Definitions of the concepts “myth” and “mythological thinking”. Ending. Literature theory test

IN Greek There are three words to denote the concept of “word” - “epic”, “logos” and “mythos\myth”. Epic is a spoken word, a speech, a narrative. Logos is a word in scientific, business speech, and rhetoric. Mutos is a generalization word. That is, a myth is a generalization in words of the sensory perception of life.

There is no single definition of myth, since it is a very capacious formation. Losev and Taho-Godi give a philosophical definition. But there are also incorrect definitions. Myth is not a genre, but a form of thought. Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling was the first to draw attention to this side of the myth. He says that mythology is a prerequisite for both Greek and world art.

Everyone has their own language and their own mythology, which means that mythology is connected with the word - this is the idea that Potebnya develops. Mythology cannot be invented on purpose; it is created by people at a certain stage of their development. That’s why mythological stories are similar, because they are associated with certain stages of worldview. Mythology cannot be abolished by decree. It was Schelling who spoke about a new mythology - it is constantly changing. Modern times mythologize on the basis of history, politics, and social events.

In a tribal society, mythology is a universal, unified and only undivided form of social consciousness, which reflects the reality of sensory, concrete and personified images.

For a very long time mythology remained the only form public consciousness. Then religion, art, politics, science appear. The essence of Greek mythology is understandable only when taking into account the characteristics of the primitive communal system of the Greeks. The Greeks perceived the world as one large tribal community, first matriarchal, then patriarchal. Therefore, they do not have any moral doubts when they hear the myth of Hephaestus - when a weak child is thrown off a cliff.

Allegory differs from myth in that in allegory the signified is not equal to the signifier, but in myth it is equal.

Myth is not a religion because it appeared before the separation of faith and knowledge. Every religion establishes a cult (distance between God and man). This is not a fairy tale, because a fairy tale is always a conscious fiction; it is made up, but not believed. The myth is much older. The fairy tale often uses a mythological worldview. In a fairy tale there is a lot of magic, a conventional setting, but in a myth everything is concrete. This is not philosophy, since philosophy always strives to explain, to deduce a certain pattern, but in myth everything is perceived as an immediate given - to capture, and not to explain.

Periodization:

A) early classics

B) late heroism

3. Specific features of archaic mythology.

Periodization:

1. Preclassical (archaic). (3rd millennium BC).

2. Classical (Olympic).

A) early classics

B) late heroism

(end of 3rd millennium – 2nd millennium).

3. post-classical (self-denial) (end of the 2nd millennium - beginning of the 1st millennium - 8th century BC).

Pre-classical era.(Archaic era).

From the word “arches” - beginning. Pre-Olympic, pre-Thessalian era (Thessaly is a region in Ancient Greece, where Olympus is located). The chthonic era, from the word “chthonos” - earth, since the earth - Gaia - was deified first of all. Since mother earth was at the head of everything, this is a matriarchal mythology. Phytamorphic (plant) and zoomorphic (animal) creatures were worshiped, rather than anthropomorphic (human-like). Zeus is the oak, Apollo is the laurel, Dionysus is the vine, ivy. In Rome - fig tree, fig tree. Or Zeus is a bull, Athena (“owl-eyed”) is an owl and a snake, Hera (“hair-eyed”) is a cow, Apollo is a swan, a wolf, a mouse. Monsters are teratomorphic creatures (chimera) and mixanthropic creatures (sirens, sphinx, echidna, centaur).

There are two eras: fetishistic and animistic.

A fetish is an object, a creature endowed with magical powers, a miracle of eternal existence. Everything can be fetishes - stones, trees, etc. Hera is an unprocessed log. Fetishes are the bow of Hercules and Odysseus - they are subject only to them. The spear of Achilles is subject only to him and Peleus.

Hamadryads are the souls of trees. An idea of ​​the soul and spirit was formed. In the archaic period, the gods had not yet become completely anthropomorphic.

The aesthetic ideal of that era: the elements, overflowing, and not simplicity and harmony.

