CLAA06H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Werewolf, Homeric Hymns, Eileithyia
Document Summary
What is a myth: defining myth is difficult, mythos = authoritative speech. < lat. trado, hand over. : handed over orally and transmit a culture"s sense of itself: past wisdom, memories, and models, hence a myth has collective importance. , oral transmission will create constant changes in the myth, various ways of emphasizing motives and meaning for the group. Legend (legenda = things to be read: as divine myth is analogous to theoretical science, so legend is analogous to history. The influence of near eastern myth: non indo european mesopotamian sources of greek myth, greek myths of cosmic origins come from near eastern sources, mesopotamian myths known only by report until recently. Greek myth in the archaic, classical, and hellenistic periods. The titans and their cousins: many beings from the earth, most important the. Birth of aphrodite, monsters and sea deities: aphro dite springs up from the foam at cythera.
