《希腊罗马神话：Introduction课件.ppt》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《希腊罗马神话：Introduction课件.ppt（54页珍藏版）》请在三一办公上搜索。
1、Greek&Roman Mythology,Lecture 1,IntroductionCourse objectivesGrades&Reference bookDefinition of termsDevelopment of Greek and Roman MythologyTheories of interpreting myths,I.Course Objectives(课程目标),Learn the stories(myths)about Greek understand people in primitive society and western culture,I.Cours
2、e Objectives(课程目标)(Con.),Gain an understanding of how Greek&Roman myths have influenced later literature,art,language,film,etc.Develop the power to express ideas in written form.,II.Grades&Reference Book,Class Performance(30%),which includes:Attendance and class participation(15%),Quizzes(15%)Paper
3、Writing(20%)Final Examination(50%),II.Grades&Reference Book,古希腊罗马神话传说(The Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome),III.Mythology(definitions)定义,“Study of myth”What is myth?What do you think of when you hear the word“myth”?“Thats just a myth.”Myth(Mythos)in Greek means“story”,III.Mythology(defin
4、itions)定义,Different types of STORYSagaLegendFolktale 民间故事Folklore 民间传说Epic 史诗Fable 寓言，童话Fairytale 童话,What is a myth?,Myth Greek mythos“a traditional story with collective importance.”Myths are“traditional”tales.Lat.trado,“hand over.”Handed over orally and transmit a cultures sense of itself:past wis
5、dom,memories,and modelsHence a myth has“collective importance.”,What is a myth?,A myth has no identifiable author.A myth that is written down in a literary form uses a story that preceded it.e.g.Sophocless Oedipus plays.,What is a myth?,Oral transmission will create constant changes in the myth.Vari
6、ous ways of emphasizing motives and meaning:Variants in the narrative elements:Oedipus in Sophocles and HomerA“myth”is the complex of all variants.,Myth is a traditional story with collective importance.OralNo identifiable authorMany variants of the same myth possibleCulturally important to the peop
7、le who told them and listened to them,Types of Myth,Can be distinguished by the nature of the main characters and the meaning they had for the listeners.Divine MythSupernatural beings are the main actorsLegend(Saga)Main actors are human heroesFolktalesMain actors are ordinary people or animals,Divin
8、e Myths,True Myths or Myths Proper,Types of Myth:Divine Myth,Gods are beings that are vastly superior,more powerful,and more splendid than human beings.Control forces of nature and can cause cosmic disasters.Their divine myths take place in a time when the world was different from the way it is now.
9、Before time and space functioned as it does now.,Types of Myth:Divine Myth,Divine myth often provide the grand explanations for why the cosmos is the way it is.Its overall structureIts rhythmsHumankinds place in it and its duties and roles.,Types of Myth:Divine Myth,Divine myth and modern theoretica
10、l science both tell of the origins of the fundamental arrangement of the cosmos as we experience itDivine myth attributes the causes to the acts of GodsTheoretical science refers to impersonal and general laws,Types of Myth,Legend,Legend,As divine myth is analogous 相似的 to theoretical science,so lege
11、nd is analogous to history.“What happened in the human past?”Central characters are great human heroes.The gods play a role,but they are not at center stage.Apollo orders Orestes to kill his mother,but Orestes is the main character.,Legend,These are not the acts of ordinary human beings,but they are
12、 still human.Legends took place on earth in the remote past and were thought by the Greeks to be real human events.,Legend,The archaeological discovery reveals that these legends contain elements of historical accuracy.Eg.,Troy,Folktale,Primary purpose is to entertain.May also explain or justify tra
13、ditional forms of society and beliefs.Good eventually wins outFamily structures and orderMany popular films,TV programs,and novels are analogous to folktales.,Myth(definitions),Myth proper(正统神话)“Traditional(i.e.passed on by generations)story about the gods and humankinds relationship to the gods”Sag
14、a/Legend(传奇)“traditional story which has its origins in historical event”,concerned with heroesFolktale(民间故事)“traditional story told mainly for the sake of entertainment”,concerned with common people,Myth(other terms,cont),Text in this course mainly organized around 2 categories:1)myth(i.e.stories a
15、bout the gods)2)saga(i.e.stories with origins in historical events),Some Myths to Categorize,Jason and the Golden FleeceBirth of Athena,1.Literature（文学）(1)Works of two influential Greek writers 1)Iliad ilid 伊里亚特 Odyssey disi 奥德赛 by Homer 荷马(around 800 BCE)2)Theogony i:gni 神谱 Works and Days 工作与时日 by
16、Hesiod hi:sid(approx.active between 750-650 BC)（赫西奥德）,IV.Sources of Greek and Roman Mythology,(2)the dramatic works of Aeschylus eskls(埃斯库罗斯 approx.600-500 BC）,Sophocles skli:（索福克勒斯approx.5 cen.BC）,Euripides juripidi:（欧里庇得斯 approx.5 cen.BC）and Aristophanes risti:（阿里斯托芬approx.500-400 BC）(3)Work of im
17、portant Roman writer Ovid(奥维德)Metamorphoses 7metm:fuz 变形记(approx.8 AD)2.The work of historians,like Herodotus hirts(希罗多德,被称为西方历史之父,approx.5 cen.BC),V.Theories of Interpretation:Outline,IntroductionHistoricalEtiological（原因说）AllegoricalCharterRitualPsychological TheoriesStructuralistFeminist and Gende
