Characteristics of Myth Narrative Oral Traditional Anonymous Multiform Homeostatic Authoritative True anthropogony autochthony axis mundi emergence myth ID: 749549
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Slide1
233S17 FINAL REVIEWSlide2
CUMULATIVE MATERIALSlide3
Characteristics of Myth
Narrative
Oral
Traditional
Anonymous
Multiform
Homeostatic
Authoritative
“True”Slide4
• anthropogony :
• autochthony :
•
axis mundi
:
• emergence myth :
• etiological myth :
• regeneration myth : Slide5
• anthropogony : myth of human creation
• autochthony :
•
axis mundi
:
• emergence myth :
• etiological myth :
• regeneration myth :Slide6
• anthropogony : myth of human creation
• autochthony : claim that ancestors emerge from earth
•
axis mundi
:
• emergence myth :
• etiological myth :
• regeneration myth :Slide7
• anthropogony : myth of human creation
• autochthony : claim that ancestors emerge from earth
•
axis mundi
: world axis; spatial, temporal, ritual
c
enter of world
• emergence myth :
• etiological myth :
• regeneration myth :Slide8
• anthropogony : myth of human creation
• autochthony : claim that ancestors emerge from earth
•
axis mundi
: world axis; spatial, temporal, ritual
c
enter of world
• emergence myth : claim that ancestors emerge from trees, caves, mountains etc.
• etiological myth :
• regeneration myth :Slide9
• anthropogony : myth of human creation
• autochthony : claim that ancestors emerge from earth
•
axis mundi
: world axis; spatial, temporal, ritual
c
enter of world
• emergence myth : claim that ancestors emerge from trees, caves, mountains etc.
• etiological myth : myth that accounts for natural feature or cultural practice
• regeneration myth :Slide10
• anthropogony : myth of human creation
• autochthony : claim that ancestors emerge from earth
•
axis mundi
: world axis; spatial, temporal, ritual
c
enter of world
• emergence myth : claim that ancestors emerge from trees, caves, mountains etc.
• etiological myth : myth that accounts for natural feature or cultural practice
• regeneration myth : myth that represents life as circular (not linear) processSlide11
Myth, Legend, Folktale
SACRED MYTH
LEGEND
FOLKTALE
WORLD
inflexible
somewhat flexible, generally hostile
highly flexible
CAUSALITY
hard determinism
rigid laws, fateful determinism, some room for human choice
chance and luck; in the extreme, fairytale wish-fulfillment
STANCE
absolute resignation
acquiescence and endurance
optimism and opportunism
MORALITY
irrelevant: good = divine will
irrelevant: moral character NOT = quality of experience
relevant: moral character = quality of experienceSlide12
Cosmogonic Types
TYPE
NATURE
DEITY
MYTH
created world
Genesis
evolved world
Enuma
ElishSlide13
Cosmogonic Types
TYPE
NATURE
DEITY
MYTH
created world
inert matter
Genesis
evolved world
dynamic matter
Enuma
ElishSlide14
Cosmogonic Types
TYPE
NATURE
DEITY
MYTH
created world
inert matter
transcendent
Genesis
evolved world
dynamic matter
immanent
Enuma
ElishSlide15
Cosmogonic Pattern
1. Primal Unity
2.
3. Proliferation of Beings
4.
5. Plot (Regret)
6.
7. Resolution
8. StabilitySlide16
Cosmogonic Pattern
1. Primal Unity
2. Separation
3. Proliferation of Beings
4.
5. Plot (Regret)
6.
7. Resolution
8. StabilitySlide17
Cosmogonic Pattern
1. Primal Unity
2. Separation
3. Proliferation of Beings
4. Destabilization
5. Plot (Regret)
6.
7. Resolution
8. StabilitySlide18
Cosmogonic Pattern
1. Primal Unity
2. Separation
3. Proliferation of Beings
4. Destabilization
5. Plot (Regret)
6. Confrontation
7. Resolution
8. StabilitySlide19
Combat Myth
VICTOR
ENEMY
male
female
youngest offspring
oldest parent
anthropomorph
theriomorph
alliance of gods
alliance of monsters
form/structure/organization
raw matter
civilization
natureSlide20
Hero Pattern
BIRTH
Mixed Status
CHILDHOOD
Signs of Election
Separation
Education
DEPARTURE
Call
Sidekick
Journey
Exploits
Encounters
RETURN / DEATH
Failure
Reconciliation
Death
MEMORIALIZATION
Myth & RitualSlide21
Regeneration Pattern
1. Descent
2. Failure/Limitation
3. Ascent
Repeat 1-3Slide22
MESOAMERICAN MATERIALSlide23
TIME
PERIODS
CULTURES
2000-100 BCE
FORMATIVE
Olmec
___________
Zapotec
Earliest Mesoamerican high civilization: monumental sculptures, jaguar shamans, ball game, human sacrifice
________________
Early Mesoamerican civilization : astronomical observatories
100 BCE – 900 CE
CLASSIC
Mayan
___________
Teotihuacan
Popol
Vuh
________________
City "Where Gods Were Made"; pan-Mesoamerican shrine
900-1519 CE
POSTCLASSIC
Aztec
Leyenda
de los Soles
1521...
