WHAT IS MYTH?

BY MARY MAGOULICK

WHAT OTHER SCHOLARS SAY ABOUT MYTHS (ESPECIALLY AS CONNECTED TO HEROISM)

PATTERNS IN HEROIC MYTHS (AND TALES)
MYTHOLOGY LINKS

"Myth" refers to colorful stories that tell about the origins of humans and the cosmos. Attitudes
towards myth vary greatly. Some regard it as a source of spiritual growth, while others see only
falsehood. Some see in myth the distinct character of particular cultures, while others see
universal patterns. Some regard myth as "contemporary" and "alive", while others think of it as
"ancient" and/or "dead."
Gregory Schrempp, Indiana University (see the Mythology Studies program at
Indiana University)

Defining Myth Characteristics of Myth Scholarship as Myth Native American Myths

Conceptual Frameworks Sacred Narrative? Structuralism Feminism and Myth

Background on Mythology Generic Fluidity Functionalism Myths and Literature (& Women)

DEFINING MYTH
From the Greek mythos, myth means story or word. Mythology is the study of myth. As stories (or narratives),
myths articulate how characters undergo or enact an ordered sequence of events. The term myth has come to
refer to a certain genre (or category) of stories that share characteristics that make this genre distinctly different
from other genres of oral narratives, such as legends and folktales. Many definitions of myth repeat similar
general aspects of the genre and may be summarized thus: Myths are symbolic tales of the distant past (often
primordial times) that concern cosmogony and cosmology (the origin and nature of the universe), may be
connected to belief systems or rituals, and may serve to direct social action and values.

The classic definition of myth from folklore studies finds clearest delineation in William Bascoms article
The Forms of Folklore: Prose Narratives where myths are defined as tales believed as true, usually sacred, set
in the distant past or other worlds or parts of the world, and with extra-human, inhuman, or heroic
characters. Such myths, often described as cosmogonic, or origin myths, function to provide order or
cosmology, based on cosmic from the Greek kosmos meaning order (Leeming 1990, 3, 13; Bascom, 1965).
Cosmologys concern with the order of the universe finds narrative, symbolic expression in myths, which thus
often help establish important values or aspects of a cultures worldview. For many people, myths remain value-
laden discourse that explain much about human nature.

There are a number of general conceptual frameworks involved in definitions of myth, including these:

1. Myths are Cosmogonic Narratives, connected with the Foundation or Origin of the Universe (and key
beings within that universe), though often specifically in terms of a particular culture or region. Given the
connection to origins, the setting is typically primordial (the beginning of time) and characters are proto-
human or deific. Myths also often have cosmogonic overtones even when not fully cosmogonic, for
instance dealing with origins of important elements of the culture (food, medicine, ceremonies, etc.).
2. Myths are Narratives of a Sacred Nature, often connected with some Ritual. Myths are often foundational
or key narratives associated with religions. These narratives are believed to be true from within the
associated faith system (though sometimes that truth is understood to be metaphorical rather than
literal). Within any given culture there may be sacred and secular myths coexisting.
3. Myths are Narratives Formative or Reflective of Social Order or Values within a Culture (e.g.
functionalism).
4. Myths are Narratives Representative of a Particular Epistemology or Way of Understanding Nature and
Organizing Thought. For example, structuralism recognizes paired bundles of opposites (or dualities --
like light and dark) as central to myths.
 5. Mythic Narratives often Involve Heroic Characters (possibly proto-humans, super humans, or gods) who
mediate inherent, troubling dualities, reconcile us to our realities, or establish the patterns for life as we
know it.
6. Myths are Narratives that are "Counter-Factual in featuring actors and actions that confound the
conventions of routine experience" (McDowell, 80).

SOME BACKGROUND ON MYTHOLOGY (the study of myth)

There have been many other functions and implications attributed to myth. They are often highly valued or
disputed stories that still intrigue us even though many of us do not recognize them as a living genre in our
culture. As McDowell's definition (#6 above) indicates, myths often involve extraordinary characters or
episodes that seem impossible in our world, but "the extraordinary feats and traits of mythic protagonists are
possible only because they attach to a primary and formative period in the growth and development of
civilization" (80); thus their various aspects or dimensions are best considered as "organically intertwined"
(McDowell, 80). In fact the contemporary connotation of myth as "a falsehood," often understood as being in
opposition to science, probably stems from recognition of this attribute of myth (#6) in isolation. Myths also
seem in opposition to science because they are not testable, which is the case (at least for origin myths) because
of their primordial setting -- if events described are from a different, earlier world, then of course they would not
be repeatable or logical in our world.

Both myths and science offer explanations of the cosmos. A key difference is that information about the universe
presented in myths is not testable, whereas science is designed to be tested repeatedly. Science also depends on
cumulative, frequently updated knowledge, whereas myth is based on passed down stories and beliefs. Myths
may change over time, particularly after contact with other cultures, but they do not change and adapt to new
periods and technological developments in the same way science does. Myths may be enacted through rituals
and believed in absolutely, but they usually do not have physical effects in the real world, as in leading to new
technology for building cars or providing medical treatment. People may believe they are cured through faith,
and they may find important value-laden sentiments in myths, but these "real world results" are neither
empirical nor usually repeatable (two standard criteria for science). Although science differs from myth in
offering actual, testable control over the environment and producing real, repeatable results in the world,
science is NOT completely divorced from myth. Many scientific theories are presented or understood in
narrative form, which often end up sounding remarkably mythic, as scholars like Stephen Jay Gould and
Gregory Schrempp have discussed (see scholarship as myth section below).

Myths were considered by Victorian scholars as survivals of previous times (perhaps decayed or reflective of
"primitive" ancestors who took them literally). Some saw them as evidence for social evolutionary theories of the
19th century. These Victorians scholars (like E. B. Tylor) believed that humans in all cultures progress through
stages of evolution from "savagery" to "barbarism" and finally to "civilization." This final, most advanced stage
was of course best represented by the men (Victorians) writing the theories. Such theories no longer seem
reasonable. We have not, for instance, progressed beyond brutality, murder, war, and grave injustices just
because we have more advanced technology (in fact we use our technology partly to more efficiently kills other
humans). We also recognize the complexity, thoughtfulness, and beauty of many other cultures we may once
have considered inferior to our own. Based on over a century of ethnology (anthropological fieldwork) and
research in psychology, genetics, and other disciplines, scholars now accept that humans from all eras and parts
of the world have equal intellectual capacity and potential. We understand as well today that our own theories
may seem as foolish to our descendants as their conceptions of the universe sometimes seem to us (see
scholarship as myth section below).

Our ancestors understood metaphor as well as we. This does not mean our ancestors lived exactly as we do, or
that we conceive of the world in identical ways. But myths serve us better as means of understanding our
ancestors if we accept their capacity for complex intellectual and artistic expression. Theories allow us to do
our work as scholars, though our best efforts come with self-awareness of the theories and methods we employ
as scholars. We now understand and discuss traditional myths and other such texts as emergent and intricately
connected to performance situations or context. The more we can understand of the context of a myth, the
culture it came from, the individual who told it, when and for what purpose, the audience who received it, etc.,
the better chance we have of offering an accurate interpretation. Of course, the further back in time one goes,
the harder it becomes to study context. Nonetheless, the greater the attempt to understand context one makes,
the better one's potential to interpret myths becomes.And even if we can't fully understand another culture's
myths, that does not mean those myths are insignificant, useless, or "primitive" (a very offensive term these days
in cultural studies).
Myths, as explanations of the cosmos and how to live, are parallel to science in many ways. Yet because of their
differences from science, they often appear insignificant, whimsical, useless, or primitive to contemporary
people. Many people lament the decline of myths, because they promise moral guidance and comfort that helps
enrich life. For these reasons, many people remain interested in myths and seek to revive or revere them.
Additionally, myths continue to intrigue us because of their rich symbolic, metaphorical, and narrative appeal.
Some people believe classical music, movies, and even novels have filled the places myths used to occupy
culturally. In our post-modern world many people believe myths exist in new, combined, or revived forms. One
of the functions of all art is to reconcile us to paradox. Another is to suggest fundamental patterns of life and the
universe. Even if they are no longer associated with religious rituals, belief systems, or primordial moments of
creation, "myths" of heroic characters who mediate the troubling paradoxes of life will always compel us and
can, I believe, still be found in our culture.

Characteristics of Myths Given the cautions (above) about how much the definition of myth has been debated and written
about, take the following characteristics of myth in the spirit in which they are intended: general guidelines gleaned from what many
people have noticed as often being true of myths. Remember these characteristics are neither absolute nor all-encompasing.

1. A story that is or was considered a true explanation of the natural world (and how it came to be).

2. Characters are often non-human e.g. gods, goddesses, supernatural beings, first people.

3. Setting is a previous proto-world (somewhat like this one but also different).

4.Plot may involve interplay between worlds (this world and previous or original world).

5.Depicts events that bend or break natural laws (reflective of connection to previous world).

6. Cosmogonic/metaphysical explanation of universe (formative of worldview).

7. Functional: Charter for social action conveys how to live: assumptions, values, coremeanings of individuals,
families, communities.

8.Evokes the presence of Mystery, the Unknown (has a sacred tinge).

9. Reflective and formative of basic structures (dualities: light/dark, good/bad, being/nothingness, raw/cooked, etc.)
that we must reconcile. Dualities often mediated by characters in myths.

10. Common theme: language helps order the world (cosmos); thus includes many lists, names, etc.

11. Metaphoric, narrative consideration/explanation of ontology (study of being). Myths seek to answer, Why
are we here? Who are we? What is our purpose? etc. lifes fundamental questions.

12. Sometimes: the narrative aspect of a significant ritual (core narrative of most important religious practices of
society; fundamentally connected to belief system; sometimes the source of rituals)

Do myths have to be SACRED?

Definitions of myth are gleaned from over a century of collection and classification of tales, beginning with the
Grimm brothers, who believed, Divinities form the core of all mythology (1882-83, xvi-xvii). Myths are
distinguished from other commonly collected narratives such as folktales and legends. Myths were defined as
stories of ancient times believed to be true.

Malinowski added that they must be sacred, and discussed how they serve society as a charter for action. Many
great social theorists from the 19th and early 20th centuries (Freud, Frazer, Muller, Jung, etc.) used myths
(usually collected by others) as evidence of their universal truths their a priori theories (see scholarship as
myth section below). Many fieldworkers like Lvi-Strauss, Franz Boas (and his students), and Dell Hymes
used deductive methods in analyzing myths.

More recent scholars, like William Hansen, argue that the sacred element of myths is a recent attachment to
definitions (perhaps beginning with the Grimms and then solidified by Malinowski). But in his studies of
ancient Greek myths, Hansen notes that NOT all myths had a sacred element. They were not necessarily
connected to religious beliefs, but were often secular stories.

While myths do not have to have a sacred element, they DO appear to share a world-forming, or worldview-
forming function.

Generic Fluidity

The fact that scholars discuss various possible definitions of myth demonstrates the vitality and importance of
this genre. Genres are categorizations imposed by scholars seeking ways of classifying and analyzing material
they study. As folklorist Richard Bauman explains of all genres of stories, they share certain characteristics of:
form, function or effect, content, orientation to the world and the cosmos, truth value, tone, social distribution,
manner or contexts of use, and so on (Bauman, 1991). Genres are extremely useful, but all good scholars realize
that they are fluid and often messy guides, rather than absolute, neat, and fixed realities.

Realizing the fluidity of narrative forms stretches throughout the history of folklore scholarship and into the
present day. Contemporary performance theorist Richard Bauman writes: When genres are conceptualized as
open-ended, flexible, and manipulable sets of discursive conventions and expectation . . . both traditional
blended forms . . . as well as emergent generic syntheses become more comprehensible (1991, 58). From the
perspective of performance theory, distinctions between generic forms and their meaning and function should
remain fluid, dynamic, to be discovered. Bauman echoes others like Franz Boas, one of folklores founding
fathers in the U.S., who also recognizes the variability of generic form and content of genre when he analyzes
myths of the Northwest Coast Indians: It would seem that mythological worlds have been built up only to be
shattered again, and that new worlds were built from the fragments (1898,18).

