Universal+Stories+and+Myths

Topic: Universal stories and myths

•set the context •introduce the task •read about and analyze the topic •define important terms and concepts •share perspectives on mythology

Objectives It is expected that students will: •define the terms myth, universality, and morality. •explain the role of myths in the formation of a culture’s view of right and wrong. •explore whether the myths of a different culture have value for you as a Dwight Student. •be able to differentiate between a literal and anon-literal interpretation of the lessons taught in a myth or story.

Reading: What can Myths teach us about who we are?

Every culture in the world has different myths to explain important events, values, and morality. When people from a variety of backgrounds live in close contact with each other, we are all enriched by the fusion of cultures that mingle. Multiculturalism fosters the understanding of various cultures through the sharing of these great stories and ideas.

Every culture in the world has stories that are passed down from ancient times, retold by each generation to the next generation. Sometimes the stories are fiction while on other occasions they are based on real events. These stories usually describe important events, like the beginning of life on earth or explain the ways of life of the people. Really important cultural values are often described in events involving supernatural beings. Many myths feature great battles that have been fought by people and supernatural beings that lived along time ago. Most of these great stories have characters that are “larger than life”, meaning that they may live longer, or have greater powers than ordinary people. It is only in fairly recent times that we have been able to hear and see our stories on television or in other forms of media. One hundred years ago, most people had never heard a radio, and the television and computer still had not been invented. Historically ,myths were the stories that people held on to for hundreds and even thousands of years. They were the stories told to make sense of the world around us, and to reassure ourselves that we shared a common sense of right and wrong.

