What
evidence of this function do you find in the myths of creation? What strategies for
problem-solving do they model?
2. One of Campbell’s claims is that the symbols in myth are both universal and
autochthonous (i.e., native to a particular locality). Find examples of symbols in the
creation myths that are both universal and autochthonous.
3. In Lesson 3 it was observed that some critics of Campbell have faulted him for
subordinating the role of women in the monomyth of the hero, often describing female
figures who are essentially passive or else defined by their roles as nurturers of males.
Looking at the creation myths, do you find a similar pattern? Or do you find evidence of
female figures who show independent initiative and strength?
4. With respect to the cosmogonic cycle of creation-flood-creation-apocalypse, consider the
following extremes: the Norse idea of Ragnarok and the Hindu concept of four recurring
ages. What do these different images of time suggest about the two cultures’ values and
worldviews? Another contrast is between the myths emphasizing progress and those
emphasizing degeneration. Think of several examples of each. What do these models of
historical change imply about the cultures’ values and worldviews? An interesting
variation is found in the Chinese creation myths, which seem to involve no principle of
development, one way or the other; that is, once creation itself is complete, no further
development of laws or rituals seems to be indicated. What view of the world does this
myth (or set of myths) embody?
5. Two of the most familiar creation myths are the Greek and the Hebrew. Compare and
contrast them in terms of their conception of deity, historical change, problem-solving,
the emphasis placed upon the distinctive role of mankind, the importance of sin, of law,
of family and marital relations. Both myths involve versions of the original creation, the
fall (consider Pandora’s story alongside Eve’s), the flood, the sacrificial god (Prometheus
and the Messiah), and apocalypse. What other parallels can you find? What is the origin
of evil in each myth?
6. There is evidence that two different stories of creation were fused in the first three
chapters of Genesis. Compare and contrast the version of creation given in Ch. 1 through
Ch. 2, verse 3; and the much earlier version given in Ch. 2, verse 4 through the end of
Ch. 3. What is emphasized in each version? How is the sequence of events different?
Of what “evil” did Adam and Eve gain knowledge by eating the forbidden fruit? Is Eve
both Adam’s sister and his wife? If so, do they commit incest? When they are banished
from Eden at the end of Ch. 3 for what (or whose) sin are they being punished? Why is
nakedness an issue? How does the curse (Ch. 3: 17-19) alter the previous dispensation
regarding human responsibility for the land? Looking ahead to Ch. 4, who is Cain’s wife
(verse 17)? Has any woman other than Eve been mentioned? What does the reiteration
of the curse (Ch.4: 11-12) have to do with the original role of man on the land?
Eliade, Mircea. Myth and Reality. New York: Harper & Row, 1963.
____________. The Myth of the Eternal Return. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1954.
Leach, Edmund R. “Genesis as Myth.” In European Literary Theory and Practice: From
Existential Phenomenology to Structuralism. Ed. Vernon W. Gras. New York:
Doubleday, 1973. 317-30.
Leeming, David, and Jake Page. The Mythology of Native North America. Norman, OK: U
of Oklahoma P, 1998.
------------------, with Margaret Leeming. A Dictionary of Creation Myths. New York:
Oxford UP, 1994.
Weigle, Marta. Creation and Procreation: Feminist Reflections on Mythologies of
Cosmology and Parturition. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 1989.
http://library.thinkquest.org/29064/main.html
http://ancienthistory.miningco.com/homeword/library/weekly/aa010698.htm
http://www.cybercomm.net/~grandpa/cretion3.html
(Several of the recommended links in previous lessons also include material on creation
myths.)
Lesson 5: Seasonal Myths
In this lesson we will look at myths that emphasize the very processes of living: creating new
life, protecting it, nurturing it, developing it to its full capacity, propagating it, facing its
inevitable end, mourning its loss, recovering it in regenerated form. If this sounds reminiscent
of the creation myths examined in the last lesson, we should not be surprised at this point. The
correspondence between the macrocosmic and microcosmic cycles should by now be clear.
What distinguishes this group of myths is their concentration on the importance of life itself—of
fertility and sentience--and the absolute need to intensify and enhance it in all of its phases.
Those phases are often embodied in the seasons of the year and the changes involved as we
move from the newness and freshness of spring to the prime of life in the heat of midsummer,
the piquant richness of autumn (piquant because of the awareness of time’s fleeting quality, and
the approach of winter), and the deathly chill of winter—which, however, presages the return of
spring and another procession through the seasonal cycle of life. As this description suggests,
the seasons are linked with periods in the human life cycle, and both may be regarded as
analogous to the life span of other entities that may also be said to experience seasonal or
cyclical change: tribes, communities, organizations, nations. Seasonal or fertility myths
implicitly focus on the cycle of life on these various levels simultaneously. The issue addressed
in these myths is how life—in all its forms and levels—may be furthered or enriched, how it
may be preserved and protected against danger, in short, how it may realize its fullest potential.
One way that our ancestors believed they could enhance life was through the fitting use of ritual,
magic, and religion. Fertility myths may be understood as stories about the exercise of these
devices in the attempt to further life in the individual, the community, the natural environment,
and even the world at large. One of the most influential authorities on this matter was Sir James
Frazer (1854-1941), a Scottish classicist and comparative anthropologist who became the
leading figure in the Cambridge school of anthropology (named after Cambridge University,
where the movement was based). His masterpiece, The Golden Bough, was originally published
in two volumes and then enlarged in later editions to thirteen fat volumes, published between
1907 and 1915. A monumental study in comparative folklore, magic, and religion, it became
one of the most influential books of its time. Frazer’s impact not only upon other folklorists and
anthropologists but also upon a variety of thinkers and artists in other fields has been compared
with that of Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud, all great synthesizers of information as well as
original theorists. By gathering together many strands of nineteenth-century thought
surrounding the concept of evolution, The Golden Bough was a primary contributor to the
shaping of modern thought. Frazer’s work was widely known by such important twentieth-
century literary figures as William Butler Yeats, T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence,
William Faulkner and other participants in the modernist movement. In particular, Frazer’s
work provided impetus and raw materials for the interest in “primitivism” characteristic in so
much modernist art, from Pablo Picasso to Igor Stravinski.
It must be acknowledged that Frazer’s evolutionary assumptions and comparativist methods

came under heavy fire by later anthropologists, especially those in the “functional” school of
Bronislaw Malinowski; and his notions of the “savage mind” are certainly less acceptable in
today’s multicultural climate with its egalitarian emphasis on cultural diversity and its
questioning of traditional Eurocentric values. Nevertheless, many of Frazer’s ideas have proved
lastingly useful in the study of myth and literature, and particularly so when we are dealing with
fertility/seasonal myths.
Frazer did share the prevailing 19th-century view that the human mind, like human physiology,
had undergone a process of evolutionary development. The materials amassed in his
comparative studies enable us, in his words, “to follow the long march, the slow and toilsome
ascent, of humanity from savagery to civilization” (Frazer 317). This “ascent” he traced through
three stages of growth affecting both the social and psychological level of mankind: (1) the
primitive stage—socially founded on hunting, psychologically controlled by magic and ritual;
(2) the barbaric stage—socially founded on an agricultural state, psychologically controlled by
religion and myth; (3) the civilized stage—the scientific and materialistic view of life, in which
there is a residue of custom and belief derived from the earlier stages. Despite these discrete
stages, Frazer believed that there was an underlying continuity between primitive and modern
humans, that certain laws of “human nature” operate in all stages of development, and that by
studying primitive people we can understand ourselves better.
Note that Frazer’s developmental schema locates hunting as being prior to agriculture, and
magic and ritual as being prior to religion and myth. This assumption governs his approach to
myth, which he saw as a narrative or dramatic re-enactment of rituals. Thus he tended to
examine myths in search of traces of earlier social customs that had been displaced and
converted into symbolic form. The ritual preceded the myth which, in some sense, explained or
justified it. For instance, a myth about the slaying of a divine king (such as Osiris or Balder)
could be understood as the remnant of a ritual that actually involved the periodic killing of a
king—or his chosen proxy--believed to embody the spirit of fertility for his people. The
connection between the divine king and the god of fertility is in fact central to Frazer’s
conception of the evolution of religion from its predecessors, ritual and magic. He believed that
magic was the earliest expression of man’s belief that the world was founded on impersonal laws
which, once known, could be influenced so as to gratify human desires. The person who knew
those laws and the techniques necessary to influence nature—thereby insuring the abundance of
game or a successful hunt—was a shaman, the tribal wise man. Religion differed from magic in
seeing the world as elastic and variable, capable of being altered not by man so much as by
superhuman, divine beings, those who created the world in the first place.
In general, then, magic was the expression of primitive man’s belief that he was capable of
influencing the rhythms of nature. The shaman performed ritual acts that could hasten rainfall,
forestall winter, prevent draught, induce fertility in both vegetation and animals. But eventually,
says Frazer, man lost faith in his power to influence nature by magic, and the shift toward
religion occurred. Motivated by fear of his impotence at the hands of nature, man intuited
“some deeper cause . . . at work behind the shifting scenes of nature” (390). The growth and
decay of the natural world were brought about by divine beings, were in fact parallel to the
youth and senility of the divine beings. Since men could not control these processes, the best
they could hope for was to participate in them: by using various propitiatory rites and taboos,
divine kings and priests could assist the gods. As Frazer says, they “imagined that they could
recruit [the god’s] failing energies and even raise him from the dead. The ceremonies which
they observed for this purpose were in substance a dramatic representation of the natural
processes which they wished to facilitate” (391). This assertion suggests the movement of ritual
in the direction of myth, which in Frazer’s view emerged later. So: magic evolved into religion,
rituals into myths, and shamans first into priests and then into divine kings, who were in turn
later mythologized into fertility gods.
Frazer distinguished between two related kinds of magic, the contagious and the homeopathic.
Contagious magic was based on the principle of contiguity (nearness in space). Here the
magician used an object to affect a change in another object of which it (the first object) was
once a part or with which it was in contact. A spell is cast on such an object (cut hair, nails,
teeth or discarded clothing), thereby influencing the person from whom it was severed.
Homeopathic magic was based on the principle of analogy or similarity. The magician tried to
produce an effect by imitating it in some way (on the assumption that “like produces like”). For
example, he pours water, or spits, or urinates in hopes of inducing rainfall. When you observe a
bowler using body English to influence the course of the ball down the lane, you are witnessing
a remnant of homeopathic magic. This concept is especially important to Frazer’s view of the
primitive mind. In his view, it was fundamental to primitive man’s assumption that there was a
vital connection between gods, godlike men (priests or kings), human groups such as tribes,
animals and vegetation. These amounted to a set of magically linked correspondences. Disorder
or imbalance in any one would carry over to the others. A magical ritual that succeeded in
inducing rainfall, for instance, would bring about a corresponding change on all the other levels
of being. Obviously, anyone who could perform such a ritual successfully was destined to
assume a prominent place in a primitive society. From this premise it is but a short step to the
link between the magician and the king, both conceived as divine and distinguished by their
access to and potential control over fertility. The divine king was regarded as the dynamic
center of the universe, from whom lines of force radiated outward to all quarters of being, so that
his every motion or action affected or possibly disturbed some other part of nature. Great care
had to be taken to protect and keep such persons pure from corrupting influences, since any
disturbance could have literally earthshaking consequences. The possibilities for ritual practices
in the care-taking and protection and proper treatment of divine kings seem virtually endless.
Frazer points out that magic had both positive and negative aspects. A propitiatory rite, for
example, might function as a kind of benign charm performed to placate the gods, influence the
course of nature and bring about a desirable change (e.g., an abundant harvest). On the other
hand, taboos were prohibitions of various kinds designed to prevent an undesirable change in
the status quo (e.g., the coming of a draught). Both the positive and negative aspects of magic,
however, operated on an “illogical association of ideas,” i.e., the basic logical fallacy behind
both homeopathic and contagious magic. Certain moral codes and practices persisting to this
day are holdovers of primitive taboos, according to Frazer. Moreover, he believed that just as
religion succeeded magic and ritual, so science succeeded religion. Ironically, like its
“primitive” forerunners, science shares the assumption that the world is controlled by impersonal
laws that can be observed, known, and (to some extent at least) influenced by human actions.
One of Frazer’s most fascinating ideas concerns what happened when divine kings died. Gods
were created by early man in his own image, and since he was mortal the gods were also: in due
course they grew old and died. Yet their aging and eventual death represented great danger,
since the course of nature was dependent on the virility of the divine king. To avoid certain
catastrophe, the aging god/king must be ritually killed and his soul-power (his life-force) must
be transferred to a young and vigorous successor. Sometime a fixed term was established for
this ritual killing and transference (320). Later, kings assigned proxies or surrogates to die in
their place at the end of the fixed term; still later, even the substitute was spared and a mock-
death was performed, as in the mummer’s play, in which images of the spirit are “sacrificed”
along with the human representative of fertility (often dressed in appropriate greenery). This
symbolic ritual killing became associated with the expulsion of scapegoats, both human and
material (378).
You can access The Golden Bough (in its abridged edition published in 1922) at the following
website: http://www.bartleby.com/196/ It is great fun to browse around in. I particularly
recommend Chapter 24 “The Killing of the Divine King” and any of the chapters dealing with
the myths we are studying in this lesson: Osiris and Isis (Chs. 38-41), Demeter and Persephone
(Ch. 44), and Balder (Ch. 61).
Read the seasonal/fertility myths in the anthology: "Telepinu" (Hittite; 22-25);

"Amaterasu" (Japanese; 335-38); "The Death of Balder" (Norse; 467-74); "The
Children of the Sun" (Inca; 574-77); "Quetzalcoatl” (Toltec/Aztec; 609-14); "Raven
and the Sources of Light" (Haida/Tsimshian/Tlingit; 634-36); "Caught by a Hair-
String" (Micmac; 643-52).
Review the seasonal/fertility myths already studied in previous lessons:
From the anthology: “Osiris, Isis, and Horus” (Egyptian; 15-21); "Demeter and
Persephone" (Greek Homeric Hymns; 94-99); "The Taming of the Sun"
(Polynesian; 361-65); and "Sedna" (Inuit; 637-42).
From the materials on electronic reserve: "Noah and the Flood” (Hebrew; Genesis,
Chs. 6-9) available at http://bartleby.com/108/ and
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/kjv.browse.html
5.2 Thinking Points
1. You should continue, as you read these fertility myths, to identify both the archetypal and
the culturally specific elements. Consider also their potential for affectance motivation
and problem-solving.
2. In particular, try to make inferences about fertility rituals that, as Frazer argued, might
have preceded the myths and provided them with an immediate explanatory purpose or
valorizing function. What traces of magic (whether homeopathic or contagious), the
divine potency of kings or heroes, and the recourse to taboos and scapegoats do you see in
the myths? How do they establish the connection between the potency of kings or heroes
and that of nature? What symbols reinforce this bond?
3. What do these myths suggest about the relationship of life and death? Why must so many
of the heroes/kings/gods in the myths be killed?
4. Frazer’s analysis, like Campbell’s, seems to privilege the role of male characters. As you
examine the myths, try to identify a distinctive role for the female characters. Consider
especially such characters as Demeter and Persephone, Isis, Amaterasu, and Sedna. How
do they contribute to the furtherance of life in both human and natural form?
5. Several of these myths involve doubles, i.e., a pair of opposed characters: the chief’s son
and the lazy and unattractive-looking young man in “Caught by a Hair-String”;
Amaterasu and Susano-o-no; Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca; Balder and Loki. What
seems to be the symbolic purpose of this bifurcation of the hero?
6. What latent historical reference is contained in the myths of Quetzalcoatl (Toltec/Aztec)
and “Children of the Sun” (Inca)? What do these stories suggest about the ways in
which myth could be used to glorify imperial conquest? Can you think of a modern
instance of myth being (mis)used in this way?
7. Why is the story of Noah and the Flood included in this group? It is obviously related to
the cosmogonic group. What are the traits that justify regarding it as a fertility myth also?
Bell, Michael. Primitivism. Critical Idiom No. 20. London: Methuen, 1970.
Coupe, Laurence. Myth. New Critical Idiom. London & New York: Routledge, 1997.
Frazer, James. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. Abridged version
(1922). Rpt. New York: Penguin, 1996.
Frye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays (1947). Rpt. New York: Atheneum,
1968.
Hutton, Ronald. The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. New
York: Oxford UP, 1996.
Manganaro, Marc. Myth, Rhetoric, and the Voice of Authority: A Critique of Frazer, Eliot,
Frye, and Campbell. New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 1992.
Motz, Lotte. The Faces of the Goddess. New York: Oxford UP, 1997.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity.
New York: Schocken Books, 1975.
Torgovnick, Marianna. Gone Primitive: Savage Intellects, Modern Lives. Chicago: U of
Chicago P, 1990.
Vickery, John B. The Literary Impact of The Golden Bough. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP,
1973.
Weston, Jessie L. From Ritual to Romance (1920). Rpt. New York: Anchor, 1957.
http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/special/mjoseph/found.html
http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~bj333/folklore.html
http://rtiess.tripod.com/mythologies.htm
http://www.pubpages.unh.edu/~cbsiren/myth.html
http://www.crystalinks.com/aztecgods.html (on Quetzalcoatl)
(Several of the links in previous lessons also include materials related to fertility or seasonal
myths.)
Lesson 6: Hero/Heroine Myths
This lesson introduces no new conceptual content, as we have been focusing on the adventures
of heroes since Lesson 2 and our discussion of Joseph Campbell. Thus the readings assigned
for this lesson mark no real departure from those we have been examining up to this point.
However, I think you will find that they are among the most vivid and memorable you will read
for this course. The principal characters tend to be more fully developed than those in many of
the previous myths; the characters are truly complex and behave in sometimes contradictory
ways. To be sure, we do have heroes here who rise to (and sometimes beyond) the occasion and
succeed in meeting a daunting series of challenges; but we also have characters whose
extraordinary gifts are put to uses that we may not entirely approve. These heroes/heroines are
not always paragons of virtue and may engage in acts that raise vexing questions about the
nature of good and evil. Thus our responses to these myths are more varied and complicated
than those to most of the myths previously studied. We find inspirational, awesome feats of
moral strength and intellectual agility side by side with terrifyingly destructive deeds—and our
notions about the nature of “heroism” may undergo a subtle modification. Indeed, despite the
fact that most of these characters operate on a supernatural or quasi-supernatural level of being,
their ethical complexity makes them seem engagingly human. Additionally, this complexity
moves us closer to the world of literature itself. That transition, from myth proper to literature
with mythological underpinnings, becomes more fully apparent in the work to be studied
beginning in Lesson 7.
Read the hero/heroine myths in the anthology: "Gilgamesh" (Sumerian/Babylonian; 26-

