Comparative mythology is the comparison of myths from different cultures in an attempt to identify shared themes and characteristics.[1] Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes. For example, scholars have used the relationships between different myths to trace the development of religions and cultures, to propose common origins for myths from different cultures, and to support various psychoanalytical theories.
The comparative study of mythologies reveals the trans-national motifs that unify spiritual understanding globally. The significance of this study generates a "broad, sympathetic understanding of these 'stories' in human history".[2] The similarities of myths remind humanity of the universality in the human experience.[2]
Background
AnthropologistC. Scott Littleton defined comparative mythology as "the systematic comparison of myths and mythic themes drawn from a wide variety of cultures".[1] By comparing different cultures' mythologies, scholars try to identify underlying similarities and/or to reconstruct a "protomythology" from which those mythologies developed.[1] To an extent, all theories about mythology follow a comparative approach—as scholar of religion Robert Segal notes, "by definition, all theorists seek similarities among myths".[3] However, scholars of mythology can be roughly divided into particularists, who emphasize the differences between myths, and comparativists, who emphasize the similarities. Particularists tend to "maintain that the similarities deciphered by comparativists are vague and superficial", while comparativists tend to "contend that the differences etched by particularists are trivial and incidental".[4]
Comparative approaches to mythology held great popularity among eighteenth- and nineteenth-century scholars. Many of these scholars believed that all myths showed signs of having evolved from a thought which interpreted nearly all myths as poetic descriptions of the sun's behavior. According to this theory, these poetic descriptions had become distorted over time into seemingly diverse stories about gods and heroes.[5] However, modern-day scholars lean more toward particularism, feeling suspicious of broad statements about myths.[6] A recent exception is the historical approach followed in E.J. Michael Witzel's reconstruction of many subsequent layers of older myths.[7][non-primary source needed]
Some scholars look at the linguistic relationships between the myths of different cultures. For example, the similarities between the names of gods in different cultures. One particularly successful example of this approach is the study of Indo-European mythology. Scholars have found striking similarities between the mythological and religious terms used in different cultures of Europe and India. For example, the Greek sky-god Zeus Pater, the Roman sky-god Jupiter, and the Indian (Vedic) sky-god Dyauṣ Pitṛ have linguistically identical names.
This suggests that the Greeks, Romans, and Indians originated from a common ancestral culture, and that the names Zeus, Jupiter, Dyaus and the Germanic Tiu (cf. English Tues-day) evolved from an older name, *Dyēus ph2ter, which referred to the sky-god or, to give an English cognate, the divine father in a Proto-Indo-European religion.[8] An approach which is both historical and comparative was recently proposed by E.J. Michael Witzel.[7] He compares collections of mythologies and reconstructs increasingly older levels, parallel to but not necessarily dependent on language families. The most prominent common feature is a storyline that extends from the creation of the world and of humans to their end. This feature is found in the northern mythologies of Eurasia and the Americas ("Laurasia") while it is missing in the southern mythologies of Subsaharan Africa, New Guinea and Australia ("Gondwanaland").
Mythological phylogenies also are a potentially powerful way to test hypotheses about cross-cultural relationships among folktales.[9]
Some scholars look for underlying structures shared by different myths. The folklorist Vladimir Propp proposed that many Russianfairy tales have a common plot structure, in which certain events happen in a predictable order.[10] In contrast, the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss examined the structure of a myth in terms of the abstract relationships between its elements, rather than their order in the plot. In particular, Lévi-Strauss believed that the elements of a myth could be organized into binary oppositions (raw vs. cooked, nature vs. culture, etc.). He thought that the myth's purpose was to "mediate" these oppositions, thereby resolving basic tensions or contradictions found in human life or culture.[11]
Some scholars propose that myths from different cultures reveal the same, or similar, psychoanalytic forces at work in those cultures. Some Freudian thinkers have identified stories similar to the Greek story of Oedipus in many different cultures. They argue that these stories reflect the different expressions of the Oedipus complex in those cultures.[12] Likewise, Jungians have identified images, themes, and patterns that appear in the myths of many different cultures. They believe that these similarities result from archetypes present in the unconscious levels of every person's mind.[13]
Motifs
The Deluge, frontispiece to Gustave Doré's illustrated edition of the Bible. Based on the story of Noah's Ark, this engraving shows humans and a tiger doomed by the flood futilely attempting to save their children and cubs.
A creation myth (or cosmogonic myth) is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it. While in popular usage the term myth often refers to false or fanciful stories, members of cultures often ascribe varying degrees of truth to their creation myths. In the society in which it is told, a creation myth is usually regarded as conveying profound truths – metaphorically, symbolically, historically, or literally. They are commonly, although not always, considered cosmogonical myths – that is, they describe the ordering of the cosmos from a state of chaos or amorphousness.
