alt.mythology General FAQ ver. 1.1
chris
Summary: This posting serves as an introduction to the newsgroup
alt.mythology and answers general FAQs as well as directs readers to
other resources and provides general posting guidelines.
Archive-name: mythology/general-faq
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 2003/6/22
Version: 1.11
URL: http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze33gpz/mythgenfaq.html
alt.mythology General FAQ ver. 1.11
Created: 10/12/99
Last Altered:
6/22/03 - added a few words about astrology and updated a couple
of e-mail addresses
2/3/02 - updated Encyclopedia Mythica Entry, updated some
addresses, added a phoenix pic link
10/27/01 - updated some addresses
6/8/01 - fixed a typo.
3/6/01 - revised Robert Graves entry
7/14/00 - added two new general pics links & a new search
engine link to parts V.B.iii. and V.B.iv.
5/4/00 - added netiquette links to part I.C. & mythinglinks
URL to part V.B.i.
4/26/00 - ammended Dejanews link in part I.C.
3/9/00 - added a second netiquette link to part I.C.
3/3/00 - fixed a typo. You'll hardly notice.
2/29/00 - Added Greek myth family tree links to part V.B.i.; added
question about Plato's _Symposium_ to part III;
added Robert Graves section to part VI.
2/25/00 - Added Mircea Eliade section to part VI.
1/12/00 - fixed two typos. You'll hardly notice.
12/5/99 - added more phoenix links
Contents:
I. Welcome to alt.mythology! (What is this newsgroup? How should
I post here? What is appropriate here?)
A. Charter
B. How can I get help on homework assignments?
C. What are good/bad ways to ask for information in alt.mythology?
- tips on posting
II. But what really is mythology?
A. What is Mythology?
III. Who is/are <fill in the blank>?
A. What's this about Adam's first wife? Who was Lilith?
B. What is the phoenix?
C. Who was the guy who had to roll a rock up a hill,
and it always rolled back down? What did he do to
deserve it?
D. Who stole fire from the gods?
E. Who was the guy who got turned into a woman by two snakes?
F. Where does the story come from about man and woman splitting?
G. What are the mythological roots for the characters in
Hercules and Xena?
H. What are the origins of vampires?
J. What is name of the the serpent that eats its own tail?
IV. The Tide's a coming...
A. Flood myths
V. What about other resources? Where can I find more information?
A. Offline
B. on-line sources
i. A few good general online sites for mythology information
ii. Other related FAQs and newsgroups
iii. Where can we find pics of <fill in the blank>?
iv. Best search engines for mythological subjects
VI. Myth Studies and Myth Authors
A. The Traditional Myth Authors [Frazer, Jung, Graves, Claude
Levi-Strauss, Joseph Campbell, Kerenyi, Cassirer, Eliade, etc.]
i. Robert Graves
ii. Joseph Campbell
iii. Mercea Eliade
VII. What about mythological symbols and other tangentially related
topics?
These are usually off topic here but...
A. Amulets & Talismans
VIII. Acknowledgements
I. Welcome to alt.mythology! (What is this newsgroup? How should
I post here? What is appropriate here?)
A. Charter
Welcome to alt.mythology! In this newsgroup we discuss myths,
legends, their details, their historical contexts, their
interconnections, etc. - in short, just about everything
concerning mythology. John A. Johnson started this group back
in December 1991. His charter for the newsgroup serves as general
guidelines for the scope of discussions here, although we have
since evolved to become more inclusive than the more academic tone
the charter may indicate:
Charter for alt.mythology
"The purpose of this group is to promote insights into, and
understanding of, human nature through the discussion of
mythology, where mythology is defined as the metaphorical
expression of the human psyche through symbols and images.
While focusing primarily on myths expressed as oral or
written stories, the group also welcomes material on dreams and
on semiotics generally, as these areas may further our
understanding of myths. The group welcomes articles written
from any perspective, including, but not limited to, the
anthropological, philological, etiological, ethnological,
psychological, and personal viewpoints. The group encourages
contributions from any frame of thought, including, but not
limited to, ritualism, diffusionism, structuralism,
parallelism, psychoanalysis, and culturalism."
in addition Johnson adds:
"As you see, the group is open to a multitude of approaches to
mythology. I would like to make one thing clear, though: This
group is intended to be a forum for intellectual discussions
of mythology, and not for religious proselytizing or
flame-wars."