Cosmogonic myths are myths about the origin of the world and the first gods. The first type of such myths: everything came from Chaos - a huge gaping yawning mouth. Second myth: Pelasgians, first the ocean, then the goddess Eurynome dances on the surface of the ocean, and all living things are born.

According to one of the cosmogonic myths, Gaia the earth emerged from Chaos, Tartarus the progenitor of all monsters, Uranus the sky and Eros. From Gaia and Uranus appeared the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires (unbridled power) - the first generation of gods. Second generation: titans and titanides (the older titan is Ocean, the younger is Kron, Chronos (all-consuming time)). Cronus cunningly overthrew Uranus into Tartarus - he put him to sleep with a potion. Uranus cursed Cronus; the same fate should have awaited him. Cronus, to avoid this, swallowed five babies of his wife Rhea. Rhea felt sorry for the children, she went for advice to Gaia and Uranus. Rhea gave Kron a stone in her swaddling clothes instead of a child. Zeus was sent to the island of Crete, where he was guarded by curetes, nymphs and the goat Amalthea. When he grew up, he put Cronus to sleep and made him spit out first a cobblestone, then Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hestia and Hera.

Titanomachy - the battle of gods and titans for power over the world. In classical mythology there is a second generation of Olympians.

This is a myth ancient legend, which is an unconsciously artistic narrative about important, often mysterious natural, physiological and social phenomena, the origin of the world, the mystery of the birth of man and the origin of humanity, the exploits of gods, kings and heroes, about their battles and tragedies. Myth was the product of a certain phase in the development of human consciousness, which attempted to artistically, in the form of personification, reflect reality and explain it through concrete sensory images and associations, perceptions of a peculiarly logical nature.

Feature of the myth

The fundamental feature of myth is its syncretism - the unity, inseparability of various elements - artistic and analytical, narrative and ritual. Mythological authorship is characterized by unconsciousness of the creative process, therefore myths appear as creations of the collective and unconscious folk art. Awareness of individual authorship, the creative process, the development of a critical attitude to the content of the narrative are signs of a new stage in the development of consciousness, which is characterized by the degeneration of myths and the collapse of their syncretism. The narrative-artistic aspect proved to be the most stable, retaining its direct influence to the present day and serving as the basis for the development first of allegory, and then of other forms of conscious creativity. Having lost its sacredness, having lost its “explanatory” functions, the myth did not lose its artistic power and was preserved as a simple, but unusually lively, fresh, childish narrative.

There are several dozen different definitions myth Therefore, the literary use of the term “myth” is diverse and contradictory. A number of literary scholars define myth as one of the literary genres or modes (R. Chace, N. Fry). Other experts reject the definition of myth as a genre of literature, understanding it as an integral system of primitive “spiritual culture” or “science”, in terms of which the whole world is perceived (S. Averintsev), and also as a primitive “ideology” (A. Losev), immature ancient philosophy(B. Fontenelle). K. Jung sees in myth a repository of human experience, valuable for all times, while Z. Freud understands myth as one of the forms of surrogate fulfillment of desires. Supporters of the anthropological school (E. Taylor, J. Fraser and their followers) are also inclined to evaluate myths from the perspective of their psychopragmatic function, while representatives of the “mythological school” are also inclined. (J. Grimm, M. Muller) focused on the creative artistic side of myths. The specificity of a myth is often associated solely with the nature of its public function- one and the same narrative can function either as entertaining (fairy tale), or as serious, sacred, i.e. myth. The ambiguity of the term “myth” is enhanced by the introduction into literary use of the concept of “modern myth,” which blurs the idea of ​​boundaries ancient mythology. The Renaissance (L. Batkin) and the period of romanticism (W. Troy) are considered myth-making times; the works of modernists (R. Barth, Fry, D. Zatonsky) are considered “modern myths”. The first attempts to create a “new mythology” were made by F. Schelling and the Jena romantics. Supposedly growing from the “depths of the spirit,” this mythology with Schelling’s natural philosophy, based on the idea of ​​the identity of the material and spiritual at its core, was supposed to become the unifying center of spiritual, cultural, scientific, and artistic manifestations of man. Although artificial syncretism and synthesis of various elements into a new mythology did not take place, the search for and attempts to create it continue vigorously.

