COMPARATIVE RELIGION
Myth & Symbolism
Myth
Myths are narratives held to be sacred and t__________
Because they are s__________, they are important to the study of comparative religion
Myths are found transcribed in the texts of many of today’s religions:
–T__________, Bible, K__________
Characteristics of Myth
Set o__________ of historical time
–Often account for how world came to be
Characters often divine or semi-divine
–Most are not h__________
–May be a____________________ or heroes with human characteristics
Place, time and way it is performed may be s____________________
What are some of the functions of Myth? - 3 Basic Approaches
Normative Approach
Myths serve as authorities and validate social n__________
Norms are "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate v__________, beliefs, attitudes and
behaviors”
–B____________________ M____________________ described myth as a “social charter”- a model
for behavior
–They strengthen t____________________
Psychological Approach
Myths may serve as symbolic expressions of t____________________ in the world:
Examples:
–Greek Mythology
–S__________ rivalry
COMPARATIVE RELIGION
–Male-female tensions
Structuralist Approach
Claude L__________-S__________
As cultural means of resolving b____________________ o____________________
–Good and evil
–L__________ and d__________
–Matrilineal- patrilineal
–Nature- culture
T__________ form the basis of many religious belief systems today
Approaching Myths
Considered to be t____________________ accounts of the past
–orally transmitted or textual accounts
Studied in the West since the Greeks
– Platonic confusion of myth as f____________________
–P__________, myth= falsehood or lie
Anthropological emphasis on c____________________-s____________________ meanings rather than on
universal meaning (Campbell)
Study of Symbolism
Important to the study of religion
Less than clear definition
–something that r____________________ something else?
Development of culture was dependent on humans ability to assign symbolic meaning to words- to create and
use l____________________
Study of Symbols in Religion
Clifford G__________
Religion as a "cluster of sacred symbols"
Each symbol has many meanings
COMPARATIVE RELIGION
Imagine yourself walking into a Christian church. What do you see? How many are symbols?
Anthropological study of myth
Anthropologists strive to study myth and symbolism as they relate to e__________ c__________
Look at all aspects of a culture and discover how different parts of a myth tie into it
–Relations between f__________ members
–Needs and wants
–Struggles and problems
Joseph Campbell’s Study of Myth
Looks for u____________________ t__________ in myth
A fundamental belief of Campbell's:
–all spirituality is a search for the same basic, unknown f__________ from which everything came,
within which everything currently exists, and into which everything will eventually return.
This elemental force is ultimately “un____________________” because it exists before words and
knowledge.
Metaphors
This force is expressed in the metaphors used in various s____________________, deities, and objects of
spirituality we see in the world.
For example:
–the G____________________ myth in the Bible ought not be taken as a literal description of actual
events, but rather its poetic, metaphorical meaning should be examined for clues concerning the
fundamental truths of the world and our existence.
Religions of the world are culturally influenced “m__________” of the same fundamental, transcendent
truths.
Truth is One
All religions depict a du____________________ conception of reality
–idea of “pairs of o____________________,” such as being and non-being, or right and wrong.
COMPARATIVE RELIGION
Indeed, he quotes in the preface of The Hero with a Thousand Faces: "Truth is one, the sages speak of it by
many names."
Universal Truths
Campbell was fascinated with basic, universal truths, expressed in different manifestations across different
cultures.
Goal to demonstrate s____________________ between Eastern and Western religions.
"The Masks of God", Campbell tried to summarize the main spiritual threads common throughout the world.
–Common g____________________ ancestry, starting in the "Fertile Crescent" of Mesopotamia and
back to Europe
The Monomyth
In 1949 The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) introduced his idea of the m____________________
The monomyth theory of plot claims that there is a common plot structure in all narratives in popular culture
that contains three elements:
–a hero of r__________ birth
–the hero escapes d__________ in childhood
–the hero goes on a j____________________ and marries a princess or is given great honor
The Hero
The role of the hero figured largely in Campbell's comparative studies as well.
Heroes were important to Campbell because, to him, they conveyed:
–universal truths about one's personal s__________-discovery and self-transcendence,
–one's r__________ in society,
–and the relationship between the two.
How many Monomyths can you list from different religions or elsewhere?
COMPARATIVE RELIGION
Campbell's influence upon cinema
I came to the conclusion…that what's valuable for me is to set standards, not to show people the world the way
it is...around the period of this realization...it came to me that there really was no modern use of mythology...
The W____________________ was possibly the last generically American fairy tale, telling us about our
values. And once [it] disappeared, nothing has ever taken its place.
In literature we were going off into science fiction...so that's when I started doing more strenuous research on
fairy tales, folklore, and mythology, and I started reading Joe's books. Before that I hadn't read any of Joe's
books...
This was written by…_______________________________
It was very eerie because in reading The Hero with a Thousand Faces, I began to realize that my first draft of
____________________was following classic motifs...so I modified my next draft according to what I'd been
learning about classical motifs and made it a little bit more consistent...I went on to read 'The Masks of God'
and many other books
“The Force?”
Remember back to Campbell’s idea about a universal force….
More Campbell Influence
Christopher Vogler, a Hollywood screenwriter, was also highly influenced by Campbell.
He created a 7-page company memo based on Campbell's work, A Practical Guide to The Hero With a
Thousand Faces, which led to the development of…________________________________________
The Structure
The original script of the text contains 26 scenes, which can be reduced into the following plot:
–The birth of the regal c__________ S__________,
–the ritual ceremony and its life in the kingdom
–The tragic death of the father l__________ M__________ and the exile of the c__________
–The life of the c__________ (and the young l__________ with the passing of time) in the wilderness
–The young l__________meets its destined wife-to-be N__________ and its introspection
–The young l__________ fights back and gets back its throne as the ____________________
COMPARATIVE RELIGION
The plot
The plot above, in analysis, closely resembles the monomyth
From this plot typology, we can develop the archetype of ______________________________as follows:
–the t__________ of the hero
–the awakening (baptism) of the hero
–the r__________ of the hero
–the victory (rebirth) of the hero.
Universalities
Using this idea of cultural universals, the ____________________presents the following:
–the causal relationship of heroic b__________ and heroic v____________________. And hence, let's
have faith in and rely on the hero;
–the antagonism of the l____________________ and the i____________________ where the legitimate
always wins or is awarded the honor. And hence, we should obey the legitimate
–and the hero, in order to achieve something (usually peace and happiness brought to the general
populace, in addition to personal glory), has to go through a t__________. And hence, it implies that
people have to be patient and endure the hardship together.