Proselytizing for or denegrating against someone's religion is
considered both rude and off-topic in this newsgroup. Assertions
of the imminence of the apocalypse, or that the characters in our
myths were extra-terrestrial aliens are also inappropriate.
Discussing creation and flood stories here is fine. Debating the
historical truth of those stories is not, and is better suited to
talk.origins.
Similarly, astrology is, in general, off topic. While
discussing the relationships of myths to constellations, star and
planetary names, would be on topic, the use of such correspondences
to make predictions or retroactively cast the horoscopes of the
deceased is best left to alt.astrology.
B. How can I get help on homework assignments?
* We won't do your homework for you. However, we might be able
to suggest some directions to take in your research if you
have specific questions.
C. What are good/bad ways to ask for information in alt.mythology?
- tips on posting
* Be polite. Obey basic rules of netiquette as can be found in
news.announce.newusers and at http://www.usenet.org.uk - the
UK USENET Homepages.
* The netiquette FAQs are also found on the rtfm server at MIT
and include:
Rules for posting to Usenet
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/news/posting-rules/part1
A Primer on How to Work with the Usenet Community
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/news/primer/part1
Emily Postnews Answers your Questions on Netiquette -
written with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/news/emily-postnews/part1
Hints on Writing Style for Usenet
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/news/writing-style/part1
What is (not) Usenet?
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/news/what-is/part1
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/news/what-is/part2
* We may have discussed the topic before - check Google
Advanced Group Search
http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search (formerly
Dejanews) to see if past threads may hold the answers to your
questions.
* Specific questions are more likely to get useful answers than
general ones.
* Don't spam.
* Avoid crossposting, particularly to newsgroups you don't
regularly read.
* Do not post binaries (pictures, sound files, etc.) to this
newsgroup. Not everyone can handle those relatively large
files and binaries in non-binary groups have been known to get
those newsgroups removed from some ISP's. Instead put them on
a web page or post them to an alt.binaries.* group and post a
notice to their location on this group.
II. But what really is mythology?
A. What is Mythology?
The word "myth" has several meanings. In the most general sense,
it refers to any invented story, but in the sense used on
alt.mythology, it refers to a traditional story, usually very old,
which has or once had significant spiritual, moral, or social
significance. "Mythology" refers both to a body of myths (such as
all Greek myths) and to the study of myths.
Important to the definition is what myth is not. Stories which,
from their origin, are set in print and passed down unchanged are
not myth. Myth is a form of folklore, which means that it is
shaped by the "folk" in general, and not just one or a few authors.
Many myths are collected in books, but they have had long oral
traditions before that. Second, folklore is not myth if it is not
a story, so proverbs, superstitions, riddles, etc. are not myth as
such. However, they may appear in myths, and isolated elements of
myths are often discussed in alt.mythology.
Note that most stories associated with current religions are, by
definition, myths. This does not belittle them; on the contrary, it
says that people consider them important enough to repeat over many
generations.
Professionals distinguish between mythology, legend, and folktale,
although all get discussed without distinction on alt.mythology.
Very briefly, myths are considered true by the people who tell them;
they are usually set near the beginning of time and often concern
the origins of things. Legends are also regarded as true, but are
set later in history when the world was much as it is today.
Folklore is considered false by the people telling it, and its
setting in time and space is usually irrelevant. Myths are
considered sacred, legends are more often secular, and folktales
aren't taken seriously (although the overall message might be).
Although this classification is useful, there is plenty of overlap,
and stories range over too much territory to fit nicely in any
simple classification.
III. Who is/are <fill in the blank>?
A. What's this about Adam's first wife? Who was Lilith?
If you look at the first two chapters of Genesis you'll find that
there are two creation stories. In the first chapter, God makes
man and woman at the same time. In the second chapter, man is
made from dust and woman, Eve, is made from his rib. These two
accounts led to the idea that there was a first Eve, prior to the
Eve that is the mother of Cain and Abel.
Prior to this confusion, there existed a Sumerian demoness or
type of demoness called lilitu, who was either adopted by or was
the etymological antecedent for the Hebrew "Lilith". For the
Hebrews, Lilith was originally a demoness who was held responsible
for crib death.