57); “Heracles” (Greek; 100-105); "Medea" (Greek; 204-46); "The
Ramayana" (Indian; 296-323); “Chi Li Slays the Serpent” (Chinese/Han; 331-34);
"King Arthur" (Celtic; 418-55); “Gassire’s Lute” (African/Soninke; 521-27); and “Lodge-
Boy and Thrown-Away” (Crow; 622-24).
Read hero myths online: “Theseus” (Greek) at

http://hsa.brown.edu/~maicar/theseus.html
“Orpheus” (Greek) at http://hsa.brown.edu/~maicar/Orpheus.html
“Moses”(Hebrew; Exodus, chs. 3-4, 13-15, 19-20, 24) at http://bartleby.com/108/
“Jonah” (Hebrew; Jonah, chs. 1-3: 5) at http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/kjv.browse.html
“Kutoyis” (Blackfoot) at http://members.nbci.com/searcheagle/lore/leg100.htm
6.2 Thinking Points
1) The kind of analysis you have been doing in past lessons, describing both culturally specific
and archetypal elements, should be continued in this lesson. By now, you should have
developed a substantial repertoire of characteristics for the myths of each cultural group (the
anthology’s introductions offer helpful guidance here) and a considerable list of examples for
all of the archetypal elements. It may be useful for you to keep the latter lists on index cards,
to facilitate cross-referencing of elements and examples in specific myths. These will make
comparisons easier when you write essays on this topic.
2) The Thinking Points enumerated in Lesson 3 all apply here. You should refer to that list as
you work through the material in this lesson.
3) Of particular interest, in connection with the feminist critique of Campbell’s monomyth, is
the recent work of Maureen Murdock. In The Heroine’s Journey, she makes a very
interesting attempt to revise Campbell’s schema by proposing an alternative journey for
female questers. It involves the following stages:
 Separation from the feminine (leaving the “mother”)

 Identification with the masculine (associated with the “father”)
 Trials and tests (facing male ogres and dragons)
 Gaining boons (successes in the male world)
 Period of spiritual aridity (betrayal of “male” victory)
 Descent to the goddess (dying back into feminine origins)
 Longing for female connections (rediscovery of feminine self)
 Healing mother-child connection (re-covering self as mother/daughter)
 Healing wounded masculine side (re-creating sense of masculinity)
 Integrating the masculine and the feminine (wholeness rather than duality)
How compatible is this schema with Campbell’s and/or Leeming’s? How

would it apply to the female characters in the myths we have studied? Does it apply to,
say, Chi Li, Persephone, or Medea better than it does to Rama or King Arthur?
4. Why are the walls so important in “Gilgamesh”? What do they represent? What is
suggested by Gilgamesh’s attachment to Enkidu and his refusal to wed Ishtar? What boon
does Gilgamesh bestow on Uruk?
5. Rama and King Arthur offer an interesting comparison with respect to how each embodies a
primary value of his culture. In Rama’s case, it is dharma (which is adequately defined in
the anthology, p. 297) that seems an implicit issue in the events of the tale. What is the
corresponding value in Camelot? How well does Arthur live up to it? Compare Siva and
Guinevere with respect to how well each of them fulfills her community’s ethical ideals.
Both might in turn be compared and contrasted with Medea.
6. Compare and contrast the experience of descent into an underworld by Gilgamesh, Jonah,
Theseus, and Heracles. What do these episodes suggest about the differences between the
Semitic and Greek cultures, respectively? That is, how do the Sumerian and Hebrew myth-
makers use the symbolic Underworld episode as compared with the Greeks? What sort of
issues are raised by each? Are the same issues raised in each culture’s corresponding myths
of creation?
7. Which of these heroes do you find most engaging? Which would you most want to
interview? Which would you want to do your yard work? Which would you want Scotty to
beam up to the Enterprise, never to reappear in your sight?
Bell, Robert E. Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary. New York:

Oxford UP, 1991.
Benson, Larry D. Malory’s Morte D’Arthur. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP,1976.
Biallas, Leonard J. Myths: Gods, Heroes, and Saviors. Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third
Publications, 1986.
Biedermann, Hans. Dictionary of Symbolism: Cultural Icons and the Meanings Behind
Them (1989). Trans. James Hulbert. New York: Meridian, 1992.
Biehorst, John. The Mythology of North America. New York: Morrow, 1986.
Cameron, Averil, and Amelie Kuhrt, eds. Images of Women in Antiquity. Rev. ed. Detroit,
MI: Wayne State UP, 1993.
Ford, Clyde W. The Hero with an African Face: Mythic Wisdom of Traditional Africa.
New York: Bantam, 1999.
Graves, Robert. The White Goddess. Rev. ed. Magnolia, MA: Peter Smith, 1983.
Heidel, Alexander. Babylonian Genesis. 2nd ed. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1966
---------------------. The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels. Chicago: U of
Chicago P, 1963.
Ions, Veronica. Indian Mythology. New York: Peter Bedrick, 1984.
Larrington, Carolyne, ed. The Woman’s Companion to Mythology. London: HarperCollins,
1992.
Leeming, David, and Jake Page. The Mythology of Native North America. Norman, OK: U
of Oklahoma P, 1998.
Murdock, Maureen. The Heroine’s Journey. Shambhala Publications, 1990.
Sjoestedt, Marie-Louise. Gods and Heroes of the Celts (1949). Trans. Myles Dillon.
Berkeley, CA: Turtle Island Foundation, 1982.
Walker, Barbara G. The Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. Edison, NJ: Castle
Books, 1983.
Zweig, Paul. The Adventurer: The Fate of Adventure in the Western World. New York:
Akadine P, 1974.

http://belinus.co.uk/mythology/Homextra.htm
http://drjclassics.com/drj/lectures/Mythic%20Hero/mythichero.htm
http://hsa.brown.edu/~maicar/index.html
http://members.nbci.com/searcheagle/lore/index0.htm
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~cbsiren/myth.html
http://rtiess.tripod.com/mythologies.htm
First Examination (You are now in the Whale's Belly)
UNIT II
Lesson 7: Homer's The Odyssey as Exemplary Quest
With this lesson we begin our study of literature with mythological elements that are assimilated
into a large overall structure created by a particular author. Such works are more consciously
crafted than traditional myths, and they manifest a style and vision that are identifiable with the
individual who invented them. At the same time, the author drew on characters and stories and
symbols derived from a folk tradition familiar, in most cases, to the reader. Myths used in this
way are essentially a kind of prefigurative device enabling an author to achieve a wide range of
effects, depending on his or her artistic purposes, from a kind of hagiography (a saint’s life
story) to irony and satire. To cite a famous example, the myth of Oedipus was very familiar to
the Greek audience who attended Sophocles’ play about this character’s tragic downfall.
Sophocles exploited that familiarity by having the audience know the truth about Oedipus’ past
deeds—his murder of a man who turned out to be his father, and his unwitting marriage to his
own mother—long before Oedipus himself does. This situation allows the writer to create a
wonderfully sustained irony that is central to the play’s unsparing revelation of Oedipus’
character. The author has borrowed the prefiguration, the story familiar to his audience, and
used it to convey his own vision of life. The myth is appropriated and transformed into a
brilliant work of art, one that is often singled out as an exemplary tragedy even today.
Similarly Homer’s Odyssey recounts a story—or, more accurately, a series of related stories—
that was quite well known to the Greek audience of the day. The poem draws on a host of tales
passed down orally for generations before Homer wrote them down. But he did more than
merely transcribe these tales. Like Sophocles he crafted them into a work that not only
preserved his traditional folk sources but transformed them into something more: one of the
great epics in the literature of the world. As such, it embodies Homer’s view of the world in his
distinctive style. It is not a myth per se but a work of art, an epic poem, that incorporates
mythological elements in telling its story of the famous “man of twists and turns.” Such was the
impact of this work that many writers and artists of later times would be attracted to adapt the
same mythical materials to different works, sometimes in different artistic mediums, speaking to
different nations and eras. This is the resiliency of myth.
Homer, The Odyssey (c. 750 B.C.). Translated by Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin,
1996. Because of its length, I have decided to require only selections from the poem,
totaling just under 55% of its 13,529 lines. To help you to follow the main story and fill in
the gaps left by these selections, I highly recommend the following websites, which provide
useful study guides for Homer’s Odyssey: http://www.temple.edu/classics/odysseyho.html
http://longman.awl.com/mythology/chaptertopics/commentary_18.asp>
(Go to the link for Chapter 18, The Returns). Of course, you may prefer to read the entire
poem, something I recommend even more highly! Here are the required selections:
Book I (lines 1-238, 260-67, 285-342, 374-487); II (1-142, 231-49); III (1-238); IV (343-
559; 620-59). This first part is sometimes referred to as the Telemachia, because it focuses
chiefly on the search of Telemachus for word of his father, Odysseus.
Book V (all); VI (53-283); VII (129-231, 346-97); VIII (68-121, 162-265, 527-657); IX
(all); X (all); XI (1-256, 307-17, 364-68, 411-558, 669-731); XII (all); and XIII (1-7, 24-49,
73-212). For obvious reasons, this middle part is often called the Wanderings of Odysseus.
Book XIV (1-83, 574-602); XV (1-48); XVI (52-355); XVII (361-559); XVIII (181-327); XIX
(300-447, 642-81); XX (none); XXI (142-484); XXII (all); XXIII (all); and XXIV (226-403,
566-602). This last part is often called the Nostos or Return.
7.2 Thinking Points
1. Genre. As previously indicated, The Odyssey is an epic poem. Epic may be defined as
“a long narrative poem in elevated style presenting characters of high position in
adventures important to the history [and identity] of a nation or people” (Harmon and
Holman, A Handbook to Literature, 7th ed., 188). The conventions of epics include the
following:
 The hero is a figure of imposing stature, of great national importance and