Creation myths often share a number of features. They often are considered sacred accounts and can be found in nearly all known religious traditions. They are all stories with a plot and characters who are either deities, human-like figures, or animals, who often speak and transform easily. They are often set in a dim and nonspecific past that historian of religion Mircea Eliade termed in illo tempore ('at that time'). Creation myths address questions deeply meaningful to the society that shares them, revealing their central worldview and the framework for the self-identity of the culture and individual in a universal context.
Creation myths develop in oral traditions and therefore typically have multiple versions; found throughout human culture, they are the most common form of myth.
Chaos (Ancient Greek: χάος, romanized: kháos) (aka Primordial Chaos, Primordial Void) is the mythological void state preceding the creation of the universe (the cosmos) in Greek creation myths. In Christian theology, the same term is used to refer to the gap or the abyss created by the separation of heaven and earth. In Norse mythology, Ginnungagap (old Norse: [ˈɡinːoŋɡɑˌɡɑp]; "gaping abyss", "yawning void") is the primordial void mentioned in the Gylfaginning, the Eddaic text recording Norse cosmogony.
A protoplast, from ancient Greek πρωτόπλαστος (prōtóplastos, "first-formed"), in a religious context initially referred to the first human or, more generally, to the first organized body of progenitors of mankind in a creation myth.
Numerous examples exist throughout history of a human couple being the progenitors of the entire human species. This would include, but not limited to Adam and Eve of Abrahamism, Ask and Embla of Norse mythology, and Fuxi and Nüwa from Chinese mythos.
In Hindu mythology, Manu refers to the archetypal man. In Sanskrit the term for 'human', मानव (IAST: mānava) means 'of Manu' or 'children of Manu'. The Manusmriti is an ancient legal text and constitution among the many Dharmaśāstras of Hinduism and is believed to be a discourse given by Manu.
The theft of fire for the benefit of humanity is a theme that recurs in many world mythologies. A few examples include: in Greek mythology, according to Hesiod, the Titan Prometheus steals the heavenly fire for humanity, enabling the progress of civilization. In the Book of Enoch, the fallen angels and Azazel teach early humanity use of tools and fire. Per the ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns, the Rigveda (3:9.5), speaks of a hero Mātariśvan who recovered fire which had been hidden from humanity.
Many myths feature a god who dies and who often returns to life.[19] Such myths are particularly common in Near Eastern mythologies.[20] The anthropologist Sir James Frazer compared these dying god myths in his multi-volume work The Golden Bough. The Egyptian god Osiris and the Mesopotamian god Tammuz are examples of the dying god, while the Greek myths of Adonis (though a mortal) has often been compared to Osiris and the myths of Zagreus and Dionysos also feature both death and rebirth.[21] Some scholars have noted similarities between polytheistic stories of dying gods and the Christian story of Jesus of Nazareth.[22]
Creative sacrifice
Many cultures have stories about divine figures whose death creates an essential part of reality.[23][24] These myths seem especially common among cultures that grow crops, particularly tubers.[25] One such myth from the Wemale people of Seram Island, Indonesia, tells of a miraculously conceived girl named Hainuwele, whose murdered corpse sprouts into the people's staple food crops.[26] The Chinese myth of Pangu,[27] the IndianVedic myth of Purusha,[28] and the Norse myth of Ymir all tell of a cosmic giant who is killed to create the world.[23]
Many mythological beliefs mention a place that sits at the center of the world and acts as a point of contact between different levels of the universe.[29] This axis mundi is often marked by a sacred tree or other mythical object. For example, many myths describe a great tree or pillar joining heaven, earth, and the underworld.[30]VedicIndia, ancient China, Mayans, Incas and the Germanic peoples all had myths featuring a Cosmic Tree whose branches reach heaven and whose roots reach hell.[31] The ancient Greeks believed in the centre of the universe - Delphi, where a prophetic oracle lived. The story goes that Zeus, king of gods released two birds in opposite directions to fly around the world. The place they met was Delphi.
Many cultures believe in a celestial supreme being who has cut off contact with humanity. Historian Mircea Eliade calls this supreme being a deus otiosus (an "idle god"),[32] although this term is also used more broadly, to refer to any god who does not interact regularly with humans. In many myths, the Supreme Being withdraws into the heavens after the creation of the world.[33]Baluba mythology features such a story, in which the supreme god withdraws from the earth, leaving man to search for him.[34] Similarly, the mythology of the Hereros tells of a sky god who has abandoned mankind to lesser divinities.[35] In the mythologies of highly complex cultures, the supreme being tends to disappear completely, replaced by a strong polytheistic belief system.[36] In Greek mythology, "Chaos", the creator of the universe, disappears after creating primordial deities such as Gaea (Earth), Uranus (Sky), Pontus (Water) and Tartarus (Hell), among others.