Sometime between 800 CE and 1000 CE, _The_Alphabet_of_Ben-Sira_
was written, combining these two traditions. There, for the first
time, Lilith is named as the first Eve, stating that she left Adam
because she refused to be treated as an inferior to Adam
(particularly, in bed).
Because she refused to return, she is made to kill 100 of her
children every day.
For more information, see:
Alan Humm's Lilith page at:
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/humm/Topics/Lilith/lilith.html
Patai, Raphael _The_Hebrew_Goddess_ Third Enlarged edition. New
York, KTAV Publishing House, 1978. (Also: Wayne State University
Press, 1990.)
Schwartz, Howard. _Lilith's_Cave:_Jewish_Tales_of_the_
_Supernatural_. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1989.
B. What is the phoenix?
The phoenix is a fabulous bird that was to have renewed itself
through periodic deaths and rebirths. As such, this bird is often
used as a symbol of resurrection and immortality. References to
the phoenix have been found in the writings and tales of
China (Feng), Japan, ancient Egypt (Benu), and the Classical
writings of Hesiod, Ovid, Pliny, Tacitus, Herodotus, and Seneca.
Source: _Symbolic and Mythical Animals_ by J.C. Cooper
For more information - Offline:
Any bestiary
such as _Symbolic and Mythical Animals_ by J.C. Cooper
Any dictionary of symbolism
such as _Dictionary of Symbols_ by Jack Tresidder
_The Myth of the Phoenix_ by R. Van Den Broek
out of print?
For more information - Online:
http://www.webcom.com/shownet/bulfinch/fables/bull36.html
Bulfinch's phoenix entry
http://www.eliki.com/ancient/myth/phoenix/content.htm
Phoenix on Eliki
http://www.EgyptianMyths.com/phoenix.htm
April Arnold's Ancient Egypt - the Mythology, phoenix
phoenix entry
For illustrations - Offline:
Any illustrated bestiary
_The Phoenix Cards_ by Susan Sheppard and Debbie Kempton-Smith
_Treasury of Fantastic and Mythological Creatures_ by Richard
Huber
_Symbols, Signs, & Signets_ by Ernst Lehner
For illustrations - Online:
http://www.ci.phoenix.az.us/birdesig.html Phoenix Arizona
Logos
http://www.offworlddesigns.com/phoenix.html Offworld Designs
http://members.surfeu.fi/shanskala/art5.html Sanna Hanskala
NOTE: Since finding good phoenix pictures on-line is a bit like
questing for the Holy Grail, please forward URL's of good phoenix
pictures to the FAQ staff for possible FAQ inclusion.
C. Who was the guy who had to roll a rock up a hill,
and it always rolled back down? What did he do to
deserve it?
Sisyphus. Zeus had seduced the daughter of the
river god Asopus, and Sisyphus ratted on Zeus to
Asopus. Zeus was very angry and had Sisyphus punished
in this way, although Sisyphus didn't go down without
a fight. First he managed to trick Death and tied
him up; after he'd been taken down to Hades, he managed
to get out, and lived happily at home until he died of
old age!
D. Who stole fire from the gods?
In Greek myth, it was Prometheus. Other cultures had/have
tales with similar themes featureing different characters,
such as Coyote or Beaver in Native North American myth and
legend.
E. Who was the guy who got turned into a woman by two snakes?
Tiresias. The story can be found in Ovid's _Metamorphoses_,
book III.
F. Where does the story come from about man and woman splitting?
The Speech of Aristophanes in Plato's _Symposium_. See:
http://plato.evansville.edu/texts/jowett/symposium5.htm
G. "Hercules" and "Xena:" The Mythological Roots
These two television series draw heavily on mythology from around
the world, but, by and large, they don't let accuracy get in the
way of entertainment. Once in a while there is a real blooper, as
when the scriptwriters christened nasty little vampires "dryads"--as
we all know, real dryads are gentle tree--nymphs--and we can
certainly disagree with the interpretation of various characters,
but, mostly, they do a pretty fair job, considering their priorities.
Here, for the curious, is some "real" information about some of the
recurring characters-no gods or monsters, as they're easy to find
information about elsewhere. Hercules himself was as "real" as they
come, of course (his original Greek name was Heracles, which means
"glory of Hera"). Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer and many other leading
"Xena" characters are fictional, though the idea of the fighting
Amazon is very much a part of Greek myth. (Gabrielle, as a name,
would not exist, until the Middle Ages.)