POST-CONQUEST
Cortés and
defeat of
Motecuhzoma
IISlide24
Mesoamerican Themes
• astronomical observation
• pyramidal architecture
• shamanistic animal cults
• oppositional structures
• ball game
• blood-letting and human sacrifice
• agricultural symbolism (maize)
• regenerationSlide25
Emergence Myths
Chicomoztoc
:
Mesoamerican Cave of Origins
Tree of Origin :
example of
axis mundiSlide26
Aztec Cosmogony: Leyenda
de los Soles
Primal Duality
Ometeotl
: God of Duality
Creation of 4
Tezcatlipocas
Xipe
Totec
, Tezcatlipoca,
Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli OR
Mictlantecuhtli
(Death)
Creation of Suns 1-4
each destroyed by excess of own power
Creation of 5
th
world
cooperation between Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl
sacrifice of
caiman
(
Cipactli
)
blood-letting
by gods to feed earth
Descent into
Mictlan
Quetzalcoatl and spirit-double
nahualli
retrieve
bones
Mountain of Sustenance
contains maize
Quetzalcoatl fails to retrieve it
Nanahuatzin
(
Lame
God
) splits mountain with lightning
servants of Tlaloc (Rain God) steal maize
human beings made from ground maize + divine blood at
Tamoanchan
Creation of
pulque
Quetzalcoatl elopes with
Mayahuel
to
Tamoanchan
star-demons (
tzitzimime
) murder
Mayahuel
maguey
grows from corpse; sap used to make
pulque
Creation of 5
th
Sun
Tecuciztecatl
(Rich God) and
Nanahuatzin
(Poor God) compete at Teotihuacan
Nanahuatzin
sacrifices
himself to become Sun;
Tecuciztecatl
Moon
Quetzalcoatl sacrifices other gods and himself to feed and move Sun and MoonSlide27
Mayan Cosmogony: Popol
Vuh
STAGES
DETAILS
Plumed Serpent + Heart of Sky
earth created by power of word
animals
animals
assigned
habitats and habits (failure)
humans 1
mud creature (failure)
humans 2
wood people (failure)
humans 3
maize peopleSlide28
Quetzalcoatl (Plumed Serpent)
• quetzal serpent
• rain and wind (Quetzalcoatl +
Ehecatl
[Wind God])
• daytime (Day Sun)
•
creator and culture-bringer
(bones, maize, maguey
)
•
nahualli
dog (
Xolotl
)
• as
Topiltzin
-Quetzalcoatl, priest of Tula, corrupted by
Titlacauan
(-Tezcatlipoca) with
pulque
•
Topiltzin
disappears;
Motecuhzoma
suspects Cortés may be return of godSlide29
Tezcatlipoca (Smoking Mirror)
• original (Black) created god
• cooperates with Quetzalcoatl to create world
• associations: night (Night Sun), earth, death, jaguar (
nahualli
), obsidian (divination), smoke, mirrors (divination), magic, drunkenness, sexual debauchery (lameness, fire, lightning), war, kingship
• Tezcatlipoca (as
Titlacauan
) corrupts Quetzalcoatl-
Topiltzin
with
pulque
, causing fall of city of TulaSlide30
Huitzilopochtli and Aztec Migration
• Migration as “external motivation”: fated, destined, divinely supported
.
• Migration charts genealogical, physical, topographical ancestry
.
• Migration establishes itinerary of significant places,
sacralizing
space
.
• Migration establishes political history of relations, legitimizing wars and alliances
.
