This document provides an overview of a college lecture on mythology. It discusses definitions of myth from different perspectives, then focuses on Joseph Campbell's theory of the four main functions of mythology: the mystical function, cosmological function, sociological function, and pedagogical function. Examples are given for each function, including ghost stories, origin myths, social norms myths, and parables. The lecture aims to explain what myths are and how they have been used throughout history and across cultures.

1. Conceiving The Cosmos
Defining Myth & Its Four Functions
Mythology In Art & Literature
Professor Will Adams
Valencia College

2. What Is A Myth?

3. What Is A Myth?
 Take two minutes,
write it down, discuss
it with your neighbor,
stick it in a jar and sail
it down Mill Slough!
 This doesn’t have to
be a “dictionary
definition” – tell me
what it means to you.
 Be prepared to share
what you wrote!

4. What’d You Come Up With?

5. My Off-The-Cuff Definition
 A usually-old folktale
or story, maybe with a
grain of historical
truth to it, but
essentially fantastical
& fictional.
 Whaddaya think?
 Any good?

6. The Academic Definition Of Myth
 A traditional or legendary story, usually
concerning some being or hero or event,
with or without a determinable basis of fact
or a natural explanation, especially one that
is concerned with deities or demigods and
explains some practice, rite, or
phenomenon of nature.

7. The History Of The Word Myth
 Myth is a direct
transcription of the
Greek word mythos.
 Its most basic meaning
in ancient Greece was
story, tale, or narrative.
 However, there is no
one, clear-cut definition
of mythos in any ancient
Greek lexicon.

8. The Earliest Definition Of Mythos
 From approximately the 700’s BCE to the 400’s
BCE, the word mythos primarily meant narrative
or story in the widest sense.
 The 5th century BCE (the 400’s) saw the
development of new disciplines that directly
influenced “mythology” as Greeks knew it:
 Philosophy
 History
 These new disciplines challenged the truth value
of poetry (Poetry was the medium of Greek myths
– think Homer, Hesiod, etc.)

9. Truth Or Fiction?
 Alêtheia is the word for
“truth” in Greek
 A + lêthê = “not” +
“forget”
 Ergo: Truth = “not
forgetting”
 How do people not
forget (i.e. remember)
something?
 They talk about it; they
tell stories.
 In short, they spread
myths.

10. Joseph Campbell

11. Joseph Campbell
 Campbell lived from 1904-1987.
 He was a professor, author,
philosopher, & mythologist.
 He spent his entire life
searching for, exploring,
analyzing and celebrating the
transformative power of world
myths.
 He studied world myths and all
of their archetypes and how
they piece together the quilt of
humankind.
 Importantly, he identified the
four basic functions that myths
serve for humankind.

12. Campbell’s Four Functions Of Myth

13. The Four Functions of Mythology
 There are four basic functions of mythology,
according to Joseph Campbell.
1. The Mystical Function: These are stories that
express the awe & wonder of the universe
2. The Cosmological Function: These are stories that
attempt to explain the processes of nature
3. The Sociological Function: These are stories that
support and validate a certain social order
4. The Pedagogical Function: These are stories that
explain how to live a full, happy life as a human

14. The Mystical Function

15. The Mystical Function
 The fact of the matter is
that the universe in
which we live is a
strange, wonderful,
awe-inspiring, and
sometimes terrifying
place.
 In fact, it is so awe-
inspiringly huge that
many people cannot
conceive of its
complexity.

16. The Mystical Function
 Myths that fulfill the
mystical function are myths
that remind us of how
strange and wonderful (and
scary and miraculous) the
universe really is.
 Ghost stories are one
example of this function
because they engage with
the miraculous &
inexplicable.
 Another example are the
Ripley’s Believe It or Not
stories.

17. The Mystical Function: Ghost Stories
 Anyone who has ever
been camping or
attended a sleepover or
slumber party has
probably heard a ghost
story, but not all of
them engage the
mystical function.
 One famous ghost story
is the story of The
Vanishing Hitchhiker.

18. The Story Of The Vanishing Hitchhiker
 A dozen miles outside of
Baltimore, the main road
from New York (Route
Number One) is crossed by
another important highway.
 It is a dangerous
intersection, and there is
talk of building and
underpass for the east-west
road.
 To date, however, the plans
exist only on paper.

