The Mystery of Myths

“There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating

themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before.” Willa Cather

Do you agree with the following statements?

Storytelling is essential for the survival of humanity and provides hope for humanity.

Without stories, mankind would slowly go mad and become suicidal.

The word myth

Comes from the Greek word mythos, which means story

What kind of story is a myth?

These are stories that are passed down from generation to generation.

Myths are universal -- all cultures across the world have myths.

What are myths about?

Myths attempt to explain various things about life.

They always have an inherently religious purpose.

Many myths attempt to explain the origin of religious beliefs or rituals.

Origin Myths

Some of the most common and universal myths are myths of origin.

They attempt to explain how people came to be.

Origin myths, cont’d.

They answer perhaps the most important question of human existence: How did we get here?

This is one answer. We’ll

find other answers soon.

. .

The two functions of myth

Myths serve both to reflect and create the values or morals of the culture they come from.

As myths originate, they indicate what that culture believes about the world. (reflect)

As the story is told to future generations, it teaches those values to younger members of the culture. (create)

A redefinition of myth

A French theorist by the name of Roland Barthes offers an alternate definition of myth.

He says that everything is myth.

The Big Mac

Theorists inspired by Barthes have argued that the McDonald’s Big Mac is the greatest American myth.

How is a burger a myth?

Let’s think about it this way: what makes up a Big Mac? How can you describe it? (Do you remember the Big Mac song?)

Then, think about this: what do these descriptions symbolize? What American values do they reveal?

Native American Voices

The Earth on Turtle’s Back (16-20)When Grizzlies Walked Upright (21-25)

Exit Card

These selections reflect the Native American culture/values of peace

and nature.

Explain using three pieces of evidence from the two texts.

What are archetypes?

•They are the basic building blocks of stories that all writers use to create a world to which readers can escape.

•Without communicating about archetypes, all cultures around the world use them to build their stories. This is called the Collective Unconscious (term coined by Carl Jung).

Recognizing Archetypes

Recognizing Archetypes

“Essentially, mythologies are enormous poems that are

renditions of insights, giving some sense of the marvel, the miracle

and wonder of life.”Joseph Campbell