historical significance to a people.
 The setting is vast, covering various lands or worlds.
 The action consists of deeds of great valor and courage.
 Supernatural forces (gods, demons) become involved in the action.
 An elevated style is used, including the epic simile and the epithet, and the
following devices are common:
1). There is an invocation to the Muse (or spirit of inspiration)
2). A statement of theme appears in the beginning.
3). The action opens in medias res (in the midst of things); exposition is delayed.
4). There are long lists (catalogs) of ships, armies, warriors, and weapons.
5). The main characters make extended formal speeches.
[Note: The epic simile is an extended, elaborate, and ornate comparison. For example,
look at Book V, lines 540-45 (on p. 167 in the Fagles translation of Homer). The
Homeric epithet is a compound adjective used repeatedly in connection with a particular
character or name. For instance “rosy-fingered dawn,” “all-seeing Zeus,” “blue-eyed
Athena,” “wine-dark sea,” etc.]
Other examples of epics: Homer’s The Iliad, Vergil’s The Aeneid, Dante’s The Divine
Comedy, the Ramayana, Beowulf, El Cid, and John Milton’s Paradise Lost.
2. Epics have much in common with myths. As the list above suggests, they often draw on
mythological elements. The focus on a hero’s quest and courageous deeds, the emphasis
on themes of extraordinary significance (national or even cosmic in scope), the use of
archetypal symbolism—all these elements are shared by epics and myths. What
distinguishes the two is chiefly the anonymous, traditional folk origins of myths as
compared to the conscious imitation and assimilation of myths’ folk elements by a
particular author of a later period. The development of the epic, in fact, is one of the
primary the formal manifestations (along with the classical drama and other types of
poems) of the move from mythology itself to literature. Because epics do draw upon
mythological elements, and even imitate their style, it is sometimes difficult to recognize
this difference. Consider, however, how our awareness of the author as an historical
person affects the way we read an epic poem. An author’s family origins, personal
history, career as a writer (to the extent that there is a record of these things), as well as
the author’s style and opinions as expressed in his or her writings, provide informed
readers with contexts within which to make inferences about the author’s worldview.
This worldview informs how the epic is read and understood—in a way that is not quite
possible when we are dealing with an anonymous, communal tale that has been
preserved through generations by an oral tradition.
It follows that literary appropriations of the same mythological materials may vary.
Each age or nation may see something different in a story such as that of Odysseus;
indeed, his story has been retold numerous times, for instance, by Vergil in The Aeneid,
by Tennyson in his poem “Ulysses,” by James Joyce in his modern novel Ulysses, and
by Arthur C. Clarke in his science fiction novel, 2001: A Space Odyssey, which we will
be reading later in this course. Such writers appropriate mythic elements, the
archetypes, and give them a distinct reinterpretation for a new era. This adaptation of
archetypal materials to express an individual artist’s view of the world (as opposed to
the communal and generic version summarized in the monomyth) has been called an
autotype or signature.
It is always worth reflecting on both aspects of the equation: the archetypal and the
particular meanings of these stories. This distinction bears a significant resemblance to
that between the comparativist and the particularist mythographers, discussed in
previous lessons.
3. Time in The Odyssey is peculiar, to say the least. As you will soon discover, there is a
significant difference between the order of events as they occurred and the order in
which they are actually narrated in the epic. The most important event occurring prior
to the time of the poem’s opening scenes, of course, was the ten-year Trojan War, which
was the subject of Homer’s other epic poem, The Iliad. There are many references to
the siege of Troy, and its leading participants, in The Odyssey. After the fall of Troy,
other Greek heroes returned home, but Odysseus was delayed for more than ten years.
His whereabouts are unknown back in Ithaca, where his wife and son, Penelope and
Telemachus, face growing pressure to declare him dead so that a new lord may be
identified. Inspired by the goddess Athena, Telemachus goes in search of his father,
while Penelope waits at home, stalling the suitors who call for her to choose a successor.
On his travels, Telemachus learns much about his father from Nestor in Pylos, and
Melelaus and Helen in Sparta. He finally discovers that Odysseus is indeed alive and
will return to Ithaca, but that a plot by the suitors must be foiled before his father can be
restored to his rightful position as husband and father and king.
Meanwhile, for seven years, including the time of Telemachus’ travels (the Telemachia),
Odysseus has been held captive on the island of Calypso. When he finally escapes, on
his way home he stops in Phaeacia, where he tells the story of his wanderings after the
fall of Troy. Books VIII-XII are largely devoted to this story, which includes the
following major episodes: Proteus/Old Man of the Sea (Book VII, 68-121; XI, 411-
558); the Cicones (IX); the Land of the Lotos-Eaters (IX); the Cyclopes/Polyphemus
(IX); Aeolus (X); the Laestrygonians (X); Circe (X); Hades (XI); the Sirens (XII);
Scylla and Charybdis (XII); Crushing Rocks (XII); the Island of the Sun & the Sacred
Oxen (XII); Calypso (V); and Phaeacia (VI-VII, XII), where he meets Nausicaa and
tells his story. (These episodes comprise The Wanderings, or the Odyssey proper.)
Aided by Athena, Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca (this is the Nostos), but in disguise.
He visits Eumaeus, his old swineherd (Book XIV). Telemachus returns to Ithaca (XV)
and is reunited with his father (XVI). The suitors’ coarse behavior is detailed (XVII).
Penelope issues her challenge to the suitors (XVIII). Euryclea, his old nurse, recognizes
Odysseus’ scar (XIX). Odysseus strings and shoots his bow, thereby winning the
challenge (XXI). Odysseus and Telemachus slaughter the suitors (XXII). Penelope
finally recognizes Odysseus, and they are at last reunited (XXIII). Odysseus is also
reunited with Laertes, his elderly father, and peace returns to Ithaca (XXIV).
With this outline of the chronology of story events before you as you read—and
discover the very different arrangement of events as they are narrated—you should
reflect about why Homer decided to scramble time in this way, beginning “in medias
res” (in the middle of things), and withholding key information until later in the
unfolding plot. What are the effects of this convoluted way of telling the story? How
would its effect differ if the events were presented straightforwardly, in chronological
order?
7.3 Further Reading and Viewing Assignments
“Ulysses,” by Alfred Lord Tennyson. You may access it online at the following web site:
http://www.bartleby.com/42/635.html
Ulysses (1922), by James Joyce. Read any episode (“Lestrygonians” and “Hades” are
especially recommended) in this important modern novel. You may access the novel online
at the following web site: http://www.bibliomania.com/0/0/29/61/
Video clip from the film The Odyssey (1977), starring Arman Asante. This is the Hades
scene.
[Insert clip from The Odyssey]
7.4 Supplementary Reading on The Odyssey
Carpenter, Rhys. Folk Tale, Fiction, and Saga in the Homeric Epics. Berkeley: U of
California P, 1962.
Clarke, Howard W. The Art of the Odyssey. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1967.
Finley, M.I. The World of Odysseus. New York: Viking, 1965.
Harrison, Jane. Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion. Cambridge, England: 1903.
Holman, C. Hugh, and William Harmon. A Handbook to Literature. 7th ed. New York:
Macmillan, 1992.
Houston, Jean. The Hero and the Goddess: The Odyssey as Mystery and Initiation. New
York: Ballantine, 1992.
Kirk, G.S. The Songs of Homer. Cambridge, England: Cambridge UP, 1962.
Lord, Albert B. The Singer of Tales. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1960.
Richardson, Scott. The Homeric Narrator. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt UP, 1990.
Steiner, George, and Robert Fagles, eds. Homer: A Collection of Critical Essays.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1962.
Taylor, Charles H., Jr. Essays on The Odyssey: Selected Modern Criticism. Bloomington,
IN: Indiana UP, 1963.
Wace, A.J.B., and F.H. Stubbings, eds. A Companion to Homer. New York: Macmillan,
1962.
Whitman, C.H. Homer and the Heroic Tradition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1958.
Woodhouse, W.J. The Composition of Homer’s Odyssey. Oxford UP, 1930.
7.5 Recommended Web Sites on The Odyssey
http://hsa.brown.edu/~maicar/index.html
http://longman.awl.com/mythology/chaptertopics/commentary.18.asp
http://www.temple.edu/classics/odysseyho.html
7.4 Study Questions
1. What traditional elements of the epic are evident in the opening lines of Book I? What
important information do we learn from the Council of Olympian Gods (lines 24-112)?
What does Zeus say about accountability? Why does Zeus praise Odysseus? What is
Athena’s plan to help Odysseus?
2. How does Athena go about “rousing” Telemachus to action? How does Telemachus
receive Athena/Mentes? How are the suitors presented here? What stage in the
monomyth does this scene represent?
3. How responsive is Telemachus to Athena’s challenge? How would you characterize his
interaction with his mother, Penelope? With the suitors, especially Antinous?
4. In Book III, how well is Telemachus received by King Nestor on Pylos? What sort of
impression of Odysseus emerges from Nestor’s speeches? What does Telemachus learn
from Nestor’s story of his own post-Troy adventures and, in particular, the experiences
of Agamemnon upon his return home? Is there a lesson here for Telemachus?
5. How well is Telemachus received by Menelaus in Sparta, in Book IV? What is the
impact of the comparison made between Odysseus and Telemachus (ll. 158-62 and 229)?
What does Telemachus learn from Menelaus’ story about his encounter with Proteus, the
Old Man of the Sea? What does Proteus himself seem to represent? Is there something
important here for Telemachus to learn about the nature of life?
6. In Book V, Telemachus’ story goes on pause, and we turn our attention to Odysseus on
Calypso’s island, where Hermes goes to take Zeus’s command to release the captive at
last. What impression is given by our first direct glimpse of Odysseus here? What
reason is given for Poseidon’s hatred for Odysseus? (OK, it’s a trick question: no reason
is given here. I just wanted you to notice the omission.) Later, in Book VII, we learn
that Calypso had tempted Odysseus to stay on indefinitely. What did she offer him?
(See VII, lines 292-98.)
7. How well is Odysseus received at his first stop, Phaeacia? Why do you think so much
emphasis is given to hospitality and generosity? With what does King Alcinous tempt
Odysseus to remain? What signs of recovery are there in Odysseus during his stay with
the Phaeacians?
8. How does Odysseus frame the story about his adventures, which he begins in Book IX
(lines 21-23)? That is, how does he introduce himself and his background? What
emphasis does he give to his home, Ithaca, and to his feelings about his long absence
from home? What is suggested about his basic values?
9. What is the effect on Odysseus’ men of eating the Lotos-blossoms? How does Odysseus
manage to counteract this effect? The same questions apply to the encounter with the
Sirens in Book XII. In the latter instance, what is suggested by Odysseus’ choosing to
allow himself alone to hear the Sirens’ song with unobstructed ears?
10. Back in Book IX, in the land of the Cyclopes, why does Odysseus take the huge risk of
exploring the monster’s cave, making both his men and himself vulnerable to attack?
When Polyphemus appears, note that Odysseus appeals to him as a suppliant, expecting
the customary hospitality. What is the response? What particular “heroic” qualities are
demonstrated by Odysseus’ means of escaping the Cyclopes? How does he feel about
this victory? What is the result of his display of feelings? See especially ll. 585-95.
11. In Book X, Odysseus and his men actually sail to within hailing distance of Ithaca, only
to blow their chance (so to speak). Why did the crew open Aeolus’ bag? Was it their
fault, or did Odysseus contribute to the problem?
12. How well are the Ithacans treated by the Laestrygonians? Talk about bad table manners!
13. If the Laestrygonians are in some ways similar to the Cyclopes and the Sirens resemble
the Lotos-Eaters in their effect upon unwary travelers, who does Circe remind you of?
That is, is there another sorcerer who detains Odysseus for a prolonged period, not by
physical force but by magical/supernatural powers?
14. What are Circe’s “weapons”? What results does she bring about by using them? How
does Odysseus manage to resist her powers? What deal is struck between the two of
them? Is Odysseus being unfaithful to Penelope in remaining so long with Circe, even
sharing her bed?
15. What (if anything) does Odysseus learn from his visit to Hades, the Land of the Dead, in
Book XI? What prophecy is given by Tiresias? Why does Homer have Odysseus speak
with Agamemnon and Achilles?
16. After all the warnings and elaborate preparations, how is it that Odysseus and his men
fail to observe the taboo regarding the sacred Cattle of the Sun (Book XII)? Who is to
blame? Why is Odysseus alone spared? Considering our study of fertility myths, what
do you find interesting about Helios’ angry reaction to the destruction of the Cattle?
17. After such an extensive postponement (i.e., Books I-XII), is there anything strange about
Odysseus’ much-awaited arrival in Ithaca? Where does he go first? Is there still
something that he must learn before a full return, some aspect of his quest that is still
unfinished?
18. What is emphasized in the recognition scene between Telemachus and Odysseus in Book
XV? What is suggested by the son’s initial inability to recognize the stranger? Why
does Odysseus swear his son to secresy? Is Telemachus’ quest now fully realized, or
does he still have things to learn?
19. What is it that primarily motivates Odysseus’ revenge against the suitors? What wrongs
have they done to him and his family? To the gods? How are the suitors’ moral
shortcomings demonstrated when Odysseus appears among them disguised as a beggar?
20. What seems to be Penelope’s view of the suitors? How has she succeeded in tricking
them, delaying the choice of her second husband, for so long? What is Telemachus’
view of her tactics? How does she defend herself against his charges? Why does she
propose the contest of the bow (in Book XIX)?
21. What does her reluctance to accept reassurance regarding Odysseus’ return suggest about
Penelope? The old nurse’s recognition of Odysseus’ scar is a famous scene, but it raises
a question. If the nurse recognizes him after so long, why does his wife not also? Are
there valid psychological reasons for the deferral of Penelope’s recognition and
acceptance of Odysseus?
22. How do the suitors, once Odysseus reveals himself, try to get off the hook? Which
suitors are spared, and why? Why are the twelve maidservants put to death also? Why
does Odysseus prevent his old nurse, Eurycleia, from celebrating the defeat of the
suitors? Why is Melanthius’ dead body mistreated so? Has he done something to merit
this? Once the suitors are all dead and their bodies disposed of and the royal house
cleansed, Odysseus weeps. What does this imply about his character? Has he grown or
developed during the story? Is he what might be called a round, dynamic character?
23. What final test does Penelope pose for the returned hero, before his recognition—his
atonement—is complete? Consider the appropriateness of this test. Does Penelope share
certain of Odysseus’ character traits? Does she grow or develop as a character during the
story? Or is she a one-dimensional, static character, essentially the same as at the outset?
24. Atonement with the father—Telemachus’ with Odysseus and Odysseus’ with Laertes—is
not fully completed until the end of the poem. Why does Odysseus “test” the old man
before disclosing his identity and telling the story of his adventures? Does Book XXIV
seem anticlimactic? Should the poem have ended with Book XXIII? Or are there some
important loose ends? How are these dealt with? What about Odysseus’ future? Do we
need to know how things went after he reclaimed his home and wife? Are there any
hints about Odysseus’ future exploits? About his death?
25. In about a paragraph, compare and contrast Homer’s Odysseus with the parallel character
as he is presented in Tennyson’s poem, “Ulysses” or Joyce’s stream-of-consciousness
novel, Ulysses. (Directions for online access to both of these texts appear earlier in this
lesson.) What different aspects of the character are emphasized by these modern writers?
Note: In Joyce’s novel, the modern character in the role of Odysseus or Ulysses is
Leopold Bloom, an Irish Jew. Telemachus is represented by Stephen Dedalus, a young
writer. Penelope is represented by Molly Bloom. There are various suitors; the most
prominent is one Blazes Boylan.
Lesson 8: Paradise Found and Lost
in John Steinbeck's To a God Unknown
John Steinbeck, To a God Unknown (1933). Rpt. New York: Penguin, 1995.
Read also the introduction and the explanatory notes by Robert DeMott.
8.2 Thinking Points
1. John Steinbeck (1902-69) is well known for his novels and stories set in the central
California “long valley” not far from his native Salinas. Such works as The Pastures of
Heaven, In Dubious Battle, Of Mice and Men, “The Red Pony,” and East of Eden take
place in this locale which has come to be called “Steinbeck country.” The Salinas Valley
is an alluvial lowland lying between the Galiban Mountains to the east and the Santa
Lucia Mountains to the west, in Monterey County. The valley is one of the smaller ones
in the Pacific Coastal Ranges of California, but it is extremely fertile. Though cattle are
raised near the foothills, the valley’s main staples are fruits and vegetables, especially
lettuce. Geographically the valley is elongated and narrow, running parallel to the coast
(about thirty miles inland) for roughly 120 miles. The Salinas River flows down the
valley floor and empties into Monterey Bay on the north. The population of Monterey
County in the 1960s was 250,000, with a relatively large percentage of hispanics. The
county seat is Salinas, a small town beside the river and about ten miles from the bay.
Steinbeck was born and raised in Salinas and educated there until he left to attend
Stanford University in 1920. Later he lived for a time in the city of Monterey and in the
resort town of Pacific Grove.
2. As the site of the “pastures of heaven” in the Golden West, the valley represented for
Steinbeck the culmination of the traditional American dream of westward expansion, the
discovery and cultivation of the Earthly Garden. Yet by time of the Great Depression,
there were distressing signs that the Garden was under siege by the social and economic
problems of the era. Steinbeck’s most famous novel, The Grapes of Wrath (1939)
concerns the betrayal of the American dream by greedy corporate capitalism and other
forces of modernization that disrupted man’s traditional relationship to the land. Seeing
in the valley a microcosm for the human condition, Steinbeck adopted a deliberately
elegiac stance in some of his writing, evoking the simple aspirations of earlier settlers and
elevating them through myth to a kind of natural mysticism. Such characters contrast
sharply with the representatives of material progress and self-aggrandizement, who are
often the targets of the author’s protest and satire.
3. One of he earliest of the series of works set in the valley, To a God Unknown is in some
ways the copestone of this group of works, a kind of cosmogonic myth of the settlement
of this Western territory and an exploration of its foundational values. Like all of the
other works set there, this novel is concerned with the human dream of f finding paradise
and preserving it—a dream that, inevitably, runs afoul of harsh realities. Dreams and
illusions—human aspirations generally—are a central preoccupation in Steinbeck’s
fiction, along with his concern with nature and ecological relationships between humans
and other forms of life.
4. As Robert DeMott points out in his introduction, Steinbeck was personal friends with the
young mythographer Joseph Campbell, who was his neighbor in California when To a
God Unknown was being written.. (See the second website given below on this
relationship.) The two men shared a passion for literature and mythology. Steinbeck
read his fiction aloud to Campbell, and the latter shared his theories of comparative
folklore with Steinbeck. His use of an epigraph from Hindu mythology is perhaps a sign
of Campbell’s influence. Incidentally, among the old stories of which Steinbeck was
particularly fond was that of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, tales that
he used repeatedly in his work directly or indirectly. You might consider the possibility of
Arthurian parallels as well as Hindu ones in To a God Unknown.
Benson, Jackson J. The True Adventures of John Steinbeck, Writer. New York: Viking
Press, 1984.
Fontenrose, Joseph. John Steinbeck: An Introduction and Interpretation. New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963.
French, Warren. John Steinbeck’s Fiction Revisited. New York: Twayne, 1994.
Lisca, Peter. The Wide World of John Steinbeck. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 1958.
Steinbeck, John. Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. Ed. Elaine Steinbeck and Robert Wallsten.
New York: Viking Press, 1975.
Wyatt, David. “Steinbeck’s Lost Gardens.” In The Fall into Eden: Landscape and
Imagination in California. New York: Cambridge UP, 1986.
http://ocean.st.usm.edu/%7Ewsimkins/steinb.html
http://ocean.st.usm.edu/~wsimkins/myth.html [See this one on Steinbeck & Jos. Campbell]
http://tlc.ai.org/steinbec.htm
http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Steinbeck/unknown.html
http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/steinbec/steinbio.html>
8.5 Study Questions
1. How would you describe the relationship between Joseph Wayne and his father? How
are they alike? Why is Joseph, who is not the oldest son, the one chosen for the paternal
blessing? What are the symbolic implications of this blessing? What are its
consequences? What biblical parallels come to mind?
2. What is Joseph Wayne’s destiny, his aim or calling? How does he regard this calling—
i.e., in what terms does he see it? What kind of language does Steinbeck use to describe
it?
3. How does Joseph put his goals into action? Why does he build his house beneath the
huge oak tree? What other important trees are there here? What does the enormous
rock (and its stream) seem to signify? What other landscape features seem to have
symbolic—that is, archetypal—significance? Which of them seem to have masculine
associations, and which feminine associations?
4. How does Joseph’s quest correlate with the hero monomyth as described by Campbell
and Leeming? Does Elizabeth’s story also resonate with the monomyth in some
respects? What is suggested by the description of her crossing the threshold into
marriage? By her reaction(s) to the totemic rock?
5. Is there anything odd about Joseph’s reaction to Elizabeth’s accident (see pp. 132-33)?
How does this reaction relate to others by Joseph in moments of crisis, such as the
murder of Benjy, Burton’s girdling of the tree, and the disposition of his child after
Elizabeth’s accident? What do these reactions suggest to you about Joseph?
6. Several times in the novel Joseph is compared with Christ: by Elizabeth (49); by Juanito
(172-73); even by Father Angelo (175-77). Others see him as virtually godlike, as Rama
does, for example (68-69). Joseph himself sometimes seems to share a sense of
identification with the divine principle in nature, as in the curious passage about the
“earth brain” (136-37). Yet the novel (with its prominent Hindu epigraph) stresses the
unknown god. What ways of “knowing” god—or coming into accord with the spiritual
essence—are evidenced in the novel? What “knowledge” is accessible?
7. On the other hand, Joseph also says that he doesn’t know why he does certain things,
that he doesn’t really “understand” them (30). He is painfully inarticulate at times, as
with Elizabeth at the Pass (54). Clearly, words are not his medium. What is his medium
of expression then? What other examples of non-rational, non-verbal “knowing” are
there in the novel?
8. Compare and contrast Joseph’s kind of religious vision with that of other characters:
with his elder brother Burton; with Father Angelo; with the Native Americans.
9. If Joseph cannot truly “know” or name god, how does he at least try to influence Him?
Recalling James Frazer’s ideas in The Golden Bough about sympathetic magic and the
slaying of divine kings or their proxies, compare Joseph’s final sacrificial act with the
story of the last man to see the Sun (147, 150-52, 183). What is being suggested here?
How seriously are we to take his final assertion that he is the land and the rain. Did
Joseph do the right thing?
Lesson 9: Initiation in William Faulkner's
"The Old People" and "The Bear"
William Faulkner, “The Old People” (1940) and “The Bear” (1942). These short stories can
be found most readily in either Big Woods (1955) or Go Down, Moses (1942), both
collections of short stories by Faulkner (who considered the latter book a novel). Reminder:
if you read the version of “The Bear” printed in Go Down, Moses, skip the difficult fourth
section (beginning “then he was twenty-one”), which depends on your having read the
volume as a whole. Those of you who find that you enjoy these two stories and who
want to read more may certainly be interested in reading the other stories in either
volume; however, only the two stories specified here are required for this course.
9.2 Thinking Points
1. Although he wrote in numerous literary forms dealing with a variety of settings and
themes, the body of work for which William Faulkner (1897-1962) is best known is
the Yoknapatawpha Saga. This is a series of fifteen interrelated novels and dozens of
shorter stories set in a “little postage stamp of native soil,” in this case a fictional
county in northwest Mississippi. Drawing on his family’s history and the old tales he
had heard on back porches and hunting trips during his youth, Faulkner created a
mythical county called Yoknapatawpha, inventing its history and geography and
elaborating them in astonishing detail in fictional works written over thirty-five
years. This immense cycle of interlocking stories spans nearly 150 years in the
history of the region, from the early nineteenth century when the land was inhabited
by Chickasaw Indians to the middle of the twentieth century, when the county has
undergone modernization. Bounded on the north by the Tallahatchie River and on
the south by the Yoknapatawpha River, Faulkner’s “mythical kingdon” covers an
area of some 2400 square miles, with a population of just over 15,000. In the map of
the county published in his novel Absalom, Absalom! (1936), he wryly identified
himself as “sole owner and proprietor.”
2. The Yoknapatawpha Saga has been seen as a sort of parable of the moral history not
just of one county in Mississippi but of the South—and even America itself—as a
whole. This larger significance is what Faulkner himself emphasized in his famous
Nobel Address, when he spoke of his commitment to write always of “the problems
of the human heart in conflict with itself” and his striving to realize in his fiction “the
old universal truths” such as “love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and
sacrifice.”
3. One of the benefits of setting his fiction in the South is that Faulkner was able to
depict a clearly defined, traditional community whose class and racial divisions were
readily apparent and yet, over time, increasingly problematic. Before the Civil War,
southern society was stratified between the large landowners, with their indentured
slaves, the independent yeoman farmers, the impoverished tenant farmers, the
professionals and clerks in town, and poor white and black townspeople, generally
manual laborers or domestics. It was a hierarchical society essentially ruled by the
propertied class and the traditional values that codified their elite position. Such
Faulkner characters as L.Q.C. McCaslin and General Compson in Go Down, Moses
represent this privileged class in its glory days. Later arrivals in Yoknapatawpha,
who aspire to such status but use individual determination rather than inheritance to
realize it, embody the southern version of the American dream of success. The Civil
War in effect changed the economic structures upon which the power of this class
depended and made room for the emergence of others into positions of greater power.
Such families as the Beauchamps, the De Spains, and the Stevenses rise to eminence
in Jefferson, the county seat. “Red-neck” farming families such as the rapacious,
proliferating Snopeses move from the country into the town, where they situate
themselves the better to advance their interests. Meanwhile, the modern
representatives of the old aristocratic families, such as Isaac McCaslin in “The Old
People” and “The Bear,” and Quentin Compson in The Sound and the Fury, find
themselves unable to adjust to changing times. The emergence of African-Americans
in the Jim Crow South is forcefully represented in Faulkner’s work, even as the
legacy of slavery is a yoke still felt by both whites and blacks. Thus the dynamic
changes of southern society are embodied in the whole of Faulkner’s myth.
4. The two stories assigned for this course are set in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries, when Isaac McCaslin is very young. He is still unaware of the
legacy of southern history; indeed, one of the themes of the longer version of “The
Bear” appearing in Go Down, Moses is his discovery of that legacy as represented by
the history of his own family. It is thus a story of initiation in the fullest sense and,
even in the shorter version we are reading, the focus is still on Ike’s initiation as a
hunter and a man. At the same time, Faulkner uses the occasion of his initiation to
instruct the reader about fundamental values associated with the wilderness—the “big
woods” that, during Ike’s lifetime, will be increasingly threatened by the inroads of
urban development and expansion—a concern that we have already seen in To a God
Unknown. These are issues to keep in mind as you read Faulkner’s stories.
5. View the following video from The Power of Myth series, “The First Storytellers,” in
which Joseph Campbell discusses rites of passage generally and initiation in
particular.
[Insert streaming video of “The First Storytellers” here]
How does an awareness of these rites (and the discussion of hunting) inform your
understanding of the Faulkner stories?
Blotner, Joseph. Faulkner: A Biography. One-Volume Edition. New York: Random