Scholarship as Myth

In his book on myth, Magical Arrows, Gregory Schrempp analyzes literature which is highly mythically tinged,
in his discussion of the Greek philosopher Zenos oblique use of a story of Achilles to illuminate his philosophy:
the invocation of myth (or at least of an epic that is highly mythically tinged) ought perhaps not be regarded
dismissively as a mere appeal to dramatic effect. While the invocation of Achilles, and by implication the world
of heroes, may not be strictly necessary for an exposition of Zenos technical arguments against the possibility of
motion, it may be necessary for some larger intellectual purpose (1992, 25). Schrempp shows that Zeno and
Lvi-Strauss both distinguish myth from scientific forms of discourse, yet both use myths in their own scientific
discourse. In a sense, they create their own myths, even while they think they are rising above it.

Schrempps work leads one to consider the prevalence of myths in our culture, historically and today. Myths
seem to offer us symbolic resources we need to communicate. As Schrempp notes: even the grandest paradigms
of Western social science are, at base, often folk notions recast within the rhetoric and style of science (1992:
38). Although the prevalence of mythological details in our discourse keys us to its importance, we typically
insist upon distinguishing ways of thinking about the world, and today we think of myth as lesser than science.
The general public persistently uses the word myth as something untrue and / or unworthy of serious
consideration. The Greek word mythos or story suggests potential untruth, but the perceived unworthiness of
stories stems from a scientific, rational perspective in juxtaposition to other ways of thinking and expression.
Yet the persistence of myths throughout our culture reveals their worth.

As Schrempps discussion of Lvi-Strauss and Zeno suggests, scholarly views of myths sometimes themselves
approach mythical status. Early scholars in myth theory created myths to paint pictures of early human life and
conceptions of the universe. Discussions of myth became mythsorigin stories that influence how we
understand people and the world, i.e. our worldview.

Functionalism

Branislaw Malinowski is considered a functionalist because he insisted that myths serve as charters for social
action. Many other myth scholars also discuss this aspect of myths. Anthropologist and folklorist Paul Radin
considers myth distinctive because of its function and implications as determined by certain individual society
members. The myth-makers then explain symbolically how to live, as Radin notes: A myth is always
explanatory. The explanatory theme often is so completely dominant that everything else becomes subordinated
to it . . . (370). Myths serve to explain and encourage worldview and good action within society. Many other
theorists of myth concur that it has a functional dimension.

Strucutralism

Structuralist Claude Lvi-Strauss expresses similar sentiments about myths functions when he postulates that
myths serve to mediate conflicting or dualistic elements of society and life. Lvi-Strauss recognizes a basic
antinomy pertaining to the nature of myth and to human nature (1974: 85). This antinomy provides a structure
of myths which help classify them and help one to scientifically decipher their meaning, according to Lvi-
Strauss. Antinomy or contradiction is often evident in the form of dualities such as good and bad, night and day,
etc., which Lvi-Strauss emphasizes appear in bundles in myths (1958: 87). Looked at as whole structures,
myths reveal a typical pattern: mythical thought always works from the awareness of oppositions towards
their progressive mediation (1958: 99). The symbolic mediation in myths offers inspiration for culture and
culture members to heal, flourish, or accept their reality.

Lvi-Strauss draws upon the image of one who weaves together bits and pieces of culture, in the image of the
bricoleur. He also draws upon sewing imagery in discussing the function and method of the bricoleur:

More rapid cross-references, together with an increase in the number of points of view and angles
of approach have made it possible to consolidate into a whole what might at first have seemed to be
a loose and precarious assemblage of odds and ends, all dissimilar in form, texture and color. Careful
stitching and darning, systematically applied to reinforce weak spots, has finally produced a
homogeneous fabric, clear in outline and harmonious in its blend of shades; fragments which at first
seemed disparate, once they found their appropriate place and the correct relationship to their
neighbors, come together to form a coherent picture. In this picture, the tiniest details, however
gratuitous, bizarre, and even absurd they may have seemed at the beginning, acquire both meaning
and function. (1971, 562)

As myth gives meaning and purpose to even the most seemingly disparate and fragmented elements of culture,
so it affirms life processes of change and refashioning.

Native American Myths

Two other scholars of Native American mythology, Paul Radin and Claude Lvi-Strauss, also recognize the
variability of definitions of myth, anticipate much subsequent scholarship on myth, and remain fundamentally
insightful in analyzing myth. Many key scholars in Native American mythology focus on twin myths as the
classic examples (most common in Lvi-Strauss terms, most basic in Radins terms) of myths in North
America. Twin myths are very common and popular throughout the American Indian world.