ALCMENE: While married to Amphitrion, she gave birth to twin sons,
Heracles and Iphicles. Herc's real father, however, was the god
Zeus. (In mythological stories about twins, it is common to
attribute the paternity of one of them to a god.) One of the odder
twists of the TV series is to give Alcmene Jason as a second
husband. There is no Greek base for this. Moreover, Jason, both
on TV and in myth, was of Herc's generation, and, in myth, had a
complicated married life of his own.
AUTOLYCUS: Yes, he really was the "king of thieves," a master thief
of such skill that he reputedly could magically disguise the objects
he stole. And, yes, he was widely acquainted. He really did know
Heracles, Iolaus, Sisyphus, Salmoneus, Jason and most of the rest of
the "regulars." Fun fact: His grandson was Odysseus, who appears in
The Iliad and The Odyssey--Odysseus is also considered a tricky
character.
Fun fact #2: He turns up again as a lovable--and tuneful!--rogue in
Shakepeare's play, "The Winter's Tale."
CALLISTO: Not nearly as tough a cookie as her TV counterpart. She
was one of the band of nymphs attending Artemis, the virgin goddess
of the hunt. Seduced by Zeus's wily ways, she got pregnant. When
Artemis, who demanded strict chastity of the girls, found out, she
went into a rage, turned her into a bear, set the dogs on her, and
called the other nymphs to join the hunt. Callisto wouldn't have
had a chance, had Zeus not intervened to catch her up to the stars
as the Great Bear.
CYRENE: Xena's mom, in the show. The "real" Cyrene was a tomboy
Lapith princess, a huntress so brave and strong that she caught the
eye of Apollo himself as she wrestled with a lion. He kidnapped
her in his golden chariot, and bore her away to a city that she
would eventually rule. She slept with him, but also with Ares,
bore several sons, and eventually became a powerful occult
priestess. The "Xena" writers seem to have borrowed from her
legend for Xena's own personality.
IOLAUS: Herc's charioteer, best friend, sidekick--and nephew, son of
Herc's twin brother, Iphicles. Thus he was a good deal younger than
Herc; one story has Herc trying to pass a discarded wife on to him
when he was only 16. (The "real" Herc was nowhere near as saintly
as his TV counterpart.) Iolaus participated in most of the Twelve
Labors central to Herculean mythology, and many of his other
adventures. Just as in the TV series, he never got much credit for
his aid.
JASON: One of the four great Greek action-adventure heroes, the
others being Heracles, Theseus and Perseus. His character on the
show has been almost entirely changed from the original, and his
story is too complex to summarize here. But he never married
Herc's mother!
SALMONEUS: Not a bit like the TV character. The "real" Salmoneus was
mostly known for his bitter rivalry with Sisyphus, that bad man, but
he was also thought to be a rainmaker. He was the great-grandfather
of Jason, which just goes to show how chronology gets mixed up.
H. What are the origins of vampires?
In addition to earlier folkore, two historical personages are
deeply imbedded in the modern conception of the vampire: Vlad
Tepes, and Elizabeth Bathory. Their stories are told at number of
websites. One such site is:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Atrium/9095/index8.html
J. What is name of the the serpent that eats its own tail?
1. Ouroboros (from Greek Alchemy)
2. Jo:rmungand, the Midgard Serpent (Norse Myth)
IV. The Tide's a coming...
A. Flood myths
There are lots of flood myths from all over the world, but not
everywhere and there are many variations, see:
http://atta.best.vwh.net/floods.htm
Comparing these stories is on topic here. Debating or asserting
the veracity (or lack thereof) of these stories is not and is
better suited for talk.origins.
Caveat lector ("let the reader beware") as it's a commercial site,
but http://www.flood-myth.com/ also includes comparisions of the
Near Eastern flood myths including Noah's flood.
V. What about other resources? Where can I find more information?
A. Offline
i. What books should every myth fan have in their library?
We asked some of the frequent posters to alt.mythology, and here
are their recommendations:
Barnstone, Willis ed., _The Other Bible,, Harper Collins, New
York, 1984. This volume collects a number of excerpts from
extra-canonical works - those that didn't make it into the
official Bible. Here they are organized by theme and would
otherwise require hunting through collections of pseudepigrapha
& apocrypha.
