Myths

1. Myths Isabella Beaton John Anderson Meagan Lane

2. “Song of the Timeless Myths” – from the Book of Heroes • “Sing O MuseSing to us of the glorious gods,who ruled the land and sea.And tell us Of the fair beauty of the goddesseswho dwell in Eternal Olympus.Sing to us, O Muse:Of Ages that has come to pass,Of those mighty warriorswielding their deadly spears,From the lores Of our Timeless Myths.”

3. Myth • A very good definition of a myth is: • “1.) a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, esp. one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature. • 5.) an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution. • [Origin: 1820–30; < LL mȳthos < Gk mŷthos story, word] ” – www.dictionary.com • A classic example of a myth would be the tale of Atlas. For fighting the Greek gods and losing, most of the Titans were punished and sent to Tartaros. However, Atlas received a special punishment and was made to hold up the skies forever.

4. Myths: Past Only? Myths are usually thought of as an ancient answer to things that couldn’t not be answered at the time. They are also looked at as a form of teaching lessons. With the story of Atlas, since Atlas was the head Titans rebelling against the gods, Zeus had a special punishment for him. This story could have possibly been an attempt to explain why the sky was above the earth. However, myths do not stop at the past. In fact, even today, we use myths to explain things that we have yet to prove through science.

5. Group vs. Individual • The biological need for myth seems to be that it… • Creates a sense of security • Keeps order within a group • Justifies society’s actions and beliefs • Allowed a way for people to be held accountable for any action taken • With most early myths, what happened to gods usually reflected events on earth. (Justified the decisions leaders made [go to war, etc…]) • Western societies, however, took myths as more of an individual mentality. • The individual uses the myth to better understand him or herself. • The idea was to compare one’s self to the hero of the story.

6. Religion as a Modern Myth • Religions today can certainly be seen as modern myths, especially in regards to the many different versions of the story of Creation.

7. Religion as a Modern Myth (cont.) • Using Thomas Merton’s definition of a myth as: “…a tale with an archetypal pattern capable of suggesting and implying that man's life in the cosmos has a hidden meaning which can be sought and found by one who somehow religiously identifies his own life with that of the hero in the story” (William Faulkner’s Yoknaptawpha ) it is plausible to see the argument for a religion being taken as a myth. The stories and lessons throughout each religion have the same principles as what we call “myths” today. • But what makes us believe it?

8. Placebos/Faith Healing • As far back as Plato, the idea of placebos and faith healings were occurrences that affected the world of myths. Plato himself made the comment on how “[he] said that the cure itself [for a disease] is a certain leaf, but in addition to the drug there is a certain charm, which if someone chants when he makes use of it, the medicine altogether restores him to health, but without the charm there is no profit from the leaf.”

9. The Placebo Effect • The placebo effect is defined as: • “1.Medicine/Medical, Pharmacology. • A.) a substance having no pharmacological effect but given merely to satisfy a patient who supposes it to be a medicine. • B.) a substance having no pharmacological effect but administered as a control in testing experimentally or clinically the efficacy of a biologically active preparation.” • With the placebo effect, the person believes something enough that his or her brain can accept it to a point where it can effect the physiology of the person. • “Faith Healings” can be looked upon in the very same way.

10. Near-Death Experiences • Typically placed within the realm of religion. The beliefs of the person can often affect the experience had and what is seen. • Is there an actual biological reason these happen? • When certain conditions are met, such as low oxygen, low blood flow, low blood sugar, etc, are met, there is a production of a mass amount of brain receptors that are made for the neurotransmitter glutamate. In response, the body produces huge amounts of glutamate which overwhelm the mass receptors. The overwhelming of the receptors causes many brain cells to die. Now, the conditions that caused the glutamate to accumulate can also cause a large group of brain chemicals to bind with the receptors in order to protect the cells. When they bind, it leads to an “altered state of consciousness.” • The dissociative drug ketamine can be used to induce the same near death experiences. • Before, these experiences were related to religion and to the similar myths of what one experienced when one almost dies. This is a perfect example of one of the longest lasting myths up until this research was released.

11. Myth Surviving Today • Haitian zombification-->The Haitians believe that the Bokor's (shaman) sorcery turned people into zombies. However, the “zombie powder” is what apparently creates the zombie. -There are similarities in about 7 of the 8 different formulas of “zombie powder”, which main ingredients can be:   -one or more species of puffer fish (for tetrodotoxin)   -marine toad (because it produces numerous toxins)   -hyla tree frog (because it secretes irritating but not deadly substance)   -human remains • The tetrodotoxin can cause paralysis and death. • The theory is the powder is applied to the surface of the body. Some ingredients irritate the skin while the tetrodotoxin passes into the bloodstream. Due to its effects, the person is then pronounced dead and buried. • The Bokor then digs up the person before asphyxiation (suffocation) sets in and before powder wears off. The victim believes himself to be a zombie. • Jimson weed is fed to the zombies to cause fever, hallucinations, and amnesia to strengthen the victim's belief. • Dr. Wade Davis, who wrote books on the idea of zombification (Passage of Darkness and The Serpent and the Rainbow) states that the powder alone is not enough to create a zombie, but relies on setting and belief. • The Bokor use this to scare their society into order.

12. “With ritual it may serve to support belief, but even for those without it, myth retains something of its old potency. serving the individual as it once served the group, myth my unite him with tradition or society, and, in literature, while uniting the conscious mind with the primitive or unconscious, myth may express the inner by the outer, the present by the past.” - William York Tindall

13. Sites • http://kateblogsworth.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/expound-slags.jpg • http://www.citynews.ca/gallery/blog3.jpg • http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w255/spikenjam/_fight-club1.jpg • http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060811/060811_placebo_hmed_5p.hmedium.jpg • http://forensicpsychiatric.com/articles/artPlaceboeffect12.02.html • http://www.artsmia.org/world-myths/whatismyth.html • http://leda.lycaeum.org/?ID=9260 • http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=OFO_NQJh8L0C&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=ancient+mythology+and+religion&ots=2PMZ7AmflL&sig=5ZmSL01KBP3IYd60NEKTAx2NADg#PPA1,M1 • http://dictionary.reference.com/ • http://www.cracked.com/article_15643_p2.html • http://books.google.com/books?id=mG0j6-NWW-EC&pg=PA87&lpg=PA87&dq=man's+need+for+myth&source=web&ots=hxOFkn921n&sig=knX3wjdUBWZFT09bnJRohdEdqK8&hl=en • http://www.bo.infn.it/atlas_rpc/images/atlas2.jpg • http://danielfuentes.iespana.es/danielfuentes/images/mitologia/zeus.jpg • http://www.kyle-brady.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/religion.gif