Hey, Alex!
So last week I talked about mythology and meaning; stories wouldn’t survive history unless they had something important to say. And that’s certainly true. I heard in my high school history class to the effect of “winners write the history books.” That is the evolution of values in some ways. Could you imagine how world values might have changed if the West collapsed instead of the Communist bloc 50 years ago? 🥶
That brings up the idea that cultures and narratives almost walk hand in hand. The Jewish people expressly follows the same narrative and we can see that from the stories in the Bible, but also when you think of Greek mythology, much of the magic and alchemy, wisdom and philosophy all poured out of their pagan mythology. Their heroes were primarily athletic and intelligent, but also political; they are expressed as warriors and adventurers rather than brutes. For example, Jason and the argonauts set sail to find the Golden Fleece so Jason could ascend the throne of his father, Achilles is a driven athletic warrior with a fatal flaw, Narcissus had power over every other being due to his beauty, etc. All these characters and more portray the glory of the Gods while also portraying the mortality of man. You also have the constant interference of the Greek pantheon of gods on behalf of whomever garners their favor. That idea of the divine intervening for the sake of man also follows Plato’s philosophic religion. Ultimately, these stories find their expression in Greek history through various conquests either by prescribing or describing the nature of mankind in the world.
The Norse mythology, however, comes to us through brutality and honor on the battlefield. They saw death as the beautiful Valkyrie, warrior maidens who work at the behest of Odin. Sometimes they chose strength to win, sometimes they chose stamina, but ultimately the value was in the honor rather than the battle. At Ragnarok, the end of the world, Odin the all-father would lead all the greatest heroes in history against the beasts and the great snake, but only one warrior would decide the victory. It was prophesied that if Sigurd, son of Sigmund, would fight with his flaming sword, then the battle would be won! When you think of the Vikings, you think of adventure, battle, and pillaging, and that is reflected in a lot of their mythology.
So we have a few examples of mythology and their impact or expression in their cultures (and that is not even going into brothers’ grim fairy tales or Arthurian Legend/Robin Hood, etc). What can we make of this? I think the best question is “what came first; the culture or the mythology?” Personally, I think cultures are less of a foundation and more of a structure whereas stories and values are more of a foundation of society. Israel is a perfect example. The creation story genre predated the first written copy of the Torah, but each culture's creation story incorporates their own gods as players rather than directors. For the Israelites, their values are theocentric, and the God of Israel is all-powerful, transcendent, and loving. The authors of the narrative write that God made mankind in his own image, forming him out of the existing clay of the earth. For this reason, every human life has intrinsic value. Not only that, but death itself was not a part of God's creation; rather, it only comes as part of the punishment for man's disobedience. The values of Shalom (peace) and abundant life came from God and these recorded stories share those values to future generations and impart the Judeo-Christian culture.
What do you think? Am I onto something? Do I even know what I'm talking about? Let me know in the comments below.
Alex, we'll talk on Tuesday!
Comments