House, 1984.
Brylowski, Walter. Faulkner’s Olympian Laugh: Myth in the Novels. Detroit, MI: Wayne
State UP, 1968.
Carothers, James B. William Faulkner’s Short Stories. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research P,
1985.
Ferguson, James. Faulkner’s Short Fiction. Knoxville, TN: U of Tennessee P, 1991.
Utley, Francis Lee, Lyn Z. Bloom, and Arthur F. Kinney, eds. Bear, Man, and God: Seven
Approaches to William Faulkner’s The Bear. New York: Random House, 1964.
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/faulkner/r_ss_oldpeople.html
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/faulkner/r_ss_bear.html
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/faulkner/r_ss_bw.html>
http://www.mcsr.oldmiss.edu/~egjbp/faulkner/n-gdm.html>
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms- writers/dir /faulkner_william/
9.5 Study Questions
On “The Old People”
1. Who are the “old people” referred to in the story’s title? What values are associated
with
age in the story?
2. How complete is Faulkner’s characterization of Sam Fathers? Is he a round or a flat
character? If flat, what aspects of Sam are not explored here? From what (or whose)
viewpoint is he presented?
3. How much do we learn about the white hunters (Walter Ewing, Major DeSpain, Gen.
Compson, etc.)? Are they important in their own right, or mainly in relation to Sam
and Ike?
4. “You’ll be a hunter,” Sam tells Ike at one point. “You’ll be a man.” Do the action and
language of the story reinforce the implied equivalency? If so, explain how they do.
5. What rituals are observed by true hunters? How might Frazer classify these rituals?
What significance do they impart to hunting? Why do you think Faulkner frequently
uses words with religious connotations (e.g., “consecrated” and “absolved”) in a hunting
story? In what sense is the deer “forever immortal”? What is added by the appearance,
near the end, of a second deer—a giant buck seen by Ike (and once also by Cass)?
What is the significance of Cass’s revelation that Sam had shown him this same deer?
On “The Bear”
1. What values are connected to the wilderness in Part 1? What is the relationship
between nature and mankind here? How is it changing? What are the causes and
consequences of this changing relationship?
2. What is the nature of the relationship between the boy Ike (“he”) and Sam Fathers?
What is the real significance of the hunt, as Sam’s instruction of Ike suggests? What is
implied by the frequent repetition of the word relinquish? What other values may be
learned from the hunt? How may these values be abused?
3. Why must Ike put aside his rifle, watch, and compass before he is permitted to see Old
Ben, the bear? What do these things represent? How is Old Ben characterized? Why
do Sam and Ike not shoot at the bear when they have the chance? Why does Ike not
“fear and hate” the dog, Lion? As Part 2 ends, we are told that something is
“beginning” and something ending at this point. What is that something? What does
the bear symbolize?
4. Part 3 begins with a lengthy interlude concerning a trip to Memphis to obtain whiskey.
What is the function of this apparent digression?
5. Why should it have been a knife and not a gun that finally killed Old Ben? How is his
death described? How is it appropriate that Ben, Lion, and Sam should all die at more
or less the same time?
6. Part 4 of the original version of “The Bear” appearing in Go Down, Moses is set in
1888, when Ike is 21 (though there is a lengthy flashback to five years earlier when he
made a key discovery about his heritage) and is presented in a “stream of
consciousness” monologue, without conventional punctuation and typography. This
part emphasizes Ike’s discovery that there is both mixed blood and incest in his family
history--that his grandfather, L.Q.C. McCaslin, sired a child by one of his slaves,
Tommy’s Terrel or Turl, who was also his own daughter. The agonizing racial issue in
the South is one of the themes that ties the version of “The Bear” that includes Part 4 to
Go Down, Moses as a whole; the deletion of this part in the version of the story
appearing in Big Woods allows the story to mesh better with the other “hunting” stories
in that volume. In terms of Ike’s initiation, however, the inclusion or deletion of the
discovery of incestuous miscegenation in his own family’s history is not an arbitrary
choice. What would its inclusion in the story imply about the nature of the knowledge
into which Ike is being initiated? Whatever the nature of that knowledge, Ike
determines that there is a “curse” on the land, and as a result he decides to repudiate his
birthright. What biblical parallel comes to mind?
7. In the final part, which is set in 1885 when Ike is 18 (hence several years younger than
he was in the deleted fourth part), he returns to the woods again. What changes does he
notice? What is the meaning of the final scene and Boon’s curious behavior? Does this
make a more fitting climax of the story than Ike’s decision to repudiate his legacy, the
primary focus of the deleted Part 4? Note: Those interested in a glimpse of Ike as an
old man are encouraged to read the final section in the Big Woods volume, a fragment
of a longer story called “Delta Autumn,” which appeared in full in Go Down, Moses.
Lesson 10: D. H. Lawrence's Mythic Mexican Revolution
in The Plumed Serpent
D. H. Lawrence, The Plumed Serpent (1926). Rpt. New York: Vintage, 1992.
Read the introduction by William York Tindall (v-xiv).
Note: A glossary of foreign terms used in the novel is available on Electronic Reserve.
1. With The Plumed Serpent, even more than with the novels we have studied by Steinbeck
and Faulkner, it seems clear that the author is not merely adapting ancient myths to
modern settings, using them as a symbolic means to comment on the state of affairs in a
particular time and place, but he is also creating a new myth (mythopoesis). In this case,
D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930), while of course drawing on elements from Pre-Columbian
Mesoamerican mythology, particularly that of the Toltecs and the Aztecs, is substantially
adding to them elements of his own invention. The ways in which, for example, he has
reinterpreted the story of Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent, omitting the companion
character of Tezcatlipoca and adding those of Huitzilopochtli and Malintzi, using these as
the symbolic center of a story about a revolutionary transformation in modern Mexico, go
far beyond a simple retelling. True, as several scholars have pointed out, Lawrence brings
together elements from the Pueblo Indian religion (whose ceremonials he had witnessed
on visits to Native American communities in New Mexico and Arizona), his wide readings
in Frazer, theosophical works, and other arcane sources, as well as anthropological and
historical studies of Pre-Columbian Mexico. But he is clearly adding to them something
of his own personal worldview and experience as a kind of quester in his own life. Like
other Lawrence fiction, The Plumed Serpent is essentially a visionary novel about
religious transformation.
2. In his introduction to the novel, William York Tindall argues that its characters are less
important than the overall symbolic design or myth. “More like a tapestry or a painted
window than like the novels we are used to, it triumphs by arrangements of shape and
color. Not people but functions, the characters exist like figures in the carpet only by
relationship with other parts of the great design” (ix). This is an argument against the
need for a mythological—or mythopoetic--novel to be realistic, at least with respect to its
characters, presumably so that its symbolic pattern and underlying significance may be
more apparent. You might reflect on whether such attenuation of realistic detail is
appropriate or necessary.
3. Other readers have found The Plumed Serpent to be remarkably realistic, at least in some
ways. Katherine Anne Porter, for example, believes that “all of Mexico that can be seen is
here, evoked clearly with the fervor of things remembered out of impressions that filled
the mind to bursting. . . . [Lawrence] makes you a radiant gift of the place. . . . A nation-
wide political and religious movement provides the framework for a picture that does not
omit a leaf, a hanging fruit, an animal, a cloud, a mood, of the visible Mexico.” And yet,
she goes on, “Mexico, the Indians, the cult of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl . . . all these are
pretexts, symbols made to the measure of his preoccupations.” This remark raises the
question of whether a novel can successfully be both realistic and mythopoetic, or whether
one or the other element must be subordinated in the mix. Some readers have felt that
they do not mix well in this case. Lawrence’s biographer Harry T. Moore, for one, has
called the novel “a tremendous volcano of a failure,” comparing it to “an opera with
magnificent music and a ridiculous libretto.” What do you think?
Cavitch, David. D.H. Lawrence and the New World. New York: Oxford UP, 1969.
Clark, L. D. Dark Night of the Body: D.H. Lawrence’s The Plumed Serpent. Austin, TX:
U of Texas P, 1964.
-------------. The Minoan Distance: The Symbolism of Travel in D.H. Lawrence. Tucson,
AZ: U of Arizona P, 1980.
Cowan, James C. D.H. Lawrence’s American Journey: A Study in Literature and Myth.
Cleveland, OH: Case Western UP, 1970.
------------------. “Alchemy and The Plumed Serpent. ” In D.H. Lawrence and the
Trembling Balance. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State UP, 1990.
Hough, Graham. The Dark Sun: A Study. London: Duckworth, 1956.
Hyde, Virginia. The Risen Adam: D.H. Lawrence’s Revisionist Typology. University
Park, PA: Pennsylvania State UP, 1992.
Kessler, Jascha. “Descent into Darkness: Myth in The Plumed Serpent.” In A D.H.
Lawrence Miscellany. Ed. Harry T. Moore. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois UP,
1959. 239-61.
Lawrence, D.H. Mornings in Mexico (1927). Rpt. London: Penguin, 1960.
Parmenter, Ross. Lawrence in Oaxaca: A Quest for the Novelist in Mexico. Salt Lake
City, UT: Peregrine Smith, 1984.
Tindall, William York. D.H. Lawrence and Susan His Cow. New York: Columbia UP,
1939.
Torgovnick, Marianna. Gone Primitive: Savage Intellects, Modern Lives. Chicago: U of
Chicago P, 1990.
Vickery, John B. The Literary Impact of The Golden Bough. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
UP, 1973.
------------------. “’The Plumed Serpent’ and the Eternal Paradox.” Criticism 5 (Spring
1963): 119-34.
Walker, Ronald G. Infernal Paradise: Mexico and the Modern English Novel. Berkeley,
CA: U of California P, 1978.
http://mss.library.nottingham.ac.uk/dhl_home.html
http://clik.to/rananim/
http://www.crystalinks.com/aztecgods.html (on Quetzalcoatl and Huitzilopochtli)
10.5 Study Questions
1. Why has Kate Leslie come to Mexico? Once there, why does she decide to leave the
capital and move to the small town of Sayula? What is she seeking? Is there also a
suggestion that she may be trying to escape something? If so, what? When she awakens on
the morning of her fortieth birthday, in Ch. 3, she seems aware that her life is at an impasse,
that she has arrived at a crossroads. What are the alternatives she faces? How does Mexico
come to embody those alternatives?
2. Try to account for Kate’s feelings at the bullfight, her reactions both to the crowd and to
the sporting event itself. Compare her reactions here with those to the “intellectual”
crowd she meets at the tea-party, and to the revolutionary frescoes—painted by renowned
Mexican artists such as Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco—that she sees at the
university? How does she react to the talk about Mexican politics, in this time when a
new president (Tomas Montes, a socialist) is about to be inaugurated?
3. How do Kate’s responses to the Mexican landscape, especially outside the city, compare
to her reactions to the “human” activities mentioned in the previous question? Lawrence’s
descriptions of the Mexican countryside are justly famous. Quote a couple of descriptive
passages that you find particularly striking. What seem to be their predominant qualities?
That is, what aspects of the scene does Lawrence especially emphasize?
4. Thinking of Kate in terms of the hero monomyth, what would constitute her “call to
adventure,” her threshold crossing, her guide or helper, her descent into the underworld, and
so on, through all the steps? Does it matter that she is female? That is, are there different
elements in her quest whose special nature may be traced or understood in relation to her
gender? Does Maureen Murdock’s revision of the monomyth (mentioned in Lesson 6)
illuminate Kate’s spiritual progress? If so, how? Why do you think Lawrence chose a
female protagonist for this novel rather than a male?
5. Compare Kate with the other female characters in the novel: Juana, Carlota, and Teresa.
The other women could be considered character foils, whose main purpose is to shed light
(through contrast) on the protagonist. What aspects of Kate resemble the other women?
How do they help to define her?
6. What aspects of the Quezalcoatl movement attract Kate? What aspects repel her?
Which aspects predominate? How does she deal with this conflict within herself?
7. How is marriage redefined by Don Ramon and Cipriano? Why does Kate agree to
marry Cipriano in the rites of Quetzalcoatl but not in a civil ceremony? What is suggested
by Lawrence’s allusions to Cipriano’s “Pan-power”? (If you do not recognize the allusion,
look up “Pan” in a good reference book or web site on Classical mythlogy.)
8. One of the distinctions of The Plumed Serpent is that its author has created an entire
religion for it, including doctrines, rituals, scriptures, liturgy (the hymns and dances and
chants), and a church. It has a “living” pantheon—the human representatives of
Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli, and Malintzi—and rather elaborate symbolism. Much of
the symbolism involves either opposites (light and dark, above and below, male and
female, etc.) or circles (the eye, the bull-ring, the lake, the seasonal cycle, the circle
dance, the cosmic egg, etc.). This aspect of the novel is so central that it requires some
comment. What seems to you to be the essence of this religion? How does it differ from
the religion it supersedes in Mexico? Identify at least three ideas that seem to inform its
various manifestations (listed above).
9. We have mentioned Kate’s quest. What about Ramon? Is he also on a kind of quest?
What is he seeking—besides the success of the Quetzalcoatl movement--in his own life? Do
you find him an admirable, heroic character? Is he a fully “rounded” character, seen in
some depth, or is he one-dimensional (“flat”)? Does he have any shortcomings?
Compare and contrast him with Cipriano. Which one do you find more appealing? Why?
10. Quest stories tend to have discernible outcomes, one way or the other. As we have seen,
the monomyth generally concludes with a rebirth or regeneration of some sort. What
evidence of rebirth is there in The Plumed Serpent? This question applies not only to
he main characters but also to the world they inhabit. Are there signs of a genuine
regeneration in Mexican society at the end of the novel, or are serious troubles still brewing?
How do you feel about Quetzalcoatlism being declared the state religion of Mexico?
About the treatment of the prisoners who attacked Ramon’s villa? About Kate’s
ultimate decision to stay on in Mexico as Cipriano’s wife and “the living Malintzi”? Why
is she so equivocal at the end? (It might interest you to know that, in previous drafts
of the novel, Kate in fact decided to leave Mexico and return to Europe, leaving open
the possibility of a return to Mexico and marriage to Cipriano.)
Lesson 11: Flights To/From the Kindred Self
in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon
Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon (1977). Rpt. New York: Plume, 1987.
1. Consider the novel’s emphasis on the significance of language—on naming things