Paul Radin, who worked among Native Americans in the Midwest, recognizes myth as a fluid narrative form in
his article The Basic Myth of the North American Indians. He says, folktale, myth and legend flow into each
other continually and continuously (368). Radin emphasizes that the form and content of myths is not
fixed, which would be impossible because of a continuous barrage of new influences and priorities (370). The
flexibility of the genre in Radins definition better accounts for the real stories that he and other fieldworkers
typically encountered. He states: It can, in fact, be said that every generation strives to rewrite its folktales
(370). You can find traditional twin myths in virtually any collection of Native American myths.

Contemporary Native American writer Louise Erdrichs novel The Antelope Wife also fits the twin myth pattern,
demonstrating the continuing vitality of myth. Her contemporary myth offers symbolism direction for
contemporary Native Americans whose culture is currently experiencing a re-birth or renewal of culture.
Erdrich highlights this twin myth theme in her opening image of primordial female twins sewing the pattern of
the world in beads. Like bricoleurs, spinners, and spiders, they affirm that mixing cultures, like mixing patterns
in other creative endeavors, need not be a source of concern, but is instead is the source of life itself. Recognizing
and reading The Antelope Wife as a myth reveals many messages and meanings that might otherwise remain
obscure. The characters, symbols, and events of The Antelope Wife reflect lives, concerns, and dichotomies
experienced or perceived by many Native Americans today who struggle to integrate various cultural
components and heritages into a coherent and livable identity. Erdrichs fictional shift into the twin and animal
/ human idioms bring this "novel" into the level of mythic discourse, the only discourse that reaches the level of
re-organization of the cosmos and culture that she wants to convey. Myths works particularly well for critical
moments in cultural history because they deal with notions of cosmology and worldview, symbolizing the
fundamental re-shaping of human relationships.

Feminism and Myth

Many feminists latch hopefully onto motifs in ancient myths that seem to indicate a possible past in which
women had more agency, perhaps even a central role in society. These so-called "matriarchal myths" give women
hope that they need not be condemned to permanent status as second class citizens, for such was not always the
case. For instance some people interpret the overthrow of female deities in some myths as evidence of a time in
which people worshipped goddesses, or at least considered female deities the equals of male deities. Some
people also interpret prehistoric statuettes of apparently pregnant women as evidence that women must have
occupied a more important role in those societies -- otherwise why would artists devote so much time to
sculpting them (the thinking goes)? In her book The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory: Why an Invented Past Won't Give
Women a Future, Cynthia Eller reveals the wishful thinking inherent in such popular thinking about a matriarchal
past. She notes that even feminists today believe that our prehistory was an idyllic time where men and women
coexisted harmoniously while worshipping goddesses who revealed connections to nature and fundamental life
processes. This wished for, glorious past (revealed in remnants and tantalizing traces of recorded- historic-
myths and histories) was overthrown by the "patriarchy" when a male-centered society and male gods replaced
the matriarchy, according to this way of understanding prehistory.

In her careful examination of what little evidence we have of how our ancestors might have lived in prehistoric
times, Eller clarifies that in fact we cannot and do not know enough to make such conclusions. What myths like
those of Perspephone/Demeter and the Amazons (for instance) do reveal is a pattern of male dominance within
an established patriarchy. In those myths, the women end up "tamed" and domesticated. This is not proof that
there once was a preferred matriarchy, but rather that any attempts at independence could be dealt with by the
contemporary society.

Eller writes: "Prehistoric human societies may have been different from all those that came after them, but any
such assertion runs into three perhaps insurmountable obstacles: first, there is no evidence that they were;
second, there is no reason to expect that they would be (at least not when we are talking about the past thirty
to forty thousand years of Homo sapiens sapiens, as feminist matriarchalists typically are); and third, if they
were utterly different, and universally so, we need a compelling explanation of why things changed so
drastically" (181). This "myth"of a matriarchal past appeals to women today who are struggling to gain rights
and build a better society. Having a prehistoric model seems promising, as recapturing a past pattern seems
likelier to many women than creating a new one.

