The Meaning of Myth and Moral Allegory PDF

The Meaning of Myth and Moral Allegory Homer’s Muthos -​ Refers to an emphatic utterance or command -​ Most of the time it refers to a lengthy public speech which is conducted with emotional force -​ Often the speaker recounts events that happened in the past to underline...

The Meaning of Myth and Moral Allegory Homer’s Muthos -​ Refers to an emphatic utterance or command -​ Most of the time it refers to a lengthy public speech which is conducted with emotional force -​ Often the speaker recounts events that happened in the past to underline the importance of the command or exhortation -​ If they gave a command, they also had to give a story to justify the command. E.g., Agaememnon would do this -​ From the beginning, muthos can refer to a kind of story or at least a narration Pindar’s Muthos -​ Pindar was a poet from 522-423 BC who composed and performed poems for patrons, often victors of Pan-Hellenic games, such as the Olympic Games. -​ Believed that traditional tales as told by Homer and other poets were immoral and unedifying -​ In Olympian I - it is the first surviving mention of muthos as a story that can be false -​ Pindar doesn’t like to depict the gods as having negative human qualities (e.g., gluttony) and thought that telling the myth in the traditional way was a lie -​ Myths can be changed depending on the author -​ Pindar “fixed” the myth to suit his and society’s needs in his time Ganymede? Xenophones of Colophon -​ Active from 570-467 BC -​ Pre-Socratic philosopher -​ Early critic of the ways the poets depicted the gods -​ Homer and Hesiod have attributed to the gods all sorts of things that are only seen in men. They talked about the gods committing illicit divine deeds: theft, adultery, mutual deceit -​ Critical of humankind’s tendency to conceive gods in their own image -​ If horses had gods, they would look like horses Allegory -​ Saying something in a way that is different from what appears to be said. E.g., Being the apple of someone’s eye -​ The use of a symbol or metaphor is similar in concept -​ Physical Allegory -​ Historical Allegory -​ Moral Allegory -​ At the same time some philosophers, like Xenophanes, were criticizing the way poets were depicting gods and heroes in stories, other philosophers were seeing myths or aspects of them as allegories of some deeper truth Moral Allegory -​ Myths are interpreted as disseminating values concerning proper and improper behaviour  -​ More developed than physical or historical allegory -​ Many myths survive because of moral allegory Ovid -​ Active from 43BC - AD17 -​ Probably the most influential of Roman poets -​ Received his training in Italy and Greece -​ Part of the Golden Age of Latin Literature -​ Friends with other famous poets of his time -​ Exiled to Tomis in AD 8 (modern day Romania) on the Black Sea for a poem (ars amatoria) and the error of possibly sleeping with someone from the royal family -​ Metamorphoses is his most famous work (AD 1-8) -​ Series of poems which are united by the common theme of change -​ The cosmos is in eternal influx and no identity is certain -​ Also wrote -​ Ars Amatoria (Art of Love) -​ Tristia (Sorrows) Plato’s Influence on Muthos -​ He contrasted the concepts of muthos with logos -​ Logos can mean “reason” -​ According to Plato, logos is a reasoned explanation. The teller of the explanation is accountable for the story that is told  -​ As opposed to muthos, the speaker is not responsible for what is said, since they did not invent it but just passed it along -​ Logos has greater credibility than muthos -​ Created the myth of Atlantis! Plato’s Muthoi -​ Plato rejects the tales of poets as lies in his ideal Republic, but uses myths in order to convey deeper, universal, and constant truths (even if not explicitly expressed) -​ Muthos can be a vehicle of truth, just like logos -​ Because a muthos can entertain and impress with an image (mental or real) it can be a more effective method for conveying a message -​ Plato doesn’t like how Homer depicts the gods as having human qualities (such as cheating on partners) but likes the emotions it evokes from people Aristotle’s Muthos -​ Logos takes on a more consistent meaning - “a reasoned account”, whereas muthos is “a false account” -​ With Plato is was not as defined whereas Aristotle makes the difference a lot clearer -​ In addition, he mentions muthos as a narrative structure (plot), which has a beginning, middle, and end -​ Plot is an imitation of action -​ Like Plato, Aristotle believes that tragedy can contain truths -​ History gives facts, while tragedy can give philosophical truths - universalisms  -​ Stories can also take you through the emotional process that leads to catharsis, or an emotional cleansing -​ E.g., Bambi or The Lion King Summarized Timeline -​ In the 6th c. BC, philosophers (Xenophanes) start to question the depictions of the gods in myth as conceptions of the gods change, and the morals that are being given in these myths -​ At the same time, some philosophers found use in traditional tales as they attempted to find deeper meaning in them (Allegory) -​ Through Pindar myth came to mean an untrue story -​ Pindar believed that former poets created stories which promote immoral behaviour and promote the gods in a bad way -​ Yet for Plato and Aristotle, at the same time, myth can have some important truth to convey and take you through an emotional process that leads to catharsis, an emotional cleansing -​ In fact, Plato invented some of his own myths to convey ideas that he believed to be true (Atlantis!) -​ According to Aristotle, a muthos is a narrative with a definite plot structure