and persons and places, on songs, on folktales (including, most centrally, that of the
Flying African), on the story of one’s family origins, on the story of one’s own
self-discovery. All are, in a sense, chapters in a kind of living narrative that
endows a person’s life with a meaning that goes beyond, yet also includes, the
individual. It is a form of personal mythopoesis or myth-making: a kind of
personal his- or her-story that is at the root of history itself. Morrison’s folkloric
source for the story of the Flying African was “All God’s Chillun Had Wings,” in
Drums and Shadows: Survival Studies Among the Georgia Coastal Negroes; rpt. in
The Book of Negro Folklore, compiled by Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps.
A revised and updated version may be found in Black Folktales, ed. Julius Lester
(1969), under the title “People Who Could Fly.”
2. In the lesson on The Plumed Serpent you were asked whether it makes a difference
that the questing protagonist is female (even though the author was male). Here we
have the opposite situation, a female author and a male protagonist. Would the
basic quest in Song of Solomon be different if the protagonist were female? In
many of Morrison’s other novels—The Bluest Eye, Sula, Beloved, and Paradise—
the main characters are female. Why do you think Morrison chose a male as the
chief quester here? Is there anything gender-specific about the basic myth in Song
of Solomon?
Atlas, Marilyn Judith. “A Woman Both Shining and Brown: Feminine Strength in
Morrison’s Song of Solomon.” Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature
Newsletter 9.iii (1979): 8-12.
Bakerman, Jane. “Failures of Love: Female Initiation in the Novels of Toni Morrison.”
American Literature 52.4 (1981).
Blake, Susan L. “Folklore and Community in Song of Solomon.” MELUS 7.iii:77-82.
Brenner, Gerry. “Song of Solomon: Morrison’s Rejection of Rank’s Monomyth and
Feminism.” Studies in American Fiction 15.i (Spring 1987): 13-24.
Bruck, Peter. “Returning to One’s Roots: The Motif of Searching and Flying in
Morrison’s Song of Solomon.” In The Afro-American Novel Since 1960. Ed. Bruck
and Karrer (1982).
Davis, Cynthia. “Self, Society, and Myth in Morrison’s Fiction.” Contemporary
Literature 23.3 (1982).
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., and K.A. Appiah, eds. Toni Morrison: Critical Perspectives
Past and Present. New York: Amistad Press, 1993.
Harris, A. Leslie. “Myth as Structure in Morrison’s Song of Solomon.” MELUS 7.iii: 69-
76.
Harris, Trudier. Fiction and Folklore: The Novels of Toni Morrison. Knoxville, TN: U
of Tennessee P, 1991.
MacKethan, Lucinda H. “The Grandfather Clause: Reading the Legacy from ‘The Bear’
to Song of Solomon.” In Unflinching Gaze: Morrison and Faulkner Re-Envisioned.
Ed. Carol A Kolmerten, Stephen M. rossem, and Judieth Bryant Wittenberg. Jackson,
MS: U of Mississippi P, 1977. 99-114.
McKay, Nellie Y., ed. Critical Essays on Toni Morrison. New York: Chelsea, 1990.
Mobley, Marilyn Sanders. Folk Roots and Mythic Wings in Jewett and Toni Morrison
(1992).
Page, Phillip. Dangerous Freedom: Fusion and Fragmentation in Toni Morrison’s
Novels. Jackson, MS: U of Mississippi P, 1996.
Peach, Linden. Toni Morrison. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995.
Rigney, Barbara Hill. The Voices of Toni Morrison. Columbus, OH: Ohio State UP,
1991.
Royster, Philip M. “Milkman’s Flying: The Scapegoat Transcended in Morrison’s Song
of Solomon.” College Language Association Journal 24 (June 1981): 419-40.
Weaver, Jacqueline. “Toni Morrison’s Use of Fairy Tale, Folk Tale, and Myth in Song of
Solomon.” Southern Folklore Quarterly 44 (1980): 131-44.
http://aalbc.com/songof.htm
http://cwrl.utexas.edu/%7Emmaynard/Morrison/sos.html>
http://netsrq.com/~dbois/morrison.html
http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/01/11/home/morrison-solomon.html
1. The novel’s opening scene (pp. 1-9) is, to say the least, vivid and memorable. Note
any details that seem especially important. Time present, as indicated here, is February
18, 1931. The novel’s present action spans the next 32 years.
2. What’s in a name? Why are they so important, in general? Consider these, for
instance:
Macon Dead, Milkman, Not Doctor Street, No Mercy Hospital, Guitar Bains, Ruth,
Hagar, Reba, First Corinthians, Jake, Solomon, and Pilate. What are the origins of
these names? Why idoes Morrison use such colorful names? [Side-bar: Do you know
the “legal” name of Malcolm X and why he changed it? Does that decision shed any
light on Morrison’s emphasis on names in the novel?]
3. Compare and contrast the following characters in terms of their values: Macon and
Ruth; Ruth and Pilate; Milkman and Guitar.
4. A man without a coherent self (69), who is spoiled and passive and wants “nothing bad
enough to risk anything for” (107), Milkman decides to head south to find the lost gold
he is convinced is hidden in a cave there. It is, we are told, his “latest Jack and the
beanstalk bid for freedom” (180). How do you feel about Milkman’s quest at this
point? Is it admirable, heroic? Or is there anything that qualifies your sharing his sense
of adventure? Is he leaving behind things undone that still require his attention?
Another fairytale reference, to Hansel and Gretel, appears later (219). What do these
allusions suggest? What is implied by the comparison between Milkman’s initial sense
of self-discovery and the spreading of a peacock’s wings (178-79)?
5. At what point does the nature of Milkman’s quest begin to change? Why does he
decide to go to Virginia? What signs of change in Milkman appear during the trip to
the South? What is the purpose of the scene of the hunt and the skinning of the bobcat?
This scene has been compared with Isaac McCaslin’s initiation in “The Bear.” Do the
two seem comparable to you? How does Milkman’s quest compare with Guitar’s?
6. What knowledge does Milkman gain about his family heritage? Who were Solomon
and Ryna and Jake? At what point does Milkman really understand these things? Is
the story of the Flying African entirely admirable? What does it symbolize? What are
the practical consequences of flight? What is suggested by Pilate’s words, “You just
can’t fly off and leave a body” (207-08)? Who did Solomon leave behind? What
about Milkman?
7. Does Milkman’s behavior after his return home suggest that his quest has borne fruit?
Is he truly a changed man, a “Dead alive”? Cite evidence for your answer. What is
suggested by Milkman’s realization that Pilate can fly “without ever leaving the
ground” (336)? What about Milkman’s own final “flight”? What are we to make of
this? Is it a partly selfish act, a mere suicidal escape, or does it signify an affirmation
of the newfound connection with others, including Pilate? Is it an act perhaps directed
at Guitar, aimed at saving him as Hagar’s death helped to save Milkman? That is, is it
a self-sacrificial act, one recalling the ritual slaying of the priest-king in The Golden
Bough?
Lesson 12: Through the Star Gate and Beyond
in Arthur C. Clarke' 2001: A Space Odyssey
In his Time essay, “The Need for New Myths,” Gerald Clarke argues that we are in danger of
impoverishing the our collective imagination unless we can find an authentic way to create
myths that express the modern—perhaps we should now say postmodern—hopes and fears all of
us share. In this course, we have seen how people of various cultures and times have repeatedly
risen to such a challenge and given shape to their inner lives through the durable symbolic
language of myth. These encoded archetypal symbols both embody the collective experience of
a people, voicing its distinctive values and longings in its own cultural idiom, and resonate
psychologically with other peoples. Yet in the increasingly impersonal, materialistic society of
21st century America, we find it difficult to stay in touch with our collective inner life and may
be more inclined simply to capitulate to the degraded, sterile imagery of Madison Avenue or
Hollywood or Silicon Valley.
Nevertheless, a comprehensive survey of myths and mythologically based literature such as the
one offered in this course demonstrates that the human mythopoetical capacity is as adaptable as
it is persistent. In one of our earlier lessons we referred in passing to Joseph Campbell’s notion
that films like the Star Wars trilogy, which deploys archetypal motifs and characters in terms of
contemporary popular culture, may presage the living mythology of today. Even more
powerful evidence can be found in other science fiction films and books.
It seems to me that a good place to begin an examination of this hopeful development is with
2001: A Space Odyssey, particularly in its cinematic form—i.e., the 1968 film directed by
Stanley Kubrick, adapted from a story by one of the genre’s giants, Arthur C. Clarke. In fact,
Kubrick and Clarke collaborated on the screenplay for the film, and Clarke’s “novelization” was
produced afterwards. Despite their collaboration there are fascinating differences between the
book and the film, not only because of the inevitable differences in what is possible in the two
artistic mediums, but also because Clarke’s vision of the material is in several respects different
than Kubrick’s. To put it much too simply, Clarke spells out things that are only implied in the
film; for instance, the film’s ending sequence notably departs from the novel’s, and the
monolith’s significance is kept far more mysterious by Kubrick. Still, both works make use of
the same basic symbols, characters, and events. Both do obeisance to their Homeric forerunner
and incorporate elements of the monomyth, while also managing those materials in such a way
that they convey a powerful feeling—if not a “message’--about the journey we are all making
toward . . . what ?
Perhaps this is the right note on which to approach the end of our odyssey together in this
course, with an ellipsis, an unanswered question, a gap into which each of us can project our
own mythical apotheosis.
12.1 Reading (and Viewing) Assignment
Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Rpt. New York: Roc, 1993.
Please arrange to see Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of 2001 on video after reading
the novel. Several of the study questions in this lesson presuppose that you have seen
the film as well as read the novel. A clip from this film appears later in this lesson.
The story that would become famous as 2001: A Space Odyssey, the classic film directed
by Stanley Kubrick, began as a short story called “The Sentinel,” originally published in
1950. It has been frequently reprinted since the film’s release in 1968 and appears in two
of the items listed below under “Supplementary Reading.” I encourage you to take a look
at the raw materials used by Clarke and Kubrick in their collaborative effort. Incidentally,
the mystery of the monoliths would be continued in subsequent books by Arthur C. Clarke:
2010: Odyssey Two (1984, also made into a motion picture), 2061: Odyssey Three (1991),
and 3001: The Final Odyssey (1998).