“Modern myth-making” is usually associated with scientific theories, philosophical and ideological doctrines and artistic creativity- i.e. tending to the main areas that received independent development after the collapse of mythological syncretism. In sharply negative value the term “myth” is used to designate certain ideological, political, and philosophical teachings. R. Barth calls myth all manifestations of bourgeois ideology, and A. Gulyga as “ modern myth"calls the fascist doctrine. Thomas Mann, on the contrary, following the German tradition with its high positive assessment of myth, considered the latter not only outstanding philosophical systems (F. Nietzsche), but also the work of the most profound writers (J.V. Goethe), although he noted the possibility of dehumanization of myth.

In the literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, not only ancient myths are widely used (T. Mann, A. Camus, J.P. Sartre), but also attempts are made to create works that are structurally and in content consciously oriented towards them (G. Melville, T. S. Eliot, J. Joyce). Such works are often defined by literary scholars and critics as myth.. However, even Melville’s “Moby Dick” (1851), not to mention the openly “constructed” highly intellectual ones - Joyce’s “Ulysses” (1922) or Eliot’s “The Waste Land” (1922), is not a myth either in the nature of perception by readers or in its functions. They are nothing more than myth-centric or mytho-poetic works. The transhistorical understanding of myth leads to the denial of its historical boundaries and to terminological confusion. The problem of the connection between myth and modern literature can be most consistently solved if we take into account that, developing from myth as its natural source and maintaining a specific connection with it, literature at the same time overcame myth, directly renouncing it (Voltaire) or using it ironically (A.P. Chekhov).

The word myth comes from Greek mythos, which means legend.

Myth is a legend that periodically appeared in preliterate society. They tell about the life of the first ancestors, the exploits of heroes, the deeds of gods and spirits. The very concept of myth has Greek roots and comes from the word “mytos”, which means “legend”.

First mentions of myths

The set of myths in ceremonial rituals acquired a verbal form, acting as one of the specific ways of systematizing information about the surrounding reality. On the other hand, stories about nature and man in it performed a number of important functions: religious, ideological, philosophical, historical, scientific.

The features of myths include an arbitrary approach to plotting, personification and zoomorphism.

The appearance of ideas about supersensible principles coincides with the appearance of the first burials. Thanks to ancient burials, many elementary forms of fine art have been found.

History of the origin of myths

In the Upper Paleolithic, a stable formation of a syncretic complex took place: myth - image - ritual. Maintaining this structure throughout speaks to its versatility. For many centuries it reflects both the rational principle and the irrational cultural core.

Paleolithic images were myths, and their creation was rituals. “Signified” and “signifier” in myths primitive people existed in absolute unity.

Myth concept

Many sciences have various interpretations the concept of "myth". The meaning of the word is formulated from different positions, which leads to the presence of many vague and contradictory definitions. Among them are the interpretations given in encyclopedic dictionaries, calling fantastic stories of folk origin myths.

There are also expanded modernized versions that say that myth is a syncretic understanding of the surrounding world, expressed by sensory-specific personifications and animate beings that are identified with reality. Philosophical views The interpretation of this concept is based on the understanding of myth as a figurative diagram of the world that explains and prescribes a specific algorithm of actions.

What does the word myth mean? This question can be answered by synthesizing the meaning-forming components from different approaches. This is exactly how we can formulate a complete and precise definition of this concept: myths are texts and images that demonstrate a syncretic reflection of the surrounding reality in different eras development of humanity. Moreover, each culture has its own uniqueness, emphasizing numerous aspects of the development of a particular society.

Typology of myths

IN school curriculum includes myths that can easily be called ancient, biblical or other ancient tales. They tell about events related to the creation of the world and the commission of ancient acts (mainly by Greek and heroes).

