1. Mythology

2. I. Introduction A. What is Mythology? Myths are the stories that
show us and link us to the
universal forces in the
universe.
B. How does mythology work?
1. symbolism
2. the sub-conscious

3. I. Introduction 3. gods and goddesses—the per- sonification of forces
in the human psyche
and in the universe

4. Zeus Hera Hades
Poseidon Demeter Hestia Phoebus Apollo Artemis (Diana) Athena Aphrodite Ares Hermes Hephaestus
Dionysus

5. I. Introduction
C. Joseph Campbell’s Ten Commandments for Reading Myth (see handout)

6. Introduction D. Definitions of Myth—see handouts
MOYERS: I came to understand from reading your books--The Masks of God or The Hero with a Thousand Faces, for example--that what human beings have in common is revealed in myths. Myths are stories of our search through the ages for truth, for meaning, for significance. We all need to tell our story and to understand our story. We all need to understand death and to cope with death, and we all need help in our passages from birth to life and, then to death. We need for life to signify, to touch the eternal, to understand the mysterious, to find out who we are.
CAMPBELL: People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances with our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.

7. I. Introduction The Mythic Journey—the journey of our lives—the Four
Great Rituals
1. birth
2. sexual maturity
3. marriage (and
perhaps new births)
4. death

8. I. Introduction The Monomyth 1. Beginning 2. Call to Adventure
3. Crossing the Threshold

9. I. Introduction
4. Journey in the other World
5. Peak Experience

10. I. Introduction 6. Return to the Old World / Life
(with a Boon, gift [wisdom, elixer, etc.])

11. II. Major Myths A. Minos – Daedalus – Theseus
1. basic plot (see handout for key pts.)

12. II. Major Myths
2. What the Minos-Daedalus-Theseus Myth might mean

13. II. Major Myths B. Background Mythology to the Iliad (handout)
1. The Golden Apple
2. The Hidden Prince
3. The Most Beautiful Woman in the World

14. II. Major Myths
C. The House of Atreus (bkgd to Iliad 2)

15. II. Major Myths
The Story of the Iliad
1. Achilles’ Rage
2. Agammemnon

16. II. Major Myths 3. Patrocles and Hector 4. Achilles and Hector
5. Achilles and Priam

17. II. Major Myths
C. Eros and Psyche (see handout)

18. III. Conclusion
Why Myths are important
Asking the Universal Questions