|
Eliot discerns four major classes of myth (and several
minor classes):-
- Primitive - shamanic and nature myths, often from
cultures where the ancestors and elders of the group (tribe)
have great importance
- Pagan - tales and characters from Classical Greek
and Roman mythology, but also Norse and Indian. Typically there
is a pantheon of charismatic gods who sometimes teach and lead
the humans, but often seem to quarrel among themselves, and
are a source of danger to their people, who may therefore try
to please them with gifts and sacrifices. These pantheons of
gods are often linked to the planets, e.g saturn, mars, venus,
mercury, and are thought in some way to BE the planets.
- Sacred. Typically, sacred myths are based on a sacred
book, such as the Torah, Bible or Koran, given out by a Great
Teacher. The philosophies, morals and ethics ("Truths")
contained in the sacred book are mediated by a priesthood for
consumption by the general public. Other aspects focus on the
myth of the 'great individual' rather than his teachings, and
then later on the church itself as a path (a career).
- Scientific. Science proceeds by creating sets of
hypotheses which are accepted by the scientific community, which
are tested, and then used until they are found to be inadequate,
and then a new set of hypotheses is developed. Sometimes this
replacement of theories is so far-reaching that it is called
a 'paradigm shift', and a paradigm is clearly mythical, not
"real".
He also states the following as minor classes of myth:-
- Personal Mythology, where one 'tells a story' to oneself or
to others to help give meaning to ones life
- Fairy Tales. Which are simple tales told to children, chiefly
of European (and particularly Nordic and German) origins. This
could be the reason he omits them, as they are not a global
phenomenon.
- One could perhaps also add "Urban Myths" to this
list (everyone has heard of the poor person who was lost and
drove 3 times round the M25 for 24 hours, but no-one has ever
met him/her )
|