Agel, Jerome, ed. The Making of Kubrick’s 2001. New York: Signet, 1970.
Brody, Alan. “2001 and the Paradox of the Fortunate Fall.” Hartford Studies in
Literature. 1 (1969): 7-19.
Clarke, Arthur C. The Lost Worlds of 2001. New York: New American Library, 1972.
Daniels, Don. “2001: A New Myth.” Film Heritage 3.4 (Summer 1968).
Geduld, Carolyn. Filmguide to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP,
1973.
Harfst, Betsy. “Of Myths and Polyominous: Mythological Content in Clarke’s Fiction.”
In Olander and Greenberg (below), pp. 89-120.
Hock, David G. “Mythic Patterns in 2001: A Space Odyssey.” Journal of Popular
Culture 4 (Spring 1971): 961-65.
Hollow, John. Against the Night, the Stars: The Science Fiction of Arthur C. Clarke.
San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983.
Kagan, Norman. The Cinema of Stanley Kubrick. New York: Grove Press, 1972.
Kittredge, William, and Steven M. Krauzer, eds. Stories into Film. New York: Harper,
1979. “The Sentinel” is on pp. 221-32.
Olander, Joseph D., and Martin Harry Greenberg, eds. Arthur C. Clarke. New York:
Taplinger Publishing, 1977.
Plank, Robert. “Sons and Fathers in A.D. 2001.” In Olander and Greenberg, pp. 121-48.
Rabkin, Eric S. Arthur C. Clarke. West Linn, OR: Starmont Home, 1980.
-----------------. The Fantastic in Literature. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1976.
Reid, Robin Anne, ed. Arthur C. Clarke. Greenwood, 1997.
Schwam, Stephanie, and Martin Scorsese, eds. The Making of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
New York: Modern Library, 2000.
Slusser, George Edgar. The Space Odysseys of Arthur C. Clarke. San
Bernardino, CA: Borgo Press, 1978.
Warrick, Patricia S. The Cybernetic Imagination in Science Fiction. Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press, 1980.
Weinkauf, Mary S. “The Escape from the Garden.” Texas Quarterly 16 (1973): 66-72.
Welfare, Simon, and John Fairley, eds. Arthur C. Clarke’s Mysterious World. New
York: A & W Publishers (1980).
Wheeler, David, ed. No, But I Saw the Movie: The Best Short Stories Ever Made into
Film. New York: Penguin, 1989. “The Sentinel” is on pp. 393-302.
http://www.us.imdb.com/Title?0062622
http://www.Isi.usp.bt/%7Erbianchi/clarke/Acc.Biography.html

1. Of all the planets in our solar system, why Earth, and of all organisms, why the ape-
man Moon-Watcher—why were they chosen for the interplanetary “experiment” with
which the novel begins?
2. How is the monolith first described? What seems to be its business with Moon-
Watcher? At any rate, what is its effect on him? What breakthrough occurs as a
result? Is this necessarily a good thing?
3. What do the knot, the stone, the hammer, the computer, and the spacecraft have in
common? What is suggested by the line concluding Part 1 (“Primeval Night”), that “as
long as they existed, he [humankind] was living on borrowed time” (31)? Keeping in
mind when the novel (and film) appeared, is this perhaps a manifestation of Cold War
paranoia? Are there other hints in the novel of Clarke’s concern with contemporary
sociopolitical problems (e.g., nuclear war, overpopulation, world hunger, the extinction
of species of wildlife, etc.)?
4. One of the obvious emphases of Kubrick’s film adaptation is the romance of space
travel, conveyed by the lavish attention given to the balletic movements of space craft
through the heavens, accompanied by glorious Strauss waltzes; the novelty of living in
zero-degree gravity; the sense of depth and the enormity of scale of the solar system;
the warping of time and space involved in interplanetary travel. These embellishments
remind us that the film was made during the decade that actually saw the first Moon
landing as well as the first Russian space stations being put into earth orbit. The
excitement of all this was still new and real. For its part, how does the novel capture
the romance of space exploration?
5. What seem to be Dr. Heywood Floyd’s attitudes towards space exploration? Why is he
so tight-lipped with the Soviet scientists? Note how different the character of Dr.
Floyd is in the film and in the book. Does he seem euphoric and full of wonder about
the extraordinary new discovery on the Moon? Why do you think Kubrick would
deliberately portray Floyd as such a “company man,” a “suit,” a colorless bureaucrat?
6. In the novel, what does Floyd make of the monolith, “TMA-1”? What do you make of
it at this point? What are the various theories as to its function? What is the source of
the piercing noise it suddenly emits? Why does it make the noise at this precise time?
Note the reference to Pandora’s box (75). What does this mythological allusion
suggest?
7. What is the name of the Jupiter spacecraft manned by Dave Bowman, Frank Poole, and
the three “hibernating” astronauts? What is suggested by Dave’s surname?
8. What is HAL’s role on the mission? Why does it go wrong? How is HAL portrayed in
the film? What is suggested by his saccharine voice? By the close-ups of his red
“eye”? What mythological character does this feature remind you of? How do you feel
during the scene of his “death,” i.e., his disconnection?
9. The scene of the secret conversation in the pod between Frank and Dave, and Dave’s
attempt to recover Frank’s body, are Kubrick’s invention. How does Clarke handle
this part of the plot? Does Dave distinguish himself—rise to the test, the hero’s call—
in these scenes of conflict with HAL and the escape toward the moons of Jupiter?
10. What do we learn about the extra-terrestrials who planted the monoliths, during the trip
to Japetus? Are they comparable with the gods of Greek myth? How does the
monolith operate during this final sequence? What feature of the Campbell/Leeming
monomyth is represented by Bowman’s transformation into the Star-Child and his
return to Earth? What do you make of the apocalyptic imagery in the last chapter
(“history as men knew it . . . [was] drawing to a close,” nuclear weapons detonating
around the earth, etc.)? Compare this ending with the film’s final sequence.
[Insert streaming video here, the final scenes from 2001: A Space Odyssey]
* * *
We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
--T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets
Final Examination
See the section on Examinations earlier in this Study Guide.
Comparative Paper
Description of the task. By this point you should have read the assignments for the twelve
lessons, including Joseph Campbell's book on theory, the anthology of mythology from around
the world, supplementary myths online, Homer's Odyssey, and works of fiction by five modern
British and American writers who draw on mythological elements in their works. Having
completed these (and other) readings and mulled over all the Thinking Points and Study
Questions as well as taking the two examinations and writing the brief paper--all on schedule--
you have successfully met each obstacle on the road of trials and are in a good position to seize
the ultimate boon: the wisdom you have gained from your quest. You will bestow the boon on
the world (well, on my small corner of it anyhow) by writing a comparative paper.
I would like you to focus on an issue that the course has raised for you and that you wish to
explore more fully than has been possible previously in the course, something about which you
are curious enough to want to do some additional research. The topic should lend itself to a
comparative analysis of two of the literary works we have studied. This analysis should be
informed by outside research into the two works and their authors, enabling you to draw on the
insights of authorities on these subjects, adding them to your own ideas so that you are able to
produce an authoritative interpretation or exploration of the issue as it applies to or is presented
in the two works you have selected. You may find secondary sources in the list of
supplementary readings and the web sites listed at the end of each lesson. Both library and
Internet sources may be used for this research, but you should bear in mind that web sites are of
widely varying quality and dependability. Please cite at least three outside sources (i.e., in
addition to any references to The Hero with a Thousand Faces, the Study Guide, the anthology
of myths, and the two books that are the primary works for your paper).
Your paper should not merely recapitulate points made in the Study Guide or in your previously
submitted papers. Of course, you may (and probably will) want to use ideas touched on earlier,
but here you will be developing them is much greater depth and backing them up with
authoritative evidence. The paper should be between six and nine typed, double-spaced pages
(not including the page containing your list of works cited). It should be written in the third
person, with brief quotations from the primary texts used now and then to illustrate your views,
and quotations or paraphrases from the critical commentary you have consulted. Feel free, of
course, to disagree with the critics, using them as sounding boards to clarify your own thinking.
All quotations and paraphrases must be appropriately documented, using the MLA style of in-
text parenthetical citation.
The MLA form citation and for the list of works cited is conveniently summarized in Diana
Hacker's A Pocket Style Manual (4th edition), which is a recommended text for this course. It is
your responsibility to make sure that full and accurate documentation is provided. Plagiarism,
whether intentional or inadvertent, is unacceptable in academia and will result in severe penalty.
In addition to the quality of your ideas and the adequacy of your research and documentation,
the clarity and effectiveness of your writing will be a major factor in determining my evaluation
of your comparative paper.
Bulletin Board (email contact with the instructor)
Contact Info/Questions
Glossary
The following is a list of terms that I have used at one point or another in the Study Guide. You
will find them useful in the study of mythology and literature. Most are defined fully as they
arise in the preceding lessons. However, this list may be a convenient reference as you progress
through the course.
_____________________________________________________________________________
affectance motivation: A psychological explanation of the appeal of myths, based on the view
that they fulfill a basic human need for order and meaning by symbolically posing and resolving
difficult and troubling problems.
affective theory: Approaches myth from the standpoint of its effect upon the audience. This
often leads to an emphasis on the psychological impact of the myth, attributable to its symbolic
content (archetypes).
amulet: A charm or magical device provided to the hero to protect him from danger. See also
“elixir.”
androgynous god: A god who is both male and female, a manifestation of the primal unity that
precedes the creation.
anima/animus: These are antithetical Jungian archetypes. The anima is the unconscious male
image of the female; the animus, the unconscious female image of the male. Such archetypal
figures as Sky Father/Earth Mother, Wise Old Man, Magna Mater/Terrible Mother, etc., are
expressions of the basic anima/animus opposition.
animism: A view of the world, often associated with “primitive” peoples, in which the world is
regarded as pervasively animated by creative (or divine) energy. For the animist, there is no
clear distinction between the material and spiritual planes of being—both are alive and possess
consciousness--and, as the poet William Blake wrote, “Every thing that lives is holy.” See also
“totem.”
anthropomorphic god: A god who has human characteristics, not merely physical attributes
but also emotions (anger, jealousy, pride, etc.). Greek gods, e.g., are often anthropomorphic.
apocalypse: The climactic event in cosmogonic myths, the destruction of the world as it has
existed since the creation, often presaging the re-creation of a new cosmos. This motif is
sometimes figured as a flood or earthquake or other disaster that marks both an end and a new
beginning.
archetype: Primordial symbols that, according to C. G. Jung, are the universal contents of the
collective unconscious and as such are represented in the myths of the world and in dreams of
individuals. Artists in touch with the collective psyche may employ archetypes in works of art,
and people respond powerfully because of unconscious identification with universal characters,
places, objects, events and themes. Archetypes refer to the generic symbol more than to the
specific content of an image, which may be culturally driven. Examples include the Shadow and
Persona, the Magna Mater, the Anima and Animus, God and the Devil. For a fuller list of
archetypal figures, see Lesson 3.
atonement: A condition of profound union between the hero and his father or between the hero
and the goddess. This is an important stage in the monomyth, suggestive of a climactic
realization of the hero’s identity as bound to his origins or predecessor(s), from whom he has
previously departed or been separated. The attainment of “at-one-ment” is suggestive of inner
harmony and spiritual peace.
autotype: A term coined to distinguish between archetypal symbols with their generic relation
to the monomyth, and the particular presentation of the symbols in a piece of literature by an
individual author. Leslie Fiedler’s term signature is a variant of this idea, emphasizing the
mythopoeic artist’s individual imprint on archetypal materials. The Toltec/Aztec story of
Quetzalcoatl involves archetypes; D.H. Lawrence’s novel The Plumed Serpent both adapts the
archetypal materials and also adds to them symbols either created by Lawrence or substantially
altered to express his own distinctive vision of the world.
binary oppositions: Antithetical or polarized pairs. Myths often dramatize conflicts in terms of
such oppositions (good and evil, the light and the dark, male and female, the raw and the
cooked), which, according to the French structuralist Claude Levi-Strauss, are ultimately
reconciled, thus offering a symbolic solution to significant problems faced by a people. The
agent of reconciliation is called a mediator; for example, myths about the discovery of fire
reconcile the conflict between eating food raw or cooking it.
boon: The gift or lesson bestowed by the hero upon his/her return home after the completion of
the quest. This may be something tangible (Moses’ stone tablets) or an idea or principle gained
through the quest and offering some benefit to the community.
call to adventure: A key stage in the hero monomyth when the hero receives a summons of
some kind inducing him or her to set out on a quest. The call need not be external and may be
rejected, usually with disastrous results.
cave: A recurrent feature in the symbolic landscape of world mythology, often associated with
either a place of withdrawal and retreat or a site of encounter with a monstrous being—in either
case suggestive of a descent into the unconscious.
chaos/cosmos: This opposition is a fundamental motif in creation myths. Chaos is the primal
state of being before the creative act begins, when the world is “without form and void.” The
division of the primal chaos into a series of emanations—light and dark, day and night, water
and dry land, male and female, fish and birds and creeping animals—marks the progression from
the One to the Many, according to Joseph Campbell, a development that continues until the
apocalypse folds the Many back into the One, reversing the process and preparing for a new
cosmogonic emergence.
charter myths: One of the functions of myths is to dramatize the essential experience and
values of a people, its “charter,” as the story of Moses dramatizes the experience of persecution
and deliverance of the Hebrews as Yahweh’s Chosen People. In a more literal way, of course,
this story also actually presents the discovery of the basic ethical code of the Jewish religion (the
Ten Commandments).
chthonic gods: gods who inhabit the earth or live within it, determining sudden variations in the
nature such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, draughts. Chthonic (pronounced THON-ick)
means earthbound.
Classical myths: Generally refers to the mythology of ancient Greece and Rome. The latter
tradition borrowed extensively from the former, a fact that confirmed by their broad similarity.
Such myths are characterized by a well defined pantheon of anthropomorphic gods, complex
creation stories, extensive cohorts of heroes and heroines (often with godlike qualities), ethical
codes, and strongly developed narrative style. As might be expected, Roman myths tend to
focus more on imperial themes.
clown/fool: A Jungian archetype, represented by the figure of the jester or wise fool (the idiot
savant). In the monomythic quest, the hero encounters several figures—ogres, temptresses,
wizards, doubles, clowns/fools—who pose various sorts of challenge for him to cope with. The
fool is sometimes a wise man in disguise, and his words, though apparently nonsense, may prove
prophetic. This figure is related to that of the trickster.
collective unconscious: C.G. Jung’s theoretical construct, related to but differing significantly
from his mentor Freud’s notion of the individual unconscious. Jung believed that there was a
racial unconscious (“race” here referring to the human race) whose contents were archetypes, to
which all people had access through ritual, myth, dream, visionary experiences, drug-induced
hallucinations, and works of art that tapped into this timeless reservoir of symbols. See
“archetype.”
comparativist approach: The school of mythography, today mostly associated with the work
of Joseph Campbell and Sir James Frazer and their followers, which emphasizes the cross-
cultural thematic similarities of world mythology. Comparativists often tend to downplay
historical and cultural contexts that could account for significant differences in the form and
content of myths produced in distinct places and eras. The opposed school of mythographers is
known as particularists.
conscious mind: The surface level of the mind, characterized by reason and intention, as
opposed to the subjective, irrational, deeper level known as the unconscious. Joseph Campbell
believes that mythology is the vehicle of unconscious or symbolic expression, and that the
surface level of meaning is a mere “mask” to be seen through and beyond.
contagious magic: According to Sir James Frazer, magic was a forerunner of religion with
which ancient peoples attempted to influence the course of nature by performing rituals based on
the principles of homeopathy or contagion, in which manipulation of certain objects could affect
changes in related objects or beings in the natural world. For example, rituals involving the cut
hair or nails of a person were seen as capable of influencing the behavior or well-being of that
person.
content v. form: A distinction between the theme or meaning of a myth, on the one hand, and
the style or structure in which it is presented, on the other. Analysts who approach myths
intrinsically tend to downplay this distinction, believing that form and content are interdependent
and that style is ultimately indistinguishable from meaning; those who approach myths
extrinsically tend to focus more on meaning—recurrent themes and images—and to subordinate
the form of any given myth. However, the monomyth is a construct that allows comparativists to
discuss both themes and formal properties of myths in terms of a generic template whose central
features are recognizable despite numerous variations.
cosmogonic/creation myths: A major category of myths, focusing on the beginning—and,

implicitly, also the end--of the world or of a people as a distinct entity. Such myths may include
gods or godlike figures who initiate the process of creation, the progression from chaos or void
to cosmos or order, the separation of night and day, water and dry land, the introduction of
creatures of the air, the division of male and female, the creation of humans, the discovery of
limitations or taboos, the foundation of a community or nation—these are among the principal
motifs in creation myths, summarized by Campbell as the emergence of the Many from the One
.
covert or latent meaning: Refers to the symbolic level of meaning beneath the surface of a
myth. lThe surface or literal meaning is simply the story told in the myth, with its explicit aims
(e.g., the successful completion of the quest, the discovery of fire. This is contrasted to its latent
symbolic meanings (e.g., the discovery of the Self, in all its contradictory guises), which are
usually unstated and must be inferred by the analyst. See “theme.”
cultural diffusion: The process of spreading customs and information from one people to
another by contact between societies throughout history. This process is seen by some as a
reason for the resemblance of characters and themes in the myths of various cultures and eras—
an alternative to the Jungian theory of the collective unconscious.
demigods: Characters in myth who are part god and part human, often the offspring of a mating
between a god and a mortal. Heracles is an example from Classical mythology. The mating of
humans and gods who take the form of animals is a very common motif in the myths of Native
Americans. See also “totem.”
desert/wasteland: A recurrent feature of the symbolic landscape of myths, especially

seasonal/fertility myths. The opposite of the Garden or paradise, the wasteland is the image of
nature bereft of the life spirit, the world in need of a fructifying act—e.g., the ritual sacrifice of a
divine king or a scapegoat—to replenish fertility. T. S. Eliot’s long poem The Waste Land is the
classic modernist treatment of this theme, drawing as it does on The Golden Bough and Jessie L.
Weston’s From Ritual to Romance, an influential treatment of legend of the Holy Grail. See
also “garden.”
devil/demon: A Jungian archetype, a variant of the Shadow. As an adversary of the hero’s

