creation

the hero

Monsters
Herakles
Theseus
Perseus
The Trojan War and Achilles
After Troy
The Foundations of Rome
Krishna
The Arthurian Legend
Sigurd and Beowulf


goddesses

gods

tricksters

afterlife

love

introduction

Myths are narratives about divine or heroic beings, arranged in a coherent system, passed down traditionally, and linked to the spiritual or religious life of a community, endorsed by rulers or priests. Once this link to the spiritual leadership of society is broken, they lose their mythological qualities and become folktales or fairy tales. Not every religious narrative is a myth however; unless it is deeply rooted in tradition, it may also be trivial pious anecdote or legend.

Myths are often intended to explain the universal and local beginnings ("creation myths" and "founding myths"), natural phenomena, inexplicable cultural conventions, and anything else for which no simple explanation presents itself.

In folkloristics, which is concerned with the study of both secular and sacred narratives, a myth also derives some of its power from being believed and deeply held as true. In the study of folklore, all sacred traditions have myths, and there is nothing pejorative or dismissive intended in the use of the term, as there often is in common usage.

Through reading and discussion of the myths and symbols of ancient, pre-industrial, and contemporary societies, students focus on diverse systems for organizing human experience.  The course works within an interdisciplinary framework drawing from anthropology, psychology, literature, and religion as questions of origins and the hero unfold.  Students learn to recognize the mythological patterns at work in modern society and artwork.