Bullfinch, Thomas _Mythology_ (Includes _The Age of Fable_, _The
Age of Chivalry_ and _Legends of Charlemagne_) Bullfinch's
work is a digest of classical mythology, Arthurian and
Carolingian Legends, as well as a bit about Egyptian and
Norse mythology.
Dalley, Stephanie _Myths from Mesopotamia_, Oxford University
Press, New York, 1990. The most recent collection of the
major Babylonian myths is also among the least expensive and
more enjoyable reads.
Gantz, Jeffrey, _The Mabinogion_, Viking Penguin Inc., New York,
1976. There are other good translations of this collection of
Welsh legends but Gantz is highly readable, easy to find and
has some useful notes.
Gill, Sam and Sullivan, Irene, _Dictionary of Native American
Mythology_ Few books on "Native American Mythology" are any
good at being resprentative of the wide range of myths and
legends of the various Native American peoples. This one of
the best and is quite helpful in researching various Native
American myth and legend particulars and motifs.
Graves, Robert, _The Greek Myths_. There is an old Braziller
edition as well as newer ones.
Jones, Alison _LaRousse Dictionary of World Folklore_
This little volume covers a wide range of topics - mythology,
folklore, symbolism, legend, and superstitions. Where else can
you look up lucky charms, the Jersey Devil, the Norns, and
vampires in one book? ;)
Lurker, Manfred, _Dictionary of God and Goddesses, Devils and
Demons_ This is just way tooooo handy of a volume to look up
all those deities one is just not familiar with.
Ovid, _The Metamorphoses_. Many famous myths made poetical.
Pritchard James B., _Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the
Old Testament_, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1955.
There is also a 1969 supplement to this work, as well as a
companion volume, _The Ancient Near East in Pictures_. It used
to be the authoritative source for all complete texts of the
Sumerians, Babylonians, Canaanites, Hittites although now there
are more recent, separate translations. It's pricy but many
libraries have a copy and there is a much more affordable,
abridged paperbound version.
Sproul, Barbara _Primal Myths_. The only cross-cultural
collection I know of which collects the stories in as close to
their original form as possible. It gives only creation myths,
but it includes myths from all parts of the world.
Runners up:
Green, Miranda, _Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend_
Erdoes, Richard and Ortiz Alfonso eds. _American Indian Myths and
Legends_
Pennick, Nigel and Jones, Prudence _A History of Pagan Europe_
Zimmerman's _Dictionary of Classical Mythology_
ii. Sources for young people
The following books all belong to the World Mythology Series from
Peter Bedrick books. These books are richly illustrated, include
a very nice cross section of myths and history from the respective
culture, and are reasonably accurate retellings. Unfortunately
not all of these volumes are still in print:
_Angels, Prophets, Rabbis, & Kings from the Stories of the Jewish
People_ by Jose Patterson.
_Demons, Gods & Holy Men from Indian Myths & Legends_ by Shahrukh
Husain.
_Dragons, Gods & Spirits from Chinese Mythology_ by Tao Tao Liu
Sanders.
_Druids, Gods & Heroes from Celtic Mythology_ by Anne Ross.
_Fabled Cities, Princes & Jinn from Arab Myths and Legends_ by
Khairat Al-Saleh.
_Gods and Heroes from Viking Mythology_ by Brian Branston.
_Gods and Pharaohs from Egyptian Mythology_ by Geraldine Harris.
_Gods, Men and Monsters from the Greek Myths_ by Michael Gibson.
_Heroes, Gods & Emperors from Roman Mythology_ by Kerry Usher.
_Heroes, Monsters, and Other Worlds from Russian Mythology_ by
Elizabeth Warner.
_Kings, Gods & Spirits from African Mythology_ by Jan Knappert.
_Spirits, Heroes & Hunters from North American Indian Mythology_
by Marion Wood.
_Warriors, Gods and Spirits from Central and South American
Mythology_ by Douglas Gifford.
Some other very nice books for younger readers follow. Same
proviso applies - not all of these volumes are still in print.
_In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World_ by
Virginia Hamilton. Various. Color illustrations.