19. The Story Of The Vanishing Hitchhiker
 One Dr. Eckersall was
driving home from a
country-club dance late
one Saturday night.
 He slowed up for the
intersection, and was
surprised to see a lovely
young girl, dressed in
the sheerest of evening
gowns, beckoning him
for a lift from the side of
the road.

20. The Story Of The Vanishing Hitchhiker
 He jammed on his
brakes, and motioned
her to climb into the
back seat of his car.
 "All cluttered up with
golf clubs and bags up
here in front," he
explained.
 "But what on earth is a
youngster like you doing
out here all alone at this
time of night?"

21. The Story Of The Vanishing Hitchhiker
 "It's too long a story to tell
you now," said the girl.
 Her voice was sweet and
somewhat shrill – like the
tinkling of sleigh bells.
 "Please, please take me
home. I'll explain
everything there. The
address is 35 North
Charles Street. I do hope
it's not too far out of your
way."

22. The Story Of The Vanishing Hitchhiker
 The doctor grunted, and
pulled away into traffic.
 He drove rapidly to the
address she had given
him, and as he pulled up
before the shuttered
house, he said, "Here we
are."
 Then he turned
around…
 The back seat was
empty!

23. The Story Of The Vanishing Hitchhiker
• "What the devil?" the
doctor muttered to
himself.
• The girl couldn't possibly
have fallen from the car,
nor could she simply have
vanished.
• He rang insistently on the
house bell, confused as he
had ever been in his life.
• At long last the door
opened and a gray-
haired, very tired-looking
man peered out at him.

24. The Story Of The Vanishing Hitchhiker
 "I can't tell you what an amazing
thing has happened," began the
doctor; "A young girl gave me this
address a while back. I drove her
here and . . ."
 "Yes, yes, I know," said the man
wearily.
 "This has happened several other
Saturday evenings in the past
month. That young girl, sir, was
my daughter.”
 She was killed in an automobile
accident at that intersection
where you saw her almost two
years ago . . ."

25. What’s The Lesson Of The Story?

26. Celebrity Ghost Story: Jaime King

27. The Mystical Function: Urban Legends
 In addition to fulfilling the
mystical function of
mythology, this story is
also an example of an
urban legend.
 According to Jan Harold
Brunvand, an urban
legend is a story that
circulates from person to
person, that is retained in
a group tradition, and that
can be found in different
versions through time and
space.

28. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not

29. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not
 These strange-but-true
stories are another
example of Campbell’s
mystical function.

30. The Cosmological Function

31. The Cosmological Function
 Stories that are told to
explain something in
nature fulfill the
Cosmological Function,
according to Joseph
Campbell.
 In addition to many
native American myths,
examples can be found
in the Torah, or Old
Testament of the Bible.

32. The Tower of Babel
 The story of the Tower
of Babel from the
book of Genesis
explains why there are
so many different
languages that
different cultures
speak across the
globe.

33. The Tower of Babel
 In the Old Testament, Genesis, Chapter 11 describes:
 “Now the whole world had one language and a
common speech. As people moved eastward, they
found a plain in Shinar and settled there.”
 “They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and
bake them thoroughly.’ They used brick instead of
stone, and tar for mortar.
 “Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city,
with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we
may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be
scattered over the face of the whole earth.’”

34. The Tower of Babel
 “But the LORD came down to see the city and the
tower the people were building. The LORD said, ‘If as
one people speaking the same language they have
begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will
be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and
confuse their language so they will not understand
each other.’”
 “So the LORD scattered them from there over all the
earth, and they stopped building the city. That is
why it was called Babel – because there
the LORD confused the language of the whole
world. From there, the LORD scattered them over
the face of the whole earth.”

35. What’s The Lesson Of The Story?

36. How The Kangaroo Got Her Pouch

37. What’s The Lesson Of The Story?

38. The Sociological Function

39. The Sociological Function
 Stories told to back
up, justify, or promote
a certain social order
fulfill the sociological
function.
 These stories help
bind people to a
certain social group, or
help explain to them
their place within
society.

