LA 12 Creation Myths Presentation Take detailed notes – you will use this information for an essay.

The Main Essential Question in this class: What does it mean to be human?

What is “myth”? Talk to a few people next to you for a couple of minutes and come up with a definition. Write your definition on a piece of notebook paper.

While common English usage often equates "myth" with "falsehood," literary scholars use the term slightly differently. Add to your notes if you don’t already have this definition: A myth is… a traditional tale of deep cultural significance to a people in terms of etiology, eschatology, ritual practice, or models of appropriate and inappropriate behavior.

The myth often (but not always) deals with gods, supernatural beings, or ancestral heroes. The culture creating or retelling the myth may or may not believe that the myth refers to literal or factual events

Myth Appeal: Good stories (narratives need to be good so people will listen to them) Village or clan storytellers learned the myth entertained Educated Professional storyteller traveled round a wider community old stories in exchange for food and lodgings

A culture values the mythic narrative regardless of its historical authenticity for its (conscious or unconscious) insights into the human condition or the model it provides for cultural behavior.

Present in every culture, past or present, in the world Stories about things it believes in Contain a supernatural element Attempts to explain a fact of some kind Almost always part of a broader religion: the worship of some kind of spiritual power, involving ritual observances and ceremonies

Functions of Myth 1. To explain natural phenomena 2. To bind a clan, tribe or nation together 3. To record historical events Flood identified by archaeologists as devastating Mesopotamia in around 4000 BC Hebrew, Judeo-Christian, and Babylonian flood myths are almost identical 4. To give a kind of verbal geography lesson - Description of landmarks to look for on a journey usually exaggerated for effect

5. To set examples for people’s behavior Gods to emulate human heroes Real historical characters or made-up May or may not be deified at the end of the exploits 6. To justify a social structure - Mythological heaven reflects social structure of culture - King may claim society must be ordered this way to reflect gods’ order of things 7. To control and/or frighten people - Claim authority comes from god -- divine right of kings - Punishments in the afterlife

Action and reaction to conflict Steps taken to resolve conflict Myth Structure: Leads: Birth/beginning of life/beginning of something Supreme being image Change/conflict Offers an explanation Action and reaction to conflict Steps taken to resolve conflict Result, Resolution, Acceptance, or Resigned to fate Explains how something in nature looks or happens with humans, Gods, animals, or mythological creatures