Story Lab: Crash Course Mythology

For this week I opted to participate in the Story Lab activity. I chose the three videos from Crash Course Mythology to watch and report a reaction on. I'll get into more detail about each video below, but all-in-all each video was well made, interestingly presented, and left me wanting to watch the next one!

What is Myth?

• This is the first of three videos I watched for this activity. It gave a little background to the youtube series they were starting and set the tone for how the series would progress. The host discussed all of the different facets regarding what constitutes a myth and how they may be perceived by different theorists. Some theorists believe that the primitive people that inhabited the world used myths in place of science to explain certain natural phenomena like the changing of the seasons. This particular theory leads us to say that since we understand the science behind a lot of these things now, then we no longer need the myths. Now, for the purpose of this youtube series they will just be presenting different theories such as this one and not subscribing to any one in particular. The series is meant to be as educational and unbiased as possible so the viewer can receive as much knowledge as possible and then use that to shape their own opinions on the subject. Lastly, for this video the host starts off by saying something I hadn't really thought of before but could feel from the different myths I've read during this class or heard in my life. He says that mythology can be a complicated subject since they often encompass different themes of literature, history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, religion, and science and I just found that bit of information fascinating.

Theories of Myth

• This video breaks down the definition of mythology and aims to give the viewer some ideas about how to contemplate or understand different myths. In this video the host discusses some of the connotations that come with using the word "myth". For example, today we often use that term to describe a lie or something that is not true but the host wants us to try to put that definition aside when we encounter new myths. Additionally, the host discusses the entrance of anthropology and psychology to the world of mythology. One theory he presented was that all myths came from the same collective subconscious from which everyone in the world has access to. We all drink from the same font of subconscious to project our stories or myths, if you will. The reason this theory has some support is that mythologists have found that there are common archetypes in the myths from all different parts of the world. According to the psychologists in mythology this would lead us to believe that we think a little more similarly, or at least use the same subconscious thought pool, when creating our myths and stories.

The Hero's Journey and the Monomyth

• In this video the host delves into the world of heroes in mythology and defines to us the theory of the monomyth. The monomyth, also known as the hero's journey, is a timeline of events that Joseph Campbell identified as being the structure of almost every hero story. The idea is that all hero myths originate in the human psyche therefore, among all cultures, the hero myths follow identical patterns which is the inspiration behind the name "monomyth". This monomyth theory has three main parts with seventeen sub-parts. The most important aspects of a hero story are: separation, trials and victories of initiation, and the return. Basically to start off, the hero is separated from society or separates themselves to take on an adventure or hardship. Then, after the initial success of overcoming a large obstacle the hero faces one or several more trials that test their resolve. After they successfully complete the following challenges, it is time for the hero to return home whether that be Mount Olympus or their humble village.

Hercules holding up the sky. Found on publicdomainpictures.

Reading Notes: Jewish Fairy Tales (Part A)

This week I've begun to read some of the stories from the Jewish Fairy Tales section. This compilation of stories included a piece on Noah, which I read about last week, as well as some new tales I had not heard of. Since I read the story of Noah recently I didn't spend too much time breaking that story down and decided to look more into the other tales.

The Beggar King

• The arrogant king does not like what the word of God says and tears pages out of the Holy Book
• God aims to teach the king humility for shunning Him
• The king goes out to hunt a dear, which tricks him into following to a place where no one could see the king
• The deer turns to a man and switches places with the king, taking his cloak and copying his image
• Maybe consider utilizing that type of character in a story to teach a lesson or trick the main character into doing something good or evil
• Or that character could change reality or trap the main character in a loop til the lesson is learned

The Water Babe

• This is a rendition of the story of Moses from the Bible
• One of the advisers to pharaoh gives the princess a staff that she uses to make sure Moses passes the test and lives
• The adviser, Reuel, tells her that the staff was owned by Adam and he received it when he left the Garden of Eden
• since then the staff was handed down to Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and finally Joseph before he received it
• Some story material may involve doing a backstory on the current owner of the staff and talk about what the staff is made of
• the staff was planted in the ground and grew before Moses became old enough to read the inscription on it and obtain it for himself
• a side story could be written on the magical powers of the tree that the staff grew into while Moses was growing up

Bibliography

Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa