Classical Mythology, 7th Edition - obinfonet: dia logou

24
THE MYTHS OF CREATION: THE GODS
terpretations naturally varies from reader to reader. About this conclusion, however,
we are convinced: it is impossible to develop any one theory that will be
meaningfully applicable to all myths; there is no identifiable Platonic Idea or Form
of a myth, embodying characteristics copied or reflected in the mythologies of
the world. The many interpretations of the origin and nature of myths are primarily
valuable for highlighting the fact that myths embrace different kinds of
stories in different media, which may be classified in numerous different ways.
We realize fully the necessity for the study of comparative mythology and
appreciate its many attractive rewards, but we are also wary of its dangers: oversimplification,
distortion, and the reduction of an intricate masterpiece to a chart
of leading motifs. Greek and Roman mythology is unique, but not so unique
that we can set it apart from other mythologies. In other words, it will illuminate
other mythologies drawn from primitive and preliterate societies, just as
they will help us understand the origin, development, and meaning of classical
literature. We must, however, be aware of the gulf that separates the oral legends
from the literary mythological thinking that evolved among the Greeks and
Romans and also among their literary antecedents in the Near East. It is misleading,
of course, to posit a "primitive" mentality, as some anthropologists and
sociologists do, as if it were something childlike and simple, in contrast to the
"sophisticated" mentality of more advanced societies such as that of the Greeks. 43
In fact, it has been clearly proved (as attested to earlier) how far the myths of
primitive societies reflect the complexities of social family structures, and their
tales may be profitably compared to classical literature. Yet there are important
differences, and even our earliest literary sources (Homer, Hesiod, and the lyric
poets) provide artistic presentations of intellectual, emotional, and spiritual values
and concepts in influential works of the highest order, whatever their debts.
Greek and Roman mythology shares similar characteristics with the great literatures
of the world, which have evolved mythologies of their own, whether or
not they have borrowed thematic material from the ancients. Classical mythology
has at least as much (if not more) in common with English and American
literature (not to mention French and German, among others) 44 as it does with
preliterate comparisons of oral folktale and the scrutiny of archaic artifacts, however
enlightening these studies may be. Greek and Roman mythology and literature
look back to an oral and literary past, use it, modify it, and pass on the
transformation to the future.
Since the goal of this book is the transmission of the myths themselves as
recounted in the Greek and Roman periods, literary myth is inevitably our primary
concern. Many of the important myths exist in multiple versions of varying
quality, but usually one ancient treatment has been most influential in establishing
the prototype or archetype for all subsequent art and thought.
Whatever other versions of the Oedipus story exist, 45 the dramatic treatment by
Sophocles has established and imposed the mythical pattern for all time—he is
the poet who forces us to see and feel the universal implications. Although his