_The Illustrated Book of Myths_ by Neil Philip.
Various. Photos and color illustrations.
_Mythical Journeys, Legendary Quests_ by Moyra Caldecott.
Various. Color and B/W illustrations.
_The Singing Sack: 28 Song-Stories from Around the World_ by
Helen East. Various. A very different format. Folktales
and traditional songs. Can be accompanied by a recording of
the songs.
_D'Aulaires' Greek Mythology_ by Ingri D'Aulaire and Edgar Parin
D'Aulaire. Ancient Greece. Color and B/W illustrations.
_Celtic Fairy Tales_ by Joseph Jacobs. "Celt". Multiple titles by
same author. Inexpensive. B/W illustrations.
_d'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants_, by Ingri and Edgar Parin
d'Aulaires. Norse. Color and B/W illustrations.
_Adopted by the Eagles_ by Paul Goble.
Native American. Numerous titles by same author. Color
illustrations by author.
_Iroquois Stories: Heroes and Heroines, Monsters and Magic_ by
Joseph Bruchac. Native American. B/W illustrations.
_Skywoman: Legends of the Iroquois_ by Joanne Shenandoah and
Douglas George. Native American. B/W illustrations.
[If you have any suggestions for really great sources for readers
of all ages, please forward them to the FAQ staff. We'll review
them for possible inclusion!]
iii. Where can we find references on various animals in myth and
folklore?
Here are some sources that will aid in researching the symbolism
or mythological/folkloric references of animals.
Should you know of other sources that would be a great help to
others doing similar research, please pass the information along
to the FAQ staff for possible inclusion in this list.
Sources on multiple animals and creatures:
_Zoo of the Gods_ by Anthony S. Mercatante
_Wildlife Folklore_ by Laura C. Martin
_Symbolic & Mythological Animals_ by J.C. Cooper
_The Bestiary: a Book of Beasts_ by T.H. White
_Hargreaves New Illustrated Bestiary_ by Joyce Hargreaves
_Lady of the Beasts: Ancient Images of the Goddess and Her
Sacred Animals_ by Buffie Johnson
Encyclopedias and Dictionaries not specifically focusing on
animals and other creatures:
_Dictionary of Native American Mythology_ by Sam D. Gill and
Irene F. Sullivan
_Dictionary of Symbols_ by Jack Tresidder
_The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects_ by
Barbara Walker
_Motif-Index of Folk-Literature_ by Stith Thompson
_The Encyclopedia of Things that Never Were: Creatures, Places
and People_ by Michael Page and Robert Ingpen
Sources on the lore of specific creatures:
_The Folktale Cat_ by Frank de Caro
_Ravensong: A Natural and Fabulous History of Ravens and Crows_
by Catherine Feher Elston
_The Sacred Paw: The Bear in Nature, Myth, and Literature_ by
Paul Shepard and Barry Sanders
B. on-line sources
i. A few good general online sites for mythology information
include:
Encyclopedia Mythica - maintains thousands of short articles
about myth topics from all over the world. It also has
sub-indexes broken down by cultural group. (Note, this site
has been offline since October, but it's maintainer, Micha
Lindemans, has promised an eventual return)
http://www.pantheon.org
Myths and Legends - This is a list, with brief descriptions, of
links to hundreds of mythology, legend & folktale related
sites. It begins with a general section and then groups the
links by region, culture & language group.
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze33gpz/myth.html
Myth and Legend from Ancient Times to the Space Age - This is
another list, with brief descriptions, of links to hundreds
of mythology, legend and folktale related sites.
http://www.pibburns.com/myth.htm
Mything Links by Kathleen Jenks is another such list, broken
down by culture and in some cases subject area. Her
descriptions are rather lengthy, which some may find more
informative and others may find rambling. Some browsers may
have difficulty with some applets on the site.
http://www.mythinglinks.org
Electronic Texts archives and links:
The Online Medieval and Classical Library:
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/
Early Modern LIterary Studies (includes Medieval and Classical
texts as well)
http://unixg.ubc.ca:7001/0/e-sources/emls/emlsetxt.html
The Electronic Text Center is one of the larger general e-text
archives of texts in a number of languages covering a variety
of subjects including myth, folklore, religion, fairy tales
and much more.
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/uvaonline.html
D. L. Ashliman's