In Norse mythology, the Aesir and Vanir are two distinct groups of gods who initially waged a war against each other, but eventually reconciled and formed a united pantheon
In various mythologies, a group of "anti-gods" or adversarial beings oppose the main pantheon of gods, They embody chaos, destruction, or primal forces and are often considered demons or evil gods/divinities due to their opposition to divine order, symbolizing a struggle between cosmic order and chaos, good and evil.[39][40]
In particular, The Gigantomachy is a motif found in Greek mythology where the Olympian gods battle the Giants, often depicted as a cataclysmic struggle between order and chaos. This motif has parallels in various mythologies, especially within the Indo-European mythology family. Unlike the typical English notion of giants as gigantic humans, "giants" in Greek mythology are not merely oversized humanoid figures but monstrous beings embodying chaos and disorder. Giants are usually depicted as beings with human appearance, but of prodigious size (though not always so) and great strength common in the mythology and legends of many different cultures.
In various Indo-European mythologies, a group of anti-gods are usually featured as primeval, even malevolent beings associated with chaos, evil, and the wild nature. These are frequently portrayed as enemies of the gods, be they Greek (Giants), Celtic (Fomorians), Hindu (Asuras), Norse (Jötnar) or Persian (Daevas).[41][42]
The Mesopotamian myth of The Enuma Elish describes the conflict between the gods led by Marduk and the chaotic sea goddess Tiamat, who is often represented with monstrous forms. In Egyptian mythology, Ra's nightly journey through the underworld involves a fierce struggle against Apep, the serpent of chaos, whose attempts to devour the sun god represent the ongoing battle between order and disorder.
Giants also often play similar roles in the mythologies and folklore of other, non Indo-European peoples, such as in the Nartian traditions, along with the Quinametzin of Aztec mythology.
In Japanese mythology, the conflict between gods and evil forces is highlighted by Izanagi’s struggle against the malevolent goddess Izanami in the underworld, culminating in his escape and the birth of Amaterasu, the sun goddess, who symbolizes the restoration of cosmic order.
In Abrahamic traditions, the War in Heaven refers to the celestial conflict described in Christian and Islamic texts, where the archangel Michael leads the faithful angels in a rebellion against Satan and his followers, who sought to overthrow God's divine authority. This epic battle, depicted in Revelation 12:7-9 and alluded to in Islamic tradition, results in the expulsion of Satan and his demons from Heaven, reinforcing the ultimate triumph of divine order over chaos and evil.
There are also accounts of giants in the Hebrew Bible. Some of these are called Nephilim, a word often translated as giant although this translation is not universally accepted. They include Og King of Bashan, the Nephilim, the Anakim, and the giants of Egypt mentioned in 1 Chronicles 11:23. The first mention of the Nephilim is found in Genesis 6:4; attributed to them are extraordinary strength and physical proportions.
Usually large to gigantic, serpent-like legendary creatures that appear in the folklore of many cultures around the world. Beliefs about dragons vary drastically by region, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, four-legged, and capable of breathing fire, whereas dragons in eastern cultures are usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence.
One on one epic battles between these beasts are noted throughout many cultures. Typically they consist of a hero or god battling a single to polycephalic dragon. The motif of Chaoskampf (German:[ˈkaːɔsˌkampf]; lit.'struggle against chaos') is ubiquitous in myth and legend, depicting a battle of a culture hero deity with a chaos monster, often in the shape of a sea serpent or dragon. A few notable examples include: Zeus vs. Typhon and Hercules vs. the Lernaean Hydra, both of which are from Greek mythology, Thor vs. Jörmungandr of Norse mythology, Indra vs. Vritra of Indian mythology, Ra vs. Apep of Egyptian mythology, Yahweh vs. Leviathan of Judeo-Christian mythology, and Yu the Great vs. Xiangliu of Chinese mythology. Many other examples exist worldwide.
Originating in ancient Egyptian iconography, the Ouroboros or uroborus is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The Ouroboros entered western tradition via Greek magical tradition.
In Norse mythology, the Ouroboros appears as the serpent Jörmungandr, one of the three children of Loki and Angrboda, which grew so large that it could encircle the world and grasp its tail in its teeth.
In the Aitareya Brahmana, a Vedic text of the early 1st millennium BCE, the nature of the Vedic rituals is compared to "a snake biting its own tail."
It is a common belief among indigenous people of the tropical lowlands of South America that waters at the edge of the world-disc are encircled by a snake, often an anaconda, biting its own tail.
