Myths are orally transmitted stories that are believed by their originating cultures and attempt to explain phenomena that cannot be easily explained. Myths exist in multiple versions and vary in details between tellings. Scholars from various fields like folklore, anthropology, psychology, and mythology have studied myths to understand the values, beliefs, and fears of cultures as reflected in their myths. Common elements in myths across cultures include explanations of creation, the structure of the universe, life and death, supernatural beings, disasters, heroes and tricksters, the relationship between humans and animals/plants, and concepts of the body, soul, marriage, and social norms.

1. ELIT 22
Class 2

2. Common elements of
myths
 Told by word of mouth (oral
tradition)
 Exist in multiple versions
 Vary by details
 Are/were believed by the
originating cultures
 Are explanations of things that
cannot be easily explained
otherwise
 Express the values/belief/fears of
the originating culture

3. Studiers of Myths
Folklorists
Folkloristsstudy the motifs in myths and the way the motifs are
woven together as building blocks for all myths.
Vladimir Propp: whom we shall be studying later found 31
elements common to all folklore.
Alan Dundes: contemporary Berkeley professor. Compiled a
study of the Cinderella stories across culture, which we will see
a part of
Max Muller: all myths produced by Indo-Europeans could be
understood as originating from symbolic stories, such as
Persephone, representing seasons.

4. Anthropologists
Anthropologists study patterns of social relationships within
and across cultures.
Claude Levi-Strauss: Believes that myths explain
dualism, conflict between opposing forces..
J.G. Frazer: published a 12 volume mythological study, The
Golden Bough, which brought together all the mythical
kingships of the world to explain that natural order is for the
old king to make way for the new -- or the social order
within tribes is reflected in its origin myths.

5. Psychoanalysts
Psychoanalysts believe myths reflect our unconscious minds, that
myths resonate with permanent features of the human mind and
psyche, what myths attempt to explain about human reasoning/
behavior.
Sigmund Freud: posited the Oedipus hero, who unknowingly kills
his father and marries his mother, reflects the inner desire of the
son to kill the father so that he can have the mother all to himself.
Carl Jung: believed the principal characters in myths embody
archetypes, such as the wise old man, or the nurturing mother
Bruno Bettelheim: believed that myths serve as models for human
behavior and give meaning and value to life.

6. Mythologists
Mythologists: Strictly speaking, mythologists will probably fall into one of the
categories above, but they will tend to mesh views of myths and broaden their
definitions. Traditional mythologists believed that myths came from people who
observed and interpreted the behavior of human beings:
Joseph Campbell is the most well- known. He reads myths symbolically, sees
them as attempts to show latent sides of personalities. But he believes that
myths work only when they are conscious. Campbell says that religious myths
are superseded by secular ones, the myths that take us into outer space. Otto
Rank and J.F Bierlin are two others we will study.
Most mythologists believe that myths are a collection of symbols. Symbolism is an
important part of the way all scholars view myths.
Signs arefinite, practical, unambiguous representations, such as the sign for stop
Symbolshave more complex, ambiguous meanings.
Graphic lines of shapes, words, or ritual actions can be symbols.

7. Myth Themes (What myths attempt to explain
universally)
•Creation of the world and the people in it
• Structure of the universe
Elements/ Heavenly Bodies
• Causes of life and death
• Supernatural beings
Destroyers, preservers, divine specialties
• Cosmic disasters
flood, drought, famine
• Heroes and Tricksters
agents of change
• Animals and Plants
Creation and Kinship
• Body and Soul
Spirit and the Afterlife
• Marriage and Kinship
• Social Mores and Taboos