Researchers of historical mythology note that in a great variety of works of different nationalities, many basic themes and motifs are repeated. That is, the origin of myths does not completely determine their content. For example, some of the most ancient and primitive tales are tales about animals. The earliest of them only naively describe the characteristics of fauna representatives. And in ancient Australian myths, for example, the theory of the origin of animals from humans is widespread. But other peoples of the world, albeit not so clearly, spread in their legends the mythological idea that man was once an animal. Examples of myths of this kind: ancient Greek tales about the girl-nymph Daphne, about the hyacinth, about the narcissus and others.

The origin of the heavenly bodies was also often sanctified in myths. In the so-called solar, lunar and astral legends, the Sun, Moon and stars were often depicted by people who once lived on Earth and on various reasons subsequently ascended to heaven. Such a myth is an alternative to the formation of the Universe invented by the people. Another common plot is a description of the process of creating the Sun by some supernatural being. In this case celestial body was not spiritualized.

The central place in the totality of myths of many countries was occupied by works describing the creation of the world and the Universe, as well as man. Otherwise they are called cosmogonic and anthropogonic, respectively. Culturally backward peoples wrote little about these topics. In particular, the Australians only casually mentioned that the Earth's surface used to look different, but questions about its appearance were never raised.

Polynesians, North American Indians, peoples of the Ancient East and the Mediterranean viewed cosmogonic processes from two points of view. One of them was based on the idea of ​​the creation of the world (creation), the other - on the idea of ​​its development (evolutionary). According to creation theory, the world was created by a creator, god, sorcerer, or other supernatural being. In myths built on evolutionary theory, the world systematically develops from some kind of primitive existence. It could be chaos, darkness, darkness, etc.

There are also many mythological stories about sea ​​creatures(monsters) that were seen by sailors, travelers and fishermen.

Modern myths and science

The essence of this problem is that talking about a myth as a scientific fact difficult. It is safe to say that it is a component of mythology. Moreover, it belongs to the secondary level of consciousness, which covers ideologically, culturally and scientifically processed information. In this context, a myth is a legend artificially created by man, which is based on assumptions and legends that gradually change under the influence of ideological and scientific factors.

Two directions of development of mythology

The appearance of myths is associated with the emergence, formation and development of a nation. This is how people form their individual origin stories. Later in myth-making there appear works intended for the masses (which are created by the elite), and tales created by the people themselves. Thus, we can talk about two directions in the development of mythology: closed and open.

-a, m. 1.

An ancient folk tale about legendary heroes, gods, and natural phenomena. M. about Prometheus. 2. transfer Unreliable story, fiction. M. about aliens. 3. Same as fiction (1 value). Eternal love- myth. || adj. mythical, -aya, -oe.

- (from the Greek mythos - legend - legend), a story about gods, spirits, deified heroes and ancestors, which arose in primitive society. Myths intertwine early elements of religion, philosophy, science and art. The myths of different peoples have similar and recurring themes and motifs. The most typical myths are about the origin of the world, the Universe (cosmogonic myths) and man (anthropogonic myths); about the origin of the sun (solar myths), moon (lunar myths), stars (astral myths); myths about animals; calendar myths, etc. A special place is occupied by myths about the origin and introduction of cultural goods (making fire, the invention of crafts, agriculture), as well as about the establishment of certain social institutions, marriage rules, customs and rituals. Myths are characterized by a naive humanization of all nature (universal personification). In primitive society, myths are the main way of understanding the world, based on a kind of logic (non-division, identity of subject and object, object and sign, creature and its name); A feature of mythological consciousness is the establishment of imaginary connections between various phenomena. Elements of mythological thinking are preserved in modern mass consciousness (for example, racial and class myths, the cult of leaders, rituals of mass gatherings, etc.). Myths in a figurative sense are false, uncritical states of consciousness, concepts, and ideas divorced from reality.

-m. Greek an incident or person is fabulous, unprecedented, fabulous; allegory in faces that has become popular belief. Jokers turned Napoleon into a myth. Some take the devil for a person, others for a myth, as the personification of evil. Mythical, related to myth. Mythology w. fabulism; fables of faith, according to legend, theology. -logical, -logical, fabulous, godlike. -log, fabulous.