MYTH-501 Lessons

Professor Morgan smiles fondly at the students as they file into the classroom and take their seats. There are no fancy feats of magic today, simply a stack of parchment and a box full of quills.

Yes, dears, that is indeed your final. Do not panic - I know you have all worked hard this year and I am certain that you will do well on your finals. Before we get to that, however, we have a few last points of European Mythology to consider.

I would like you to think back to the three main cultures that we covered this year: Greco-Roman, Norse, and Celtic. Within these cultures there are both many similarities, and also a few surprising differences. Let’s examine these relationships a bit more closely.

Gods and Goddesses

All three of the cultures we discussed have pantheons, and in the case of the Celtic and Norse myths, more than one pantheon. True to all of the pantheons are the relationships of the gods to nature. The god of thunder is Zeus/Jupiter in Greco-Roman mythology and Odin in Norse mythology. Coincidentally both of these gods sit at the head of their respective pantheons. The Celtic god of the sea is Lugh, and the Greco-Roman counterpart is Poseidon/Neptune.

In this aspect of their mythologies, all three cultures are demonstrating a connection between the natural world and the gods. Mostly, the myths are there to help explain natural phenomena. A sudden, brutal storm is an angry god demonstrating his displeasure, for example.

Main Characters and Creatures

It is when we get to the myths themselves that there are some differences between the cultures. In the first two cultures we studied, the Greco-Romans and Norse, the gods feature prominently in the stories. There may be a mortal thrown in now and again, but the focus of the stories is on the gods.

In Greco-Roman mythology, the stories are mostly the antics of the gods themselves and have little effect on how mortals live their lives. These gods are immortal, and their deeds may cause a war or two on occasion, but even the heroes in these stories are either gods themselves, or descendants of gods or other magical creatures

In Norse mythology the stories focus on the gods in an almost singular fashion, although mortal heroes do occasionally have run ins with the gods - and magical creatures as well. The difference here is that the Norse gods can die, and the most significant myth is that of the destruction of the world - an event that will have extreme consequences in the mortal world.

The odd man out of this group of cultures is Celtic mythology. While a god or two will have a small part to play in a myth - the siring of Cuchulainn, for example - it is the mortals who feature most prominently and in all of their frailty.

Morals

If you think about the stories you were told as a child, such as The Warlock’s Hairy Heart, or similar, you also remember the morals that are taught through them. Always tell the truth, don’t steal, work hard, don’t dabble in the Dark Arts. While a bit less obvious, the myths of the Greco-Romans, Celts, and Norse often, if not always, have some sort of moral issue addressed in them. Quite often they discuss the effects of infidelity, such as the Trojan War, the burden of knowledge, such as Odin’s knowledge that Ragnarok was inevitable, and the dangers of tampering with magic, such as the love potion Tristan and Iseult consumed.

These myths also show the values that each society held dear such as bravery, duty, and intelligence, although it was quite infrequent that all three were found in a single hero. Odysseus is perhaps the stand-alone example of all three of these values, and his trials lasted for decades.

Copyright?

The last aspect of these myths to compare is the similarities between the tales themselves. There are many examples where aspects of myths from two completely different cultures are found to be identical in their telling. The one that stand out the most from our studies this year is the white and black sail confusion. In Greco-Roman mythology, Theseus falls asleep on the ship returning to his father and forgets to change the sails. Believing his son to be dead, Aegeus throws himself off the castle towers into the sea.  Similarly in Celtic mythology, Tristan believes the ship bringing Iseult to heal him is flying black sails instead of white, and he dies of heartbreak, believing she has abandoned him.

So what do these similarities mean? Quite simply, that these cultures were never completely isolated from each other and aspects of their myths were absorbed into each other’s stories. This borrowing of aspects of the stories also demonstrates that, while often at war with each other over land, these cultures still held the same values at their core.

Now, I don’t want you to continue fretting over the contents of your final, so I will end our discussion for the day, and the year! Your final is comprised of two pieces: a quiz of extended length that covers the entire year, but with a focus on Lessons Five to Nine, and a written final with a few different options from which you may choose. A word to the wise: these assignments are not timed. You do not need to rush. Take the time to read the questions carefully before writing your answers. I have read some beautiful essays this year that ultimately resulted in failing grades because they simply did not answer the question. I know you are all capable of handling the questions on the exams.

Best of luck, my dears, and I hope to see you all in Mythology next year! We will be covering the myths of the Americas: the Maya and Aztec, Mi’kmaq and Salish, and so much more! If you did not see the announcement earlier, you will be pleased to learn that Professor Wessex of Ancient Runes will be joining me in teaching this class for Years Six and Seven. We hope to see you then!