Instead of clinging to this imagined past as a model on which to build a future, Eller counsels realizing our
potential as humans to create new patterns for how to live and interact. "If there are no inherent barriers to
women's equality, then the future of women does not rest on biological destiny or historical precedent, but
rather on moral choice. What we must be and what we have been will of course have an effect on our gender
relations, but ultimately these cannot and should not dictate what we want to be. If we are certain that we want
to get rid of sexism, we do not need a mythical time of women's past greatness to get on with the effort toward
ending it" (188).

While we may not be able to definitely interpret or recreate our past, we can use our imagination to try to shape
the future, as many women writers are doing today, often consciously including mythic tendencies or motifs in
their works to make them function similarly to how myths have always functioned -- helping to shape (or re-
shape) our worldviews.

Myths and Literature (and Women)

More and more writers today craft myth-like narratives that feature female heroes and world affirming mythic
stories. For instance, Native American poet and novelist Louise Erdrich has twin heroes in her myth/novel The
Antelope Wife, Chinese American writer Maxine Hong Kingston revives the myth of Fa Mulan in The Woman
Warrior, and Toni Morrison has mythic tendencies in some of her work, like Paradise. Such works often involves
feminist dimensions. Echoing Lvi-Strauss image of the bricoleur, feminist myth scholar Marta Weigle agrees
that perhaps the most important function of myth is its world-creating, world-affirming aspects. She
distinguishes male-centered myths that often serve as charters for male dominance in society, from female-
centered myths that typically affirm and create the world itself (Weigle 1982). Weigle employs images of
spinning and weaving in her analysis of the world creating, life affirming functions of myth.

Marta Weigle explains that myths are needed in times of identity crisis: Significant psychic transformation
whether an important decision, critical insight, creative task, schizophrenic break, or change in consciousness
is heralded and expressed by cosmogonic myths and motifs in dreams and various verbal and visual creations
(1989, 10). Only apparent incompatibility needs myth to resolve or make sense of social dilemmas.

Weigle also notes the paucity of female creators, deities and heroines in many of our traditional stories: Quite
simply: such female creator deities are rare (1983, 45). She also laments the rarity of female heros, as evident in
the awkwardness of terms for them: Creatoress, creatrix and culture heroine are awkward and almost
meaningless designations, reflecting the relatively weaker roles women play in creation, transformation and
origin myths when they appear at all in such narratives about ordering the world (1983, 53). As Weigle notes:
Culture heroes, whether human or animal, female or male, bring or bring about valuable objects, teachings and
natural changes which make possible human society and survival (1983, 53).

It is thus very exciting to find so many strong women hero figures and re-visioned myths in the work of
contemporary women writers, particularly in women writers of color. Erdich's novel offers one such hopeful
example. Though the ancient, real and mythical worlds of the Ojibwe may have been shattered, or cracked
apart as Louise Erdrich puts it in The Antelope Wife, by European and American invasions and assimilation,
contemporary Ojibwe people build new worlds from those fragments, as Erdrich builds her myth / novel
representing this process. Her novel includes obvious fragments from the mythic traditions of her culture, while
offering images for how to successfully mediate such impulses, build or incorporate a comprehensive and
meaningful worldview, and thrive as Native Americans in todays world. Clear mythic tendencies within the
novel direct the reader to consider it in terms of scholarship on myth. Mythology theories are typically applied
to oral forms. Erdrichs novel encourages us to notice that such fluidity of form as has been noticed in oral genres
also applies to written genres. Her novel works as a myth: it offers images and symbols of the re-birth of culture
that maintain traditions while suggesting how to live and think about being Native today.

The Antelope Wife symbolizes the revitalization of Ojibwe culture. Erdrichs innovative myth is a resource for and
a representation of her community, which serves a contemporary audience well by offering characters and
symbols appropriate to the times, drawn from her own experiences, inspiration and creative resources, and
maintaining traditional images and messages. She thus realizes a folkloristic principle of dynamic convergence
between individual willed creativity and communal resources. Erdrichs work may be considered a traditional
story, or myth, given a dynamic and fluid, folkloristic view of tradition. (See my other work, including my PhD
dissertationComing to Life (2000)for further discussion of all of these issues.)

Lvi-Strauss, Radin, Boas, Weigle, and others stress that mythic thought, as highly symbolic, offers rich
resources for making sense of the world, affirming worldview, and confirming human nature.

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