Introduction to Mythology Contemporary Approaches to Classical and World Myths

by Thury, Eva; Devinney, Margaret

• ISBN13: 9780199859238
• ISBN10: 019985923X
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-04-13
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Integrating original texts with explanations, interpretations, and theory, Introduction to Mythology: Contemporary Approaches to Classical and World Myths, Third Edition, introduces students to a wide range of myths - drawn from sources all around the world - from various criticalperspectives. The third edition strengthens its global coverage with two new chapters: Chapter 11, "Mesoamerica," and Chapter 43, "The Vampire as Hero."

Table of Contents

PART I. INTRODUCTION TO STUDYING MYTH
Introductory Overview
1. What is Myth?
2. Ways of Understanding Myth
PART II. MYTHS OF CREATION AND DESTRUCTION
Creation: Introductory Overview
3. Greece: Hesiod
4. Rome: Ovid
5. The Bible: Genesis (Creation)
6. Mesopotamia: Enuma Elish
7. Icelandic/Norse: Prose Edda
8. North America: Zuni, Hopi, Navaho
9. Africa: Uganda and Nigeria
10. China: Nu Kwa
* 11. Mesoamerica: Popol Vuh
Destruction: Introductory Overview
12. Rome: Ovid (Flood)
13. The Bible: Genesis (Flood)
14. Icelandic/Norse: Prose Edda (Ragnarok)
PART III. HEROES AND TRICKSTERS
Introductory Overview
15. Theory: Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Dave Whomsley)
16. Mesopotamia: The Epic of Gilgamesh
17. Applying Theory: A Levi-Straussian Analysis of the Epic of Gilgamesh (G. S. Kirk)
18. India: The Ramayana
19. Icelandic/Norse: Prose Edda
20. Africa: The Mwindo Epic
21. Greece: Sophocles, Oedipus the King
22. Theory: Claude Levi-Strauss, The Structural Study of Myth
23. North America: Raven
24. African and African-American Trickster Stories
25. Greece: Prometheus
26. Applying Theory: Different Versions of Myths
PART IV. RITUAL AND MYTH
Introductory Overview
27. Theory: Victor Turner, The Forest of Symbols
28. Greece: Demeter and Persephone
29. Egypt: Isis and Osiris
30. Applying Theory: Meals in the Bible (Mary Douglas)
31. Icelandic/Norse: The Rituals of Iceland (H. R. E. Davidson)
32. Greece: Heracles and Dionysus
PART V. DREAMS AND MYTH
Introductory Overview
33. Theory: C.G. Jung, Man and His Symbols
34. Applying Theory: How to Perform a Jungian Analysis
PART VI. FOLKTALE AND MYTH
Introductory Overview
35. Theory: Vladimir Propp, The Morphology of the Folktale
36. Applying Theory: A Proppian Analysis of The Wizard of Oz
37. Germany: Grimms' Household Tales
38. Rome: Apuleius' "Cupid and Psyche"
39. Applying Theory: Highlighting Different Aspects of the Same Tale Using Multiple Analyses
PART VII. CONTEMPORARY MYTH
Introductory Overview
40. Daniel Boone: Building the Myth Around the Man
41. Stagecoach and Firefly: The Journey into the Unknown in Westerns and Science Fiction
42. Harry Potter: A Rankian Analysis of the Hero of Hogwarts
43. The Vampire as Hero: Tales of the Undead in a Contemporary Context
PART VIII. LITERATURE AND MYTH
Introductory Overview
44. Poetry and Myth
45. Leslie Marmon Silko, "Yellow Woman" (Native-American Oral Myth in Contemporary Context)
46. Narrative and Myth