• Route of migration provides map for ritual reenactment.Slide31
Huitzilopochtli and Aztec Migration
• Aztecs leave
Aztlan
led by bodiless Huitzilopochtli
•
Coatlicue
(Snake Skirt Woman) impregnated by feather
• Huitzilopochtli born and attacked by 400 step-brothers and
Coyolxauhqui
(She Whose Face is Adorned with Bells)
• death of
Coyolxauhqui
~ defeat of moon by sun
• sculptured slab of dismembered
Coyolxauhqui
at
Templo
Mayor
• Aztecs
foundTenochtitlan
(1345) where eagle perches in cactusSlide32
Sacrificial Themes
compensation/justice
shed blood of
Cipactli
debt-payment
blood sacrificed by gods for humans
nourishment
blood feeds earth, Sun, Moon
order
blood sacrifice prevents destruction by
tzitzimime
(star demons)
regeneration
blood feeds dead,
irrigates earth, ensures growth
Social
functions of sacrifice
•
group identity and cohesion
•
ritualized entertainment: sacrifice as theatre
•
participation in maintenance of universe
•
state terrorismSlide33
Festival of Flayed Men
• 20-day festival celebrated before spring planting season
• festival in honor of
Xipe
Totec
• captives in
xochiyaoyotl
(flower war)
dressed as
ixiptla
(god-impersonators)
•
ixiptla
treated like
gods,
sacrificed,
hearts
put in
cuauhxicalli
(bowl),
skulls in
tzompantli
(skull-rack)
• skin of
ixiptla
flayed and worn by Eagle Warriors, flesh cooked and eaten
•
skins shed on last day of festival, buried in fields to promote fertilitySlide34
Eagle Warrior CihuatateoSlide35
Eagle Warrior Cihuatateo
•
participates in
xochiyaoyotl
• mock combat with
ixiptla
• distributes meat of
victims
•
wears flayed pelt of
victims
•
after death, lifts sun into skySlide36
Eagle Warrior Cihuatateo
•
participates in
xochiyaoyotl
•
souls of women dead in childbirth
• mock combat with
ixiptla
• causes mental
illness,
theft of children
• distributes meat of
victims • drags
sun down from sky each
night
•
wears flayed pelt of
victims
•
after death, lifts sun into skySlide37
Xipe
Totec
(Our Lord the Flayed One)
outer/inner
dry/ green, wet
husk/maize
seed/flower
skin/heart
human/god
dead/living
death/regenerationSlide38
Summary of Popol
Vuh
1
Cosmogony;
creation of animals and first two (mud, wood) humans.
2
Descent into Xibalba of Hun
Hunahpu
(1 Hunter) and
Vucub
Hunahpu
(7 Hunter); their defeat.
Hun
Hunahpu
impregnates
Xquic
.
3
Birth of Hero Twins
Hunahpu
(Hunter) and
Xbalanque
(Jaguar Deer).
Hero Twins defeat
Vucub
Caquix
,
the False Sun.
Descent of Twins into Xibalba; their victory.
4
Creation of maize people.Slide39
First Generation
Hun
Hunahpu
(1 Hunter) &
Vucub
Hunahpu
(7 Hunter)
•
Hun
Hunahpu
and
Vucub
Hunahpu
descend into Xibalba to play ball.
•Hun and
Vucub
fail in
Xibalba: cannot
keep cigars lit
•
Head of Hun
Hunahpu
put in calabash tree.
•Head impregnates
Xquic
(
Little Blood).
•
Xquic
ascends to
Upperworld
,
twins in her womb.Slide40
Second Generation
Hunahpu
(Hunter) &
Xbalanque
(Jaguar Deer)
•
Twins
descend into Xibalba
to play ball.
•On the way, Twins defeat
Vucub
Caquix
, the False Sun.
•
Twins succeed in
Xibalba: use
fireflies to keep cigars lit
•
Twins overcome trials in
House of Knives, Cold House, Jaguar House, Fire House
•
Hunahpu
decapitated in Bat House; head replaced by gourd.
•
Xibalbans
use head of
Hunahpu
in ball game.
•Twins substitute gourd for head, and win game.
•
Twins sacrifice themselves in fire.
•Twins reappear as
entertainers, perform
resurrection
shows.
•Twins trick Lords of Xibalba into participating; they are sacrificed.
•Twins rescue Hun
Hunahpu
, who becomes God of Maize.
•Twins rise from Xibalba to become Sun and Moon.
Slide41
Substitutions in Popol
Vuh
head
of
Hunahpu
skull gourd ball head SunSlide42
Ball Game
• ball game mimics passage of Sun through
underworld
• ball game ensures that Sun survives passage
through underworld
• identification of Sun with human being :
ball game helps turn linear trajectory of human
life into cyclical pattern, as in astronomy and
agricultureSlide43
Hero Narratives
MESOAMERICA
CELTIC IRELAND
MESOPOTAMIA
Hero
Twins/Quetzalcoatl divine
Cú
Chulainn
avatar of Lugh
Gilgamesh 2/3 divine
defeat of
Xibalbans
defeat by
Lugaid
mac con
Roi
defeat by death
Hero Myth + Regeneration Myth
Hero Myth + transmigration
separate Hero and Regeneration Myths
defeat through trickery (folktale)
geis
beheading competition
linear terminality of life (legend)
embrace of death as complement to life
life/death
cyclic
resistance to death