40. Dishing The Family Dirt
 For example, when
you tell a newcomer
stories about your
family to make them
feel welcome or feel
like a part of the
family, you are using
this function of
storytelling.

41. What’s The Lesson Of The Story?

42. The Myth Of Pandora
 Another example
would be the Greek
myth of Pandora.
 Since the Greeks were
a patriarchal society,
they naturally created
a myth to justify this
social order wherein
men were dominate.

43. The Myth Of Pandora
 Pandora, whose name means "All Gifts", was fashioned
when Zeus had her created by the Hephaestus to punish
the human race , to which Prometheus had just given fire.
 Pandora was designed in the image of the goddesses, and
became the first woman in a world of men.
 All the gods came forward to endow her with gifts;
Aphrodite gave her beauty, Hermes gave her cunning, and
other gods and goddesses gave her special qualities such
as grace, dexterity, cogency, and so on, while Hephaestus
gave her lying and deceit.
 Finally she was presented to the man Epimetheus as a gift.

44. The Myth Of Pandora
 Although he had been warned
by Prometheus never to accept
a gift from Zeus, he forgot this
promise to his brother and
married her.
 She brought with her a covered
earthen vessel, which she was
forbidden to open.
 But its unknown contents
plagued Pandora (she had been
given curiosity along with
everything else).
 One day she could stand the
temptation no longer and lifted
the lid to peek inside.

45. The Myth Of Pandora
 Out swarmed all the calamities
of mankind, from tidal waves to
premature balding.
 It was too late to stop them as
they spread out through the
window and across the world.
 Pandora dropped the lid back in
time to prevent the escape of
the final occupant of the vessel.
 This was Elpis (hope), and no
matter how bad things became
for people there was always
hope remaining.

46. What’s The Lesson Of The Story?

47. The Pedagogical Function

48. The Pedagogical Function
 The most important of
the four functions,
according to Joseph
Campbell, is the
pedagogical function.
 These are stories that
tell us how to live,
how to be happy, how
to be good, and how
to love.

49. The Parables Of Christ
 Many examples of this
can be found in the
New Testament.
 Throughout his
ministry, Christ often
taught by telling a
story – the story of the
Good Samaritan or the
story of the Prodigal
Son are great
examples of this.

50. The Story Of The Prodigal Son
 The Book Of Luke 15:10-32 quotes Christ,
saying:
 “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner that
repenteth. And he said, ‘A certain man had two
sons: And the younger of them said to his father,
‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to
me’. And he divided unto them his living. And not
many days after the younger son gathered all
together, and took his journey into a far country,
and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty
famine in that land; and he began to be in want.”

51. The Story Of The Prodigal Son
 The Book Of Luke continues:
 “And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that
country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that
the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when
he came to himself, he said, ‘How many hired servants of
my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish
with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say
unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and
before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son:
make me as one of thy hired servants’. And he arose, and
came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off,
his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell
on his neck, and kissed him.

52. The Story Of The Prodigal Son
 The story continues:
 “And the son said unto him, ‘Father, I have sinned
against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more
worthy to be called thy son’. But the father said to his
servants, ‘Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him;
and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And
bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat,
and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive
again; he was lost, and is found’. And they began to be
merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he
came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and
dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked
what these things meant.”

53. The Story Of The Prodigal Son
 Christ continues in Luke:
 “And he said unto him, ‘Thy brother is come; and thy
father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath
received him safe and sound’. And he was angry, and
would not go in: therefore came his father out, and
intreated him. And he answering said to his father, ‘Lo,
these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at
any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest
me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But as
soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy
living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted
calf’. And he said unto him, ‘Son, thou art ever with me,
and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should
make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead,
and is alive again; and was lost, and is found’.”

54. What’s The Lesson Of The Story?

55. The Parable Of The Good Samaritan

56. The Four Functions In Effect

57. The Four Functions In Effect
 The vast majority of myths
created by humankind
throughout the vast expanse
of time have included at
least one of these functions –
if not several or even all of
them!
 As we move through this
semester, think about every
myth you’re presented
critically and work to identify
which of the four functions
of myth each one engages.

58. To Be Continued…