quest, and one who will use any means to corrupt or destroy the hero, in effect the devil does the
work of psychological repression. However, in some myths the devil represents the unconscious
itself, which appears demonic only because it has been repressed. Like other representatives of
the denied Other, the devil may ultimately be revealed as benign (or may be transformed into a
benevolent ally), and as such assimilated into the whole, unified Self.
diachronic: A term used by structuralists to refer to the temporal or sequential properties of a

narrative. When one considers the order of events in a myth, one is looking at its diachronic
elements, as opposed to its “synchronic” or purely formal elements.
displacement: In Freudian theory, the psychological process of defending oneself from

awareness of painful stimuli by transferring or projecting them into another form, perceived to
be safer, and less volatile. In mythology, demonized characters such as ogres, temptresses,
devils, and so forth symbolically embody—through displacement—aspects of the Self that are
too volatile to be accepted directly. Scapegoating is the ultimate expression of displacement.
Ostensibly a defense of the hero’s safety, this process actually creates obstacles that the hero
must ultimately overcome if he is to arrive at full atonement, i.e., acceptance of the Other as
integral to the Self.
dynamic characters: Fictional characters who undergo a significant change during the course
of a story are said to be dynamic. The change should be an inner one--a change of the essential
nature of the character himself or herself—rather than a mere change of fortune or position.
Obviously myths about the hero’s quest are ready-made for a presentation of the protagonist’s
growth as a character, though secondary characters are usually static. See “static characters” and
“flat and round characters.”
elixir: A magical charm, spell, or potion that enables the hero to withstand dangerous opponents
and threats. See also “amulet” and “guide/helper.”
etiological myths: This refers to myths that implicitly or explicitly present the origin of certain
places or customs or values that are particularly important to a people. “Etiology” means origin
or cause. Hence the story of Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl provides a symbolic “reason” for the
appearance of these dominant features of the landscape where the Toltecs (and later the Aztecs)
built their empire. The fact that “Popo” is an active volcano may have influenced the tragic
tenor of this myth. It may also suggest a ritual source in the need to propitiate the chthonic god
who dwelled in the smoking mountain.
euhemerism: Refers to a theory of myth that attributes the origin of the gods in mythology to
the deification of historical heroes. Myths that involve real persons or events are often said to
be euhemeristic. The term derives from Euhemerus, a Greek philosopher of the 3rd century B.C.,
who devised the theory. The legends surrounding the early life of George Washington
(chopping down the cherry tree, throwing a dollar across the Potomac, etc.) could be seen as
belonging to this category. Of course, many actual historical events eventually become the stuff
of legend, a process of sublimation evident in Hollywood films about patriotic historical figures
and events.
exorcism: A ritual for ridding a person or object possessed by evil or demonic spirits by means
of incantation (a verbal formula). See also “devil/demon,” “displacement,” “possession,”
“scapegoat,” and “taboo.”
expressive theory: One of the main approaches to analyzing literature, highlighting the extent
to which the work represents the attitudes and viewpoints of its author. This approach is
minimally useful in the study of myths, since they are by definition anonymous and communal;
however, in literature that uses mythological elements, the expressive theory has more value.
One may consider, for instance, how fully Homer’s distinctive view of the world is expressed in
a particular scene or passage in The Odyssey, and how his version of, say, the Nostos or Return
might differ from a re-telling of that episode by another author, such as Tennyson’s description
of the hero’s return to Ithaca in his poem “Ulysses.”
fairy tale: A fanciful tale of legendary deeds and romance, usually intended to entertain and
instruct children. Like myths, however, fairy tales have covert psychological meanings
embedded in their symbolism. See Bruno Bettelheim, The Uses of Enchantment (1976).
fertility myths: See “seasonal myths.”
flat and round characters: A distinction introduced by the novelist E.M. Forster in his book of
literary criticism, Aspects of the Novel (1927). Flat characters are those who are comparatively
simple and can be summed up readily in a word or phrase (shrewish old maid, tightwad uncle,
femme fatale, etc.); round characters are those who are presented in some depth, with emphasis
on their complexity and quirkiness. Generally speaking, in mythology most characters are flat, a
fact that simplifies the task of interpreting their symbolic significance; heroes and other central
characters, however, tend to be round, especially in more complex myths such as those included
in Lesson 6.
flood: A cataclysmic event in cosmogonic myths of various cultures. The flood is essentially a
mini-apocalypse bringing to an end one cycle of creation and, typically, preceding the next
cycle. A variation of such cataclysmic events would be an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, a
plague, a curse on the land, or a draught.
fool: See “clown.”
form: See “structure.”
garden: A recurrent locale in the symbolic topography of myths, the garden is associated with
childhood and innocence, i.e., the relatively trouble-free world of the hero before he receives the
Call to Adventure an crosses the Threshold into the realm of Trials and Tests. See also
“desert/wasteland.”
god(s): In mythology, gods are usually all-powerful, all-knowing, immortal beings personifying
the human dream of existence free from mortal limitations. Joseph Campbell asserts that the
gods of myth are essentially masks, i.e., metaphors for the spiritual unknown that is the ultimate
object of the hero’s quest. Psychologically, the gods represent the unconscious potencies within
the hero. There are many different kinds of gods in mythology: anthropomorphic gods,
chthonic gods, fertility gods, animal totems, demigods. All tend to be what Mircea Eliade calls
“fecundators,” representing the creative forces in the universe. Certain mythological traditions
provide elaborate pantheons (Greek: pan = all; theo = god) or family hierarchies of gods, often
personifications of nature. For example, Sky-Father and Earth-Mother are archetypal characters
in cosmogonic myths.
guide/helper: A regular member of the cast of characters in the hero monomyth, the helper is
sometimes a wise man or prophet who prepares the hero for his later encounters with powerful
adversaries, instructing him in the knowledge of the mysteries he must learn if his quest is to
succeed. In some myths, the helper is an animal who reveals the secrets of nature to the young
hero.
hermeneutics: The theory of textual interpretation, especially in law, theology, and literature.
Named after Hermes, the Greek messenger god, intermediary between the major gods and
heroes, just as the critic is the mediator between the author and the public.
hero/heroine: The protagonist of the monomyth described by Campbell and Leeming. Such
characters tend to be both round and dynamic. According to Frazer, the hero’s forerunners were
the shaman and the divine king, figures who had direct access to extraordinary spiritual energies.
Through psychological identification with these figures, a community could vicariously gain
access to spiritual energies. As this suggests, heroes are those with whom we tend to identify
ourselves; they are our proxies. The hero’s quest for individuation symbolizes the journey we
must all make.
heuristic: This term is sometimes used to describe one of the functions of myths, to facilitate
the analyst’s discovery of important meanings, latent in mythology, that may be applied to one’s
own life experience. Though related to the pedagogical or teaching function, the heuristic
function differs in emphasizing the active participation of the reader in constructing an
underlying meaning for himself or herself.
homeopathic magic: James Frazer’s term used to describe the irrational assumption that “like
equals like,” i.e., that ritual acts of a certain kind (say, pouring water) could influence a like
response (rainfall) in nature. Shamans performed such acts, which were sometimes subsequently
dramatized symbolically in myths.
image: In literature, the verbal representation of a sensory experience. Images in myths, as in

literature, often have metaphorical connotations. For example, vivid descriptions of a dark,
subterranean enclosure may suggest death or burial. In contrast, descriptions of a garden
resplendent beneath an early morning sun in springtime may suggest childhood and innocence.
individuation: A primary theme of the archetypal journey of the hero, the discovery of the
authentic self in all its complexity. See “self.”
initiation: One of the earliest stages in the monomyth, dealing with the hero’s first emergence
and successful demonstration of his fitness for the arduous adventure lying ahead of him.
Initiation rituals, regarded by some mythographers as the origin of the myths, commemorate the
passage from childhood to young adulthood. The nuclear unit of the monomyth, according to
Campbell, is threefold: separation, initiation, and return.
intrinsic v. extrinsic approach: The intrinsic approach to myth concentrates on the style and
structure of the particular myth, examined for evidence of latent themes. In contrast, the
extrinsic approach involves a comparison between the individual myth and all others of the same
kind.
legend: According to Joseph Campbell, legends differ from myths in being more local in focus.
The hero of legend is prominent for a particular people (e.g., Robin Hood, Paul Bunyan),
whereas the mythic hero is universal. The distinction seems rather arbitrary, however, as “local”
heroes may readily embody universal meanings. Moses, for example, is both the quintessential
Hebrew hero, who delivers the tablets inscribing basic Judaic laws, and also an archetypal hero
whose quest is no less universal than that of Odysseus, King Arthur, or Kutoyis.
ludic: Derived from the Latin phrase Homo ludens (playful man), the term refers to the play
impulse as a motive for the appeal of stories of various kinds, including myths and legends.
Apart from any latent significance, they are simply fun to tell and to hear. For contrast, see
“affectance motivation.”
macrocosm v. microcosm: The macrocosm is the large-scale, global level of meaning in a

myth; the microcosm is the “little world” of the individual and his immediate community.
Joseph Campbell asserts that these two levels of meaning symbolically correspond in mythology.
magic: Along with ritual, the predecessor of religion, according to The Golden Bough. See
“contagious magic, “homeopathic magic,” and “shaman.”
Magna Mater: Great Mother (Latin). A Jungian archetypal figure in mythology, a nurturing
female character (a variant of the anima) associated with the source of life itself. Often the
character is a virgin goddess who nonetheless gives birth and raises her progeny, of which the
hero is one. She is often associated with the moon, the sea, or the earth (particularly in the form
of maternal caves that protect her young children). Examples include the Greeks Gaea and
Cybele, the Christian Virgin Mary, the Norse Frigg, and the Toltec/Aztec Coatlicue.
mediation: A term used by mythographers who, like Claude Levi-Strauss, regard myth as a
symbolic mode of problem-solving. Such analysts foreground sets of conflicts (known as
“binary oppositions”) which are reconciled or mediated symbolically in the course of the myth.
Antithetical pairs such as male and female are synthesized by some means of reconciliation, such
as marriage and propagation, as in the story of Adam and Eve.
mimetic: Refers to a theory of artistic representation that emphasizes realism and

verisimilitude. The term derives from the Greek mimesis, meaning imitation. The mimetic
approach to mythology concentrates on the relation between the myth and the “accuracy” with
which it represents the values and perspectives of the society from which it derives.
Particularists would be more inclined to use a mimetic approach than would comparativists.
monomyth: A term coined by novelist James Joyce and used by Joseph Campbell and David
Leeming to describe an overall schema for categorizing and analyzing myths in terms of both
form and content. Myths of the creation and destruction of the cosmos correspond with those of
the hero’s quest. Examples of recurrent motifs in the monomyth of the hero are the miraculous
conception and birth, his/her departure from home, crossing the threshold, a series of tests or
trials, death (descent into the Underworld), rebirth and apotheosis.
monsters: Demonic adversaries who challenge the hero in the course of his quest; sometimes
they are guardians of the threshold he must cross upon both his departure from home and his
return. Monsters, giants, ogres, witches, devils, and similar figures of the Other in myths
symbolize the repressed unconscious with which the hero must eventually come to terms.
mountain: A frequent feature in the symbolic landscape of myth, e.g., Mount Sinai, Olympus,
Parnassus, Himavat. These are sacred mountains, sources of divine energy. Volcanoes
(Popocatepetl, Etna, etc.) are a variant emphasizing the destructive potential of this energy, a
likely motive for propitiatory rites.
motif: A recurrent image in a literary work or a myth, often suggestive of its theme.
myth: A traditional, communal narrative, often involving fantastic or supernatural figures and
events. In their inception, myths were transmitted orally, and both their authorship and their
audience were anonymous and communal. Typically, they have a timeless, generic quality, with
no specific historical setting. Their style tends to be naïve or deadpan in manner, but whatever
their ostensible motive the essential meaning is of myths is usually covert, lying in their
symbolism. Many myths recount a hero’s adventures involving a series of dangerous encounters
with the unknown. These encounters may be interpreted psychologically as steps in a process of
self-discovery and realization of the unconscious or spiritually as revelations of the divine
potential within the mundane. See also “prefigurative device.”
mythopoesis: Myth-making (Greek). (The accent falls on the long e near the end of the word;
the adjective form is mythopoeic, pronounced “myth-o-PEA-ick”) This term refers to the
imaginative process characteristic of certain artists who do not merely echo ancient myths and
adapt them to modern times but who create new myths for modern times. Such mythopoeic
artists include the poet and painter William Blake, the poet William Butler Yeats, and the
novelist D.H. Lawrence.
neoteny: The unusually prolonged stage of infantile dependency characteristic of humans (more
than of other species). According to Weston LaBarre in The Ghost Dance, this is the stage when
children are most prone to subjective mental states expressed in irrational fears and anxieties,
fantasies, and nightmares. Fantastic stories such as fairy tales and myths have greatest appeal to
children at this stage, because such tales appeal to their psychological needs. For example, the
story of Jack and the Beanstalk dramatizes a child’s irrational fears of the “giants” of his world,
the adults. The Cyclops episode of The Odyssey is another, more complex, example.
one v. many: According to Joseph Campbell, this is the central theme of creation myths, the
progression from the unitary chaos or void to the orderly divisions of the created cosmos.
ontogeny v. phylogeny: ontogeny is a term used by anthropologists to refer to the development

of the individual; phylogeny is the companion term referring to the evolution of the species.
Social psychologists and others have posited an analogy between the two, expressed by the
statement “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.” The analogy was believed to illuminate the
perceived relationship between human children in the stage of neoteny and “primitive” people
whose fears and anxieties expressed themselves in myth and ritual. Thus the child whose fear of
adults is symbolized by the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk would be analogous to the
“primitive” people who envisioned lands where monsters were at large, as in the story of the
Cyclops in The Odyssey.
oracle: See “prophet or oracle.”
oral tradition: The body of “folk” materials transmitted and preserved across generations by
word of mouth and collective memory. This form of preservation was especially important in
preliterate societies. Myths, legends, ballads, proverbs, and folk songs were performed aloud
(rather than read) by persons who had committed them to memory, often following certain pat
formulas suitable for oral performance but also occasionally embellishing them in response to a
fugitive inspiration or a particular audience.
overt meaning: This refers to the surface level of a myth, the explicit purpose for a given story,
e.g., the notion that creation myths provide answers to the question “Where do we come from?”
This is distinct from the covert or latent meaning masked by the myth’s symbols which,
according to Joseph Campbell, are really more concerned with our destiny—who we are and
where we are inevitably headed (toward death and rebirth)—than merely with our origins. See
“theme.”
particularists: Folklorists and mythographers who espouse the importance of closely

examining the historical and cultural contexts of a myth and their reflection in the myth itself.
Such analysts tend to be critical of comparativists such as Joseph Campbell, who subordinate
these signs that distinguish a given myth from others in favor of identifying thematic parallels
among myths from diverse cultures and eras. See “comparativists.”
persona: A Jungian archetype that, along with the Shadow, is part of the self’s quest for
authenticity. See “self.”
phylogeny: A term used by anthropologists to refer to the development of a species. See also
“ontogeny.”
plot: In literature, the narration of story events with emphasis on causation. According to the
novelist E.M. Forster, “the king died and then the queen died” is a story—a mere succession of
events; but “the king died and then the queen died of grief” is a plot, because of the inclusion of
a causal relationship between story events. Plot also involves the interplay between the story
events themselves and the narrative discourse by which they are presented . These two may be
equivalent, or they may differ with respect to the order in which events are narrated, the duration
of their presentation, and the frequency of their narration. Literary narratives are also
complicated by the use of narrators of various kinds, who may be characters in the story, mere
witnesses to the events, or godlike “omniscient” voices whose understanding is boundless.
Myths tend, far less than literary works, to deploy plot in these ways. Compare, e.g., the
straightforward and “naïve” recounting of the adventures of Heracles with the convoluted
narrative of Odysseus’ wanderings in Homer’s epic poem. The latter is a triumphant example of
literary plot, while the former exemplifies a story, in Forster’s sense.
possession: The indwelling of an occult power or spirit (whether benign or demonic) in the
body of a host organism. Certain individuals functioned as mediums for possessing spirits who
spoke or acted through them, in order to communicate to a people. Shamans often performed
this function, acting as oracles for gods and spirits. James Frazer asserted that shamans evolved
into divine kings who were believed to have access to occult powers and must be treated
accordingly, with ritual practices involving elaborate taboos, purification rites, etc. See
“exorcism.”
prefigurative device: Refers to a formal means of anticipating or foreshadowing something

similar that follows, as a myth prefigures all later works that allude to it or adapt it to a retelling
of the story in a new literary work. Homer’s Odyssey prefigures Virgil’s Aeneid, and both
prefigure Tennyson’s “Ulysses,” Joyce’s Ulysses, and Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
primitive (ism): An outmoded term designating people in traditional, pre-industrial societies

who still subscribe to an animistic view of the world and exercise magic and ritual and myth to
express their fundamental relation to it. Evolutionists such as James Frazer believed that by
studying “the savage mind” of these “primitives,” the anthropologist could better understand the
earlier stages in the development of the “civilized” mind, which for Frazer meant the collective
mind of Western Europe. Partly due to Frazer’s extraordinary influence, and partly due to post-
WWI disillusionment, a nostalgic idealization of “primitivism” became a primary feature of
much modernist art, as can be readily seen in the poetry of T.S. Eliot (The Waste Land and “The
Hollow Men”), the fiction of D.H. Lawrence (“The Fox,” “St. Mawr,” and The Plumed Serpent),
the music of Igor Stravinsky (The Rite of Spring), and the painting and sculpture of Pablo
Picasso, among many other examples.
problem-solving: According to some mythographers, this is one of the chief functions of

myths: to pose important conflicts or dilemmas that are then resolved symbolically in the myth.
Claude Levi-Strauss, for one, saw this as essential to his definition of myth as “a logical model
capable of overcoming a contradiction.” One might call this a heuristic function. As such it
seems related also to affectance motivation.
prophet or oracle: A frequent character in mythology, and variations of the Jungian archetype
of the Wise Old Man. This character functions as a guide or helper to the hero, though when his
advice is rejected he can become a formidable adversary. Tiresias is an example of the prophet
in the stories of both Oedipus and Odysseus.
propitiation: Refers to the desire of ancient peoples to placate the gods who had control over
nature, by performing rituals of submission, obeisance, sacrifice or thanksgiving thought to
mollify the gods’ anger, compensate for human shortcomings, or win favorable influence so as
to forestall disaster and bring blessings to the people.
rebirth and resurrection: The culminating act of the monomyth, following the literal or
symbolic death of the hero (or his descent into the Underworld), and initiating the beginning of a
new cycle of adventure. Rebirth often involves a renewal or purification of divine energy, an
enhancement of fertility for not only the hero but also his people.
repression: A psychological defense mechanism whereby the volatile impulses of the id—
irrational desires, ideas, or fears--are unconsciously excluded from the conscious mind or
transformed into less threatening form. (See “sublimation.”) In mythology, according to Joseph
Campbell, the process repression accounts for the presence of threatening figures such as
dragons and demons that, if confronted and acknowledged by the hero, may be recognized as
legitimate aspects of the self, not to be denied but accommodated. In The Power of Myth video
he uses the example of Darth Vadar, an arch-enemy of the hero who is ultimately revealed as his
own father.
rites of passage: Ritual acts performed to mark (and enhance or enable) important transitional
stages in the life cycle: circumcision, baptism, initiation, marriage, burial. The mythological
equivalent of such transitions is the hero’s crossing of and return over the threshold.
ritual: Joseph Campbell defines ritual as “the public enactment of myth.” Like myth, it is an
expression of the collective unconsciousness, but it is deliberately performed by designated
persons called shamans on designated occasions to achieve certain desired results and to reassure
participants that they can be part of the divine energies that move the world. James Frazer’s The
Golden Bough copiously describes a wide range of rituals as part of the evolution of religion out
of magic (contagious and homeopathic), the predecessors of myth and religion. Examples of
rituals would include rites of passage (initiation, circumcision, baptism, marriage), fertility rites,
burial rites, scapegoating, etc.
ritual theory of myth: The approach to mythography associated with Cambridge University
and the work of James Frazer (especially The Golden Bough); a prime tenet of this school was
that ritual was the basis of myth and preceded it. That is, a major function of myth was to
explain and valorize existing rituals, as the myth of Osiris seems to dramatize Egyptian burial
rituals and to link them to that culture’s views of death and the afterlife. As this example
suggests, anthropologists and folklorists who subscribed to the ritual theory of myth often
focused on stories about the ritual killing/rebirth of divine kings and heroes (e.g., Attis, Adonis,
Dionysis, Jesus).
river: A recurrent feature of the symbolic landscape in the monomyth. Like oceans, seas, and
lakes, rivers are archetypal life symbols; in their capacity for flooding, they may also be linked
with nature’s potential for destruction. Seasonal/fertility myths and rituals were often tied to the
rise and recession of the waters of great rivers (the Nile, the Tigris and Euphrates) on which a
people depended for crops, trade, transportation, and so forth.
scapegoat: Originally an animal or person who was ritually expelled (or even killed), in place
of the divine king or priest, in order to rid a people of unwelcome impurities and so restore its
fertility and well-being. James Frazer provides illuminating discussions of this phenomenon in
The Golden Bough. See also “displacement.”
seasonal myths: Those myths that are related to the cycle of nature and life through the
succession of seasons; also called fertility or vegetation myths. The connection between fertility
rituals, with their use of homeopathic and contagious magic to propitiate or influence the gods of
nature, and seasonal myths was the principal focus of James Frazer’s The Golden Bough and
other works of the Cambridge School (e.g., those of Jessie L. Weston, Jane Harrison, Gilbert
Murray).
self: The archetypal protagonist of the hero monomyth, regarded as a story of individuation.
Jung believed that there was an archetype for the process of self-discovery or self-definition that
was figured in the hero’s initiation—his separation from home and his journey through a land of
dangers and wonders, and his encounters with characters such as the Shadow and the Persona,
symbols of alternative selves with which the hero must come to terms before his maturation
could be fulfilled. That fulfillment is often marked by the hero’s atonement with the Father or
his union with a goddess, symbols of the reconciliation of opposites within the hero.
Shadow: A Jungian archetype, embodying the hidden “dark” side of the Self, i.e., the
unconscious. Its opposite is the Persona, the image of the public self that one presents to the
world, or one’s conscious sense of the self (the ego). Part of the hero’s challenge involves
reconciling this opposition and coming to terms with the repressed unconscious side of the Self.
Campbell uses the example of Luke Skywalker’s ultimate atonement with Darth Vader in The
Empire Strikes Back.
shaman: The priest or magician who performed rituals for a community. He had access to
secret knowledge and was possessed by supernatural energies, enabling him to have visionary
experiences and make oracular utterances. According to Frazer, the shaman was the predecessor
of the divine king who embodied the spirit of fertility and, as such, was periodically killed in
order to restore the land to fertility. These rituals were the basis of seasonal myths such as those
of Demeter and Persephone, Theseus, and Osiris.
shield or weapon: These are among the protective devices used by heroes (see “amulet” and
“elixir”), to aid them in facing adversaries. Many myths include an episode in which the hero
proves himself worthy of a magical shield or weapon, e.g., Arthur’s pulling the sword Excalibur
from the stone. As this suggests, the possession of such weapons is itself a proof that the hero
has “the right stuff.”
signature: A term coined by the literary critic Leslie Fiedler to distinguish mythopoeic art from
myth proper. See autotype.
static characters: Fictional characters who remain essentially the same throughout a story are
called static characters. In mythology, generally all of the characters other than the protagonist,
the hero, are static. See also “dynamic characters” and “flat and round characters.”
story: The succession of fictional events in a narrative. See “plot.”
structuralism: An interdisciplinary intellectual movement, begun in the 1970s in France,

focusing on detailed analyses of myths and other narrative works, based on the assumption that a
discernible pattern could be found dictating the minutest interrelations of the parts of a text and
connecting them meaningfully to the whole. Structuralists further assumed that such analyses
provided insights into the dynamic structures of the mind, i.e., of cognition itself. Prominent
structuralists include the linguist Ferdinand de Sausurre, the literary critic Roland Barthes, and
the anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss.
structure: In literary studies this term refers to the large-scale aesthetic form of a work as a
whole: the relations among its parts and their relation to the whole work. Parts include the
beginning and ending, the chief events enumerated in between, the gaps or transitions between
events, elements repeated, and the means by which the work may be ultimately regarded as
unified and coherent. In a narrative work, structure also involves the representation of time, the
duration of the action, the pace or tempo of its unfolding, intervals between events, and the order
in which events are presented as opposed to the order in which they actually occurred. This
macrocosmic level of structure is distinct from the microscopic level referred to as style, which
as a rule considers smaller-scale aspects such as an author’s diction and syntax, cadences, and
paragraphing. In general, myths tend to be analyzed structurally rather than stylistically, with
attention to the largest building blocks rather than to the fine points of style associated with
particular authors.
sublimation: An example of a psychological defense mechanism whereby an instinctive urge is

satisfied not directly but by being transferred into a socially acceptable form, as when erotic
desires are themselves denied but converted into aesthetic form. The word’s origins (from the
Latin sublimare) denote raising something base or ordinary into something sublime.
sun: A recurrent feature in the symbolic world of mythology, but especially important in Native
American and Pacific Rim myths about the taming of fire. The sun is usually linked with the
male principle, the Sky-Father, as opposed to the maternal Moon. Both, however, are primary
symbols of life.
symbol: A sign or object that both exists in its own right and stands for something else.
According to philosopher Erich Fromm, these may be traditional (red roses = romantic love),
conventional (the Stars and Stripes on the U.S. flag), accidental (the tea-cake that represents the
past in Marcel Proust’s novel about memory and time), or archetypal (the World Axis, the sacred
mountain, etc.). Though symbols of all kinds may appear in a given myth, clearly the archetypal
is the most important in the study of mythology generally, in which symbols operate as a set of
universal signs that the analyst decodes in order to discover latent—psychological and spiritual--
meanings.
synchronic: A term used by structuralists to describe the formal properties of a narrative that do
not pertain to temporal relations. When one considers, for example, a work’s motifs (its
recurring images), one is foregrounding synchronic elements. See also “diachronic.”
taboo: A formally prohibited object, person, place, or action. According to Frazer, taboos are
ritual devices used to rid a community of evil or impurity. Subjects undergoing initiation rites,
and mythic heroes facing the road of trials, are often prohibited from certain substances, places,
or persons in order to preserve their purity and to withstand the challenges ahead. A modern
example is the prohibiting of food and drink for 24 hours prior to the taking of Holy
Communion, observed by Roman Catholics.
theme: In literary studies, theme refers to the underlying concepts or issues implicit in a
work. . In myth, the theme is latent and thus must be decoded by the reader. See “covert v.
latent meaning.”
threshold: The image of boundary between the ordinary world and the magically charged zone
of trials into which the hero enters on his quest. The response to the Call to Adventure and the
Crossing of the First Threshold, are major early episodes in the monomyth, and the hero’s
crossing the Return Threshold back to the world left behind, there to bestow his boon, concludes
it.
totem: A living thing (or its image) that is venerated by a people as the representative of a
protective deity. In tribal cultures, the totem was often regarded as the emblem of a clan and as
such the focus of ancestor worship. Native American myths such as those featuring Raven and
Eagle provide symbolic validation of the kinship system through the acts of totemic animals who
were instrumental in the foundation of the clan. (Contrast with “anthropomorphic gods.”) See
“animism.”
Tree of Life: An important feature of the symbolic landscape of the monomyth. A variant of
the World Navel, the Tree of Life is a central source of access to vital energy, a point of contact
between time and eternity, the human and the divine. Rooted in the earth, with branches
reaching toward the heavens, the Tree is a powerful symbol of the union of opposites, a source
of spiritual transformation. Among the many examples of this image are the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden, the Buddha’s Bo Tree, the Cross on
Calvary, and the great ash tree Yggdrasill in the Norse creation myth.
trial and quest: This is the substance of the hero’s adventure, the pattern of challenging
encounters he experiences over the course of his journey across the Threshold into the unknown
and back home again. The trials symbolically constitute his initiation into and acceptance of the
human condition, in which he comes to terms with his Self in all its contradictions and
complexity (the Jungian archetype of individuation). His quest is ultimately for atonement with
the repressed Other within.
trickster: A common character in myths and folktales. Sometimes the trickster functions as an
adversary of the hero and his quest, though his challenges are usually in the nature of pranks
rather than the violent and truly threatening challenges posed by such characters as devils,
monsters, witches, and giants. Indeed, the trickster may turn out, as in many of the tales in
which Raven is a character, to be a helper, the tricks really an oblique form of guidance or
protection.
unconscious mind: The subterranean level of the human mind, characterized by irrational urges
(called by Freud the id) often denied or repressed by the conscious mind (the ego and superego).
Freud’s disciple C.G. Jung posited the existence of the “collective unconscious” shared by the
human race in the aggregate, the primary source of archetypal symbols such as those found in
the myths of the world. According to Joseph Campbell the hero’s quest ultimately confronts
him with images of the repressed unconscious, with which he must achieve atonement.
Underworld: The dark, subterranean world of death into which the hero of the monomyth must
descend before he may be reborn. Variations of this quintessentially chthonic episode are found
in the stories of Gilgamesh, Demeter and Persephone, Kutoyis, and Jesus, among many others.
world navel: According to Joseph Campbell, the central pivot or axis from which “the energies
of eternity break into time.” Like the Tree of Life and the secret cave, the World Navel is a key
locus in the symbolic landscape of the monomyth, a place where the hero decisively encounters
the divine spirit that is (if he but knew it) within him and that directs his destiny toward its
fulfillment.

Guide For Online Course Myths Legends An

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Guide For Online Course Myths Legends An

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Title Page: English 355

Myths, Legends & Literature

Meet the Author/Instructor: Ronald G. Walker

Assignments and Deadlines

Independent Study Course Withdrawal Form

Overview of the Course

Lesson 1: Introduction to the Study of Myth

Brief Paper on theories of myth

Lesson 4: Creation Myths

Lesson 7: Homer's The Odyssey as Exemplary Quest

*See "Time Limits."

Lesson 1: Introduction to the Study of Myth

Toward a Definition of Myth

Origins of Myths/Myths of Origin

The Meaning and Function of Myth

Approaches to the Study of Myth

1. Intrinsic approaches focus on internal relations between elements within the

2. Extrinsic approaches build on analyses of a myth's formal and thematic elements by

[Insert clip here: “The Message of the Myth”]

1.2 Thinking Points

3. How do you understand Campbell's analogy between myth and dream?

4. As citizens of an advanced, highly industrialized and technologically sophisticated

[Insert clip from Quest for Fire here]

LaBarre, Weston. The Ghost Dance--Origins of Religion. Garden City, NY:

Levi-Strauss, Claude. "The Structural Study of Myth." In Structural Anthropology.

1.4 Recommended Web Sites

II. Trials and Victories of Initiation

III. The Return and Reintegration of the Hero with Society

1. Miraculous conception and birth of the hero ("The World Child")

2.1 Reading Assignment

2.2 Thinking Points

1. Ritual may be defined as a set of prescribed ceremonial acts performed periodically by

3. How does Leeming's eight-point schema complement Campbell's tripartite version?

4. Do Campbell's claims about the macrocosmic/microcosmic parallelism between the

2.3 Supplementary Reading

http://geocities.com/Athens/Troy/2967/Campbell.html [Joseph Campbell Page]

Lesson 3: The Hero with a Thousand Faces (II)

[Insert streaming video: “The Hero’s Adventure”]

The Terrible Mother--negative aspect of the Great Mother; a witch, harpy,

The Helper or Guide--usually an adept whose special knowledge, experience,

The Devil/Dark Double--ostensibly, the hero's main antagonist, who poses

The Trickster--usually a helper in disguise (or a stranger not yet recognized by

3.1 Reading Assignment

Part I of the Campbell text (Chs. 1-4)

3.2 Thinking Points

3.3 Supplementary Reading

Lefkowitz, Mary R. "The Myth of Joseph Campbell." American Scholar. 59.3

Brief Paper on Theory

4.1 Reading Assignment

Notes: In Lessons 2 and 3 we examined Joseph Campbell’s monomyth (supplemented by David

“The Enuma elish” (Babylonian)

“Osiris, Isis, and Horus” (Egyptian)

Genesis, chs. 1-4 (Hebrew)

4.2 Thinking Points

4.3 Supplementary Reading

4.4 Recommended Web Sites

It must be acknowledged that Frazer’s evolutionary assumptions and comparativist methods

5.1 Reading Assignment

Read the seasonal/fertility myths in the anthology: "Telepinu" (Hittite; 22-25);

Review the seasonal/fertility myths already studied in previous lessons:

5.2 Thinking Points

5.3 Supplementary Reading

5.4 Recommended Web Sites