Introduction to Mythology
Edition: 3
Copyright: 2016
Pages: 350
Edition: 3
Copyright: 2016
Pages: 350
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This Introduction to Mythology is intended as a teaching and student resource consisting mainly of extracts translated directly from primary source-texts by the author.
The first eight chapters provide a pedagogical introduction, explaining core concepts in the academic study of myth, together with short sketches of key names in the subject’s evolution and the key contributions of these individuals, including ways in which their ideas can still be applied constructively.
Chapters 9-13 present short examples plus questions which can be used for class discussion, ranging from basic comprehension and subjective interpretation, to the importance of understanding the times, geographical & social circumstances of each source’s personal background and reasons for specific choices in the presentation of each narrative. Two of these chapters contain material already familiar from such sources as Grimm & Perrault, while two others were gathered from Northern Michigan in the early nineteenth century by Henry Schoolcraft.
Chapters 14-29 consist mainly of fuller extracts, ranging from Homer and Hesiod to sources from the mediaeval period in Northern Europe, such as Snorri Sturluson and Saxo Grammaticus. These readings are interspersed with additional explanatory sections and study questions. The translations from ancient sources, together with footnotes to amplify meanings in context, are the work of the author.
Part 1 Vital Information
Chapter 1 What Is Myth?
Chapter 2 Ancient Critics of Myth
Chapter 3 The Development of Modern Mythology
Chapter 4 Examples of Motifs
Chapter 5 Myth and Structure
Chapter 6 Introduction to the Hero
Chapter 7 Tricksters, Psychopomps, and Shamans
Chapter 8 Myth and Language
Part 2 Short Examples
Chapter 9 Little Red Riding Hood
Chapter 10 Aschenputtel
Chapter 11 The Sun-Catcher or Boy Who Set a Snare for the Sun
Chapter 12 Swing on the pictured Rocks of Lake Superior
Chapter 13 Hyginus: Fabula
Part 3 Topics with extended selections from Primary Sources
Chapter 14 Katabasis, with Homeric Hymn II, to Demeter
Chapter 15 Homeric Hymn IV, To Hermes (extract) Chapter 16 Greek Creation Myth (from Apollodorus, Library)
Chapter 17 Early Greek Creation Myths
Chapter 18 Hesiod’s Theogony
Chapter 19 Hesiod’s Works and Days
Chapter 20 Cadmus: Foundation of Thebes; Aristaeus; Actaeon (from Nonnos)
Chapter 21 The Development of Greek Drama
Chapter 22 Euripides’ Bacchae
Chapter 23 Greek Hero-Saga
Chapter 24 Pindar: Pythian Ode IV
Chapter 25 Extracts from Herodotus
Chapter 26 Chronological Guide to Greek Cultural Background
Chapter 27 Germanic Myths: Historical Background from Tacitus
Chapter 28 Norse Myths and their Sources
Chapter 29 The Story of Thorkill (from Saxo Grammaticus)
Appendix Last poem of the Troy Cycle
Appendix A Ancient Sequels to Homer’s Odyssey
Appendix B The Telegonia, by Eugammon of Cyrene