Many cultures have myths describing the origin of their customs, rituals, and identity. In fact, ancient and traditional societies have often justified their customs by claiming that their gods or mythical heroes established those customs.[43][44] For example, according to the myths of the AustralianKarajarri, the mythical Bagadjimbiri brothers established all of the Karadjeri's customs, including the position in which they stand while urinating.[45] In the Old Testament, the Israelites have a founding myth of their ancestors escaping enslavement from Egypt.
Human cannibalism features in the myths, folklore, and legends of many cultures and is most often attributed to evil characters or as extreme retribution for some wrongdoing. Examples include Lamia of Greek mythology, a woman who became a child-eating monster after her children were destroyed by Hera, upon learning of her husband Zeus' trysts. In Zuni mythology and religion, Átahsaia is a giant cannibalistic demon, feeding on fellow demons and humans alike. He is depicted as having unblinking bulging eyes, long talons, and yellow tusks that protruded past his lips.
The myth of Baxbaxwalanuksiwe, in Hamatsa society of the Kwakwaka'wakw indigenous tribe, tells of a man-eating giant, who lives in a strange house with red smoke emanating from its roof.
Most human civilizations - India, China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Maya, and Inca, among others - based their culture on complex systems of astrology, which provided a link between the cosmos with the conditions and events on earth. For these, the astrological practice was not mere divination because it also served as the foundation for their spiritual culture and knowledge-systems used for practical purposes such as the calendar (see Mesoamerican calendric shamans) and medicine (e.g. I Ching).
Closely tying in with Astrology, various zodiac systems and constellations have existed since antiquity. For the zodiac, the Mazzaroth, Chinese Zodiac, and Hindu Zodiac are examples. The origins of the earliest constellations likely go back to prehistory. People used them to relate stories of their beliefs, experiences, creation, or mythology. Different cultures and countries adopted their own constellations, some of which lasted into the early 20th century before today's constellations were internationally recognized.
The concept of an otherworld in historical Indo-European religion is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of orbis alius (Latin for "other Earth/world"), a term used by Lucan in his description of the Celtic Otherworld.
Comparable religious, mythological or metaphysical concepts, such as a realm of supernatural beings and a realm of the dead, are found in cultures throughout the world. Spirits are thought to travel between worlds, or layers of existence in such traditions, usually along an axis such as a giant tree, a tent pole, a river, a rope or mountains. In Greek mythology, after death, people either go to Tartarus or Elysium while the Norse believed in going to either Valhalla, Folkvangr, or Helheim.
The underworld is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld.
The concept of an underworld is found in almost every civilization and "may be as old as humanity itself". Common features of underworld myths are accounts of living people making journeys to the underworld, often for some heroic purpose. Other myths reinforce traditions that entrance of souls to the underworld requires a proper observation of ceremony, such as the ancient Greek story of the recently dead Patroclus haunting Achilles until his body could be properly buried for this purpose. Persons having social status were dressed and equipped in order to better navigate the underworld.
In esoteric cosmology, a plane is conceived as a subtle state, level, or region of reality, each plane corresponding to some type, kind, or category of being. Also known as a plane or realm of existence.
The concept may be found in religious and esoteric teachings—e.g. Vedanta (Advaita Vedanta), Ayyavazhi, shamanism, Hermeticism, Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, Kashmir Shaivism, Sant Mat/Surat Shabd Yoga, Sufism, Druze, Kabbalah, Theosophy, Anthroposophy, Rosicrucianism (Esoteric Christian), Eckankar, Ascended Master Teachings, etc.—which propound the idea of a whole series of subtle planes or worlds or dimensions which, from a center, interpenetrate themselves and the physical planet in which we live, the solar systems, and all the physical structures of the universe. This interpenetration of planes culminates in the universe itself as a physical structured, dynamic and evolutive expression emanated through a series of steadily denser stages, becoming progressively more material and embodied.
In numerous mythologies and religions, and thus tying within the Orbis Alius motif proper is the concept of an afterlife, wherein a purported existence by which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to exist after the death of their physical body.
Many myths mention an "End of the world (civilization)" event, wherein a final battle between good and evil takes place to create a new world, and/or a total cataclysmic event will usher an end to humanity (see Extinction event, aka ELE). Ragnarök shows the end of the world in Norse mythology. In Hindu mythology, the end of the Kali yug predicts the end of the world when the final avatar of Vishnu comes to cleanse the Earth. Armageddon, the site of the final battle as accorded by the Book of Revelation.
The 2012 phenomenon was a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events would occur on or around 21 December 2012, pursuant to the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar (aka Mayan calendar).
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Selected bibliography
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Dickson, K. "Bibliography-in-Progress of Texts on Myths & Comparative Mythology". 11/12/09. Purdue University. 17 December 2009 web.ics.purdue.edu
Doniger, Wendy, The Implied Spider: Politics and Theology in Myth. 1998. New York: Columbia University Press [An introduction to comparative mythology]