18、r StudiesConclusion,Theories of Interpretation:Introduction,Many attempt to come up with ONE theory to explain the origin of ALL myths.Greek myths too varied for any one interpretation to work for all myths.Each theory does work for some myths.,Euhemerism ju:hemerzm(神话即历史论),which claims that the god
19、s were originally historical heroes who were later deified.People are still looking for historical truths hidden behind myths with the help of archeology.Eg.The historical site of Troy,in northwestern Asia Minor,1.Historical,2.Aetiological,Myths invented to give a cause or explanation for something
20、in real world.E.g.Why the seasons vary(Persephone and Demeter)Icarian aikrin Sea(伊卡洛斯海）or the island of Icaria(P371,P246),The Abduction of Persephone,2.Aetiological,Icarian aikrin Sea(伊卡洛斯海）got its name from Icarus aikrs&his father Daedalus di:dls(代达罗斯)who escaped from Crete(克里特)by making wings held
21、 together with waxIcarus flew too close to sun&wax meltedHe fell into sea which took its name from him,Icarian，过分冒险的;胆大妄为的,The Lament for Icarus,Daedalus and Icarus,Map of Greece,Myths are allegorical(寓言的)statements about natural phenomena like sun,moon,wind,rain,etc.E.g.Zeus sends rain&has lightnin
22、g bolt as his weaponE.g.myth of Helios hi:lis(赫利俄斯)(sun god)riding across the sky in a golden chariot from E.to W.&returning by river Oceanus,3.Allegorical,4.Charter,myth explains and justifies social,economic,political,as well as religious practices of a society E.g.myth about the origin of humanki
23、nds sacrifices to Greek godsCustom for humans to get meat from sacrifices while gods only get bones Goes back to long time ago when men its charter myth for sacrificial practices,5.Ritual,Myths come from religious ritualsMyths are stories invented to explain rituals and ceremoniesRitual of Dionysus
24、dainaiss:tearing apart living animal and eating its fleshEuripides,Bacchae bki:Pentheus torn apart by his mother&women of Thebesi:bz(底比斯)under inspiration of Dionysus,Psychological Theories,Freud frid(弗洛伊德)Jung ju(荣格),Psychological Theories:1.Freud,myth is the expression not of social forces but of
25、the inner mechanisms of the soul.psychosexual developmentthe theory of the unconsciousthe interpretation of dreamsthe Oedipus edips Complex(俄狄浦斯情结),Psychological Theories:1.Freud,(1)Myths could be explained psychologically as wish-fulfillment fantasies(愿望实现)E.g.myth(or saga)of Oedipus edips:Freuds O
26、edipus complex“every males 1st lust is directed towards his mother&his 1st jealousy&hatred is directed towards his father.”Electras complex by Jung,(2)Dreams and myths are similar in how they workFreud saw dreams as the expression of repressed or concealed desires.Myths may have been formulated in r
27、elation to problems in everyday life Symbols used in myths as device to relieve anxiety by hiding true significance,Psychological Theories:2.Jung,Like Freud,Jung saw relationship between dreams&mythDreams are revelations of“collective unconscious”Archetypes or images in dreams&mythsEarth-motherSupre
28、me sky godWise old manjealous wifeJung maintains that these archetypes recur again and again in myths&dreamsUsed by mind to release one from anxiety,Structuralist-Claude Levi-Strauss,Myth as mode of communication in which the structure or interrelationships between the parts,rather than the individu
29、al elements alone,establish meaning.Human behavior is patterned and the human mind has a binary structure,such as raw/cooked,life/death,hunter/hunted,nature/culture,male/female.The meaning of a myth is“coded”in its structure.One of the principal aims of myth is to negotiate between pairs of opposite
30、s and to resolve them.,Feminist and Gender Studies of Myth,Approach myth from perspective of women,especially by looking at myth from perspective of female characters in myth,centered on the treatment and position of women.Role of women in Greek society patriarchal society majority of literature wri
31、tten by men&has a strong male bias some early literature has misogynistic tone women were citizens but didnt have a role to play in civic life.They didnt have the right to vote.double standard in sexual behaviour,The role of women in religious rituals was fundamental;and they participated in many fe
32、stivals of their own,from which men were excluded.,Feminist Interpretations of Myth,Theme of rape theme of rape very common in Greek myth usually male god pursuing a mortal woman Zeus&Apollo are most frequent rapists e.g.Leda&Swan Apollo&Daphne dfni,Leda and the Swan,Leda and the Swan,Apollo and Dap
33、hne,in most cases women didnt want to have sexual relations with these gods but they have no choice probably a reflection of a society in which sexual violence against women was commonplaceGoddesses dont behave in such a promiscuous fashion(Aphrodite an exception)which reflects womens role in societ
34、y,Theme of HomosexualityE.g.Zeus and Ganymede,Zeus and Ganymede gnimi:d盖尼米得,Ganymede,A Trojan boy of great beauty whom Zeus carried away to be cupbearer to the gods on Olympus,Conclusion,No one theory or approach will work on all myths,but each theory may be of value in understanding particular myths or groups of myths.As course proceeds well apply some of the theories of interpretation to some myths,
