CUR 140-001/2

Definitions of "Myth" Used in Class

• Myth: "A narrative (story) concerning fundamental symbols that are constitutive of or paradigmatic for human existence" (taken from B. Batto, Slaying the Dragon: Mythmaking in the Biblical Tradition [Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 1992], p. 11). Batto continues, "Myth is a universal human phenomenon. It attempts to express ultimate reality through symbol. Myth points to a reality beyond itself that cannot be directly symbolized, as it transcends both the capacity of discursive reasoning and expression in ordinary human language. Paul Ricoeur refers to this as a 'surplus of meaning.' Every society, ancient and modern, has its myths and is given to mythmaking." (p. 11)
• Symbol: any object act, event, quality, or relation which serves as a vehicle for a conception-- the conception is the vehicle's meaning (taken from C. Geertz, "Religion As a Cultural System," in The Interpretation of Cultures [San Francisco: Basic Book, 1973], p. 91).
• Mythopoeism: (Greek mythos + Greek poein "to make, do"): literally "myth-making;" term refers "to the process by which new myths are created or old myths are extended to include new demensions. Mythopoeic is to be carefully distinguished from "mythopoetic," another term sometimes used to descibe the metaphoric or symbolic use of mythic images in artistic literary compositions. In mythopoetic usage the mythic elements have lost their value as operative myths and survive only as literary symbols or images, that is, as mere vestiges of their original mythic function." (Batto, Slaying the Dragon, p. 12)