Table Of Contenti
THE TRUTH OF MYTH
ii
World Mythology in Theory and Everyday Life
Series Editors: Tok Thompson and Gregory Schrempp
This series presents an innovative and accessible overview of the
world’s mythological traditions. The inaugural volume provides a
theoretical introduction to the study of myth, while the individual
case studies from throughout time and around the world help guide
the reader through the wondrous complexity and diversity of myths,
and their widespread influences in human cultures, societies, and
everyday lives.
The Truth of Myth: World Mythology in Theory and Everyday Life
Tok Thompson and Gregory Schrempp
iii
THE TRUTH
OF MYTH
World Mythology in Theory and
Everyday Life
Tok Thompson and Gregory Schrempp
1
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1
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Thompson, Tok, author. | Schrempp, Gregory Allen, 1950– author.
Title: The truth of myth : world mythologies in theory and everyday life /
Tok Thompson and Gregory Schrempp.
Description: First edition. | New York : Oxford University Press, 2020. |
Series: World mythology in theory and everyday | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019039317 (print) | LCCN 2019039318 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780190222789 (hardback) | ISBN 9780190222802 (paperback) |
ISBN 9780197506691 (epub) | ISBN 9780190222796 (updf)
Subjects: LCSH: Mythology. | Manners and customs.
Classification: LCC BL312 .T46 2020 (print) | LCC BL312 (ebook) |
DDC 201/ .3— dc23
LC record available at https:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2019039317
LC ebook record available at https:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2019039318
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Paperback printed by LSC Communications, United States of America
Hardback printed by Bridgeport National Bindery, Inc., United States of America
v
CONTENTS
Prologue | vii
Introduction: A World Made of Myth | 1
1. Definitions and Starting Points | 7
2. Highlights in the History of Mythological Research | 37
3. Studying Mythology Comparatively | 99
4. Some Current Trends | 144
Conclusion: Moving Forward with Myth | 178
GLOSSARY | 183
WORKS CITED | 189
INDEX | 197
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PROLOGUE
To the student of myth:
This book attempts to provide a concise overview of the the-
oretical approaches to studying mythology, both in theory and in
everyday life.
Whether one is interested in a particular myth or mythic tradi-
tion, understanding comparative mythology more broadly, or even
the subject and overview of mythology as a whole, this text attempts
to present a clear and understandable introduction to some of the
best tried-a nd- true approaches, as well as to address some of the per-
ennial problems and points of confusion.
To embark on the study of myth is to join a noisy chorus of
scholars, both present and past, in attempting to divine the meaning
of some of the most important, intriguing, and at times puzzling
narratives that humankind has ever crafted. We hope this text will
help provide you with the theoretical background and tools to allow
for a rich, full study of mythology in all its myriad forms.
To the teacher of myth:
Myth has been the source of a great deal of theoretical disagree-
ment and confusion as well. We have tried to address some of the
controversies by appealing to a close and careful consideration of the
data, which at times helps keep lofty theorizing firmly anchored in
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the real world. Additionally, we have tried to present an in- depth his-
torical background to the study of myth, which should also help il-
luminate the close relationships between a society and that society’s
views of myth. Mythology does not occur without people: it is only
with a strong grounding in the study of humankind that we can hope
to make progress in our understanding. Where doubt within the
scholarly community has arisen, we have tried to pay attention to
both sides of the debates. The resulting text is intended to be a de-
tailed, yet engaging, introduction to the study of world mythology,
and a scholarly counterweight to popular, unscientific views.
Our experience in teaching myth is that the most vexing issues
stem from the several strained if not contradictory connotations that
the term “myth” carries. Is myth archaic, or is it part of all societies
and thus modern as well? Is it part of religion and/ or science, or
does it contrast with these? Most vexingly, does “myth” designate
falsehood, or the highest forms of truth— those that form the core,
guiding principles of particular societies’ engagements of the cosmos
and life within it? There is also the double signification of the term
“mythology,” which points to both an academic tradition and the ob-
ject studied by that tradition. Our view is that while such antinomies
are unlikely to be resolved in the foreseeable future, much can be
gained by locating and identifying them and by attempting to under-
stand how and why they have emerged. We hope that this approach
not only lends clarity to the topic of myth, but also serves to energize
the study to which we now turn.
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Introduction
A World Made of Myth
Understanding myth is a transformative act, a way of grasping the
power of culture in one of its most elemental forms. Myths have
captivated the worldly- minded for millennia, and are one of the
oldest subjects of scholarly inquiry. This book aims to be an intel-
lectual travel guide for scholars, students, and anyone interested in
expanding their knowledge of how humans narrate their most fun-
damental beliefs in strikingly diverse and exotic ways, and attempts
to offer assistance in understanding how various peoples create,
enact, and narrate myths as ways of establishing core principles re-
garding the makeup of reality and our place in it.
Doing justice to such a vast topic, with so many divergences as well
as commonalities, and so many theoretical aspects and approaches,
is a daunting task. Our approach to this task is to seek to provide a
useful toolkit for understanding a world of myriad differences. This
book, then, does not offer up a unitary or universalist theory, but
rather an overview of the many theoretical approaches that have
proved useful for advancing scholarship in myth studies around the
world. This core text seeks to foster a common vocabulary through
which fruitful and productive discussions of myths— whether an-
cient Aztec or contemporary Hindu— can take place. It is designed
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