The word “myth” comes from the Greek word mythos, meaning a story being told by one person to another. Since people tell stories about the things that matter most to them, myths are often about the kinds of issues that people find interesting and informative. Every society on earth shares some of these common concerns. Stories about birth, death ,and what happens after death are part of the story fabric of every culture. Similarly, stories about good and evil help each generation understand morality, or sense of right and wrong, and the values that their culture believes are important. Sometimes myths were used to help explain frightening natural phenomenon long before science gave us other explanations. Ancient people often believed that lightning storms, for example, were really supernatural beings engaged in battle with one another! Even though we don’t believe some of these fantastic stories, the real value of myths is what it tells us about ourselves. In fact, myths can tell a great deal about what a cultural group values and believes. Fairy stories, by contrast, give us some indications of what is important in a society, but they almost always end with a cheerful, optimistic message. Myths, being more based in the society’s true concerns, deal with both positive and very negative endings. A fairy story will typically be about an oppressed or misunderstood individual who eventually is elevated in society and becomes special because of his or her actions. In a myth, the difficult subjects that are addressed, like murder, fratricide, patricide, incest and greed do not often end with happy messages. In fact, that is done purposefully to show us that bad behavior and decisions can end in creating disastrous situations that hurt many people.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The characters in myths usually portray the best and worst ways to deal with enormous and difficult events. Whether these great stories are spoken aloud, shown in dramatic performances, or written and rewritten through a culture’s history, one thing is clear; the characters in myths help us to understand what each culture values by the ways that they interact with one another. Important moral concepts like being truthful, helping people who are less fortunate, and listening to those who are older and wiser are taught to younger generations through telling stories about people who had to face great adversity or who had to do difficult things. Since these moral concepts are found in virtually all mythologies, we refer to them as“universal”. Where distance and time separate cultural groups there is still an amazing similarity in the stories that each culture tells. Even though the myth may not be factually or historically true, and it may relate only to a small local population’s history, the values and relationships in the myth help us to understand how to live with one another. In other words, the fiction of the myth teaches us truth about ourselves.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In every myth, there are key characters who symbolically represent the stereotypes that we think of everyday. For example, the terms good mother and father, evil stepmother, wicked stepsister, and great leader probably bring a list of characteristics to your mind. Because of the myths we have learned as children, we sometimes use these stereotypical characters to help us explain situations that are occurring in our lives. A famous Swiss psychologist named Carl Jung (pronounced Young) called these recurring stereotypes archetypes. His ideas about myths present a European or Western perspective on the character of good and evil in stories and myths. They are a very basic part of the drama and storytelling of every culture because we can easily relate to the situations in which they find themselves. Since a myth is most frequently about achieving a quest, or overcoming some great obstacle, the dominant archetype is often a hero. The term hero actually means “to protect and serve”, so it is no surprise that the hero’s tasks are usually to sacrifice his or her own needs to protect others. Because of the difficult quest that the hero undertakes, he or she must grow mentally and spiritually, as well as physically.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Other common archetypes include the mentor, often a wise old man or woman whose task is to guide the hero safely through challenges. The mentor often gives the hero advice and trains them in preparation for the journey or quest. The shadow is the threatening villain of the myth which is obvious to all except him or herself and their guards. Remember that the villain of every piece sees that battle through his or her own eyes and that we are all the heroes of our own stories! The villain usually acts for the most selfish of reasons, but may play two distinctive roles in a myth: the shadow maybe the obvious villain who has to be subdued by the hero for the quest to succeed, but the shadow may also be a part of the personality of the hero! Both the shadow and the hero may have elements of good and evil in them. Particularly in Asian myths, the line between who represents good and who represents evil may not exist. It is a common belief that all of us embody both good and bad. In other words, a villain may have many good characteristics, and a hero may have a dark side. The hero’s battle is often on two fronts: the obvious battle with an evil being, and the battle of trying to overcome the dark forces that are within him or her.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Similar to the shadow figures are the threshold guardians. Their task is to slow and test the resolve of the hero step by step,until the hero is ready to do battle with the shadow. Though they generally lose, they create a mounting tension in the story, allowing the final battle with the true villain to be an inspiring and complex win.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Another archetype included in most myths is the herald, the character who must deliver the challenge to the hero. The challenge can be delivered in the form of an event or message. It is the hero’s response to the initial challenge that the audience know about the internal doubts and weaknesses of the hero. These doubts and weaknesses must also be overcome in the quest.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The trickster can be a difficult archetype to understand. His or her primary role is to see the humor in everything. The trickster often uses humor to make the hero more likable to the audience and helps the hero when the hope of winning the quest becomes very faint. Tricksters are not always good characters though, because sometimes they work directly for the villain.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The last key archetype we will discuss here is the shapeshifter who may appear at times to be a friend to the hero, and at other times an enemy. The shapeshifter brings suspense and doubt to the story,which heightens the tension and makes the story more involving. An example from the movie theater of the shapeshifter character is the femme fatale, the beautiful but changeable love interest. The hero may believe she loves him, but the audience is always in doubt. The character’s changeability, behavior, changing appearance, or lies leave us hoping that the hero will look beyond what is obvious about the person to discover what is devious about him or her.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the next few classes, we will look at how these archetypes are portrayed in a very special type of dramatic production, shadow puppetry. We will also examine one of the great myths of Asia to see if it’s true that stories can help us know ourselves better,and can also help us transcend our own cultures.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Student activities:

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">a. In your own words, define each of the following terms: myth, universal, morality, archetype, hero, mentor, shadow, threshold guardians, herald, trickster,and shapeshifter. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">b. Write a synopsis of a well- known story then apply these terms to the characters and situation in your summary. You might use current stories like Harry Potter, Shrek, Lord of the Rings,or much older tales like King Arthur and Merlin, Snow White or Robin Hood. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">c. Does the story you have chosen have many or all of the archetypes in it? Explain how the characteristics of each of your main characters fit(or don’t fit!)in to the definitions you have written for the archetypes.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Does the story you have summarized have a message or point that is supposed to teach you about relationships, life, death, or the other great questions of humanity? If so,write a paragraph stating what you learned by reading or watching this story. What did the story teach you about the culture’s morality? <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In small groups,share what you have learned from the story you summarized. Discuss whether the archetypes existed in your story, and whether they exist in each of the stories your group members are presenting.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(the moral of the story...) ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Name of story -> || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Harry Potter || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Shrek || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Robin Hood || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Snow White ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lessons or Truths learned from the story
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Great challenges for the hero in the story ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">•personal(internal challenges) ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">•the quest(external challenges) ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Archetypes ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">•hero ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">•mentor ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">•shadow ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">•threshold guardians ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">•herald ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">•trickster ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">•shapeshifter ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">•others? ||  ||   ||   ||   ||