Greek Mythology, Lecture 1

Greek Mythology 8/28/2008

Why study Greek Mythology in the 21st Century? Greek Myths in YOUR everyday life: • Greek myths in the night sky • Greek myths in the English language (e.g., “thersitical” and “Achilles’ heel”)

Greek Myths in American Popular Culture

Greek Myths in Western Lit.

Greek Myths and Modern Psychology/Psychiatry • Freud and the Oedipus Complex • Jonathan Shay – Greek mythical heroes and PTSD (Achilles in Vietnam)

Myth and History or Myth vs. History? • No clear separation b/w myth and history in

the Greek mind • More than one version can exist of each myth • Propoganda: influence of historical events on transmission and evolution of myth

What is Mythology? What is a Myth? • Mythology = mythos + logos  the study

of myths • What does “myth” mean in modern English? • What did “mythos” mean in Ancient Greek?

Myth: Modern Definitions • Webster gives 4 meanings. 1a: A traditional story of ostensibly historican events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon 2b: An unfounded or false notion 3. A person or thing having only an imaginary or unverifiable existence.

Myth as Falsehood • “That’s a myth!” • The myth of Echinacea

Roland Barthes and Modern Myths • The Myth of the Steak and the Fries • The Myth of the Novel Writers

(“Romans et Enfants”) • Myth = symbol in modern society • A myth can be a person or an object

Mythos and Logos: Greek Definitions

• Mythos – word or speech, a story that is

transmitted by oral tradition • Logos – account/story • Plato: first to draw clear distinction between mythos (just a story) and logos (an account that accords with reason and truth)

Organization of the Course • Survey of cultural background • Myths of origins of the world,

gods, and institutions/civilization • Myths establishing relationships between men and gods • Myths of heroes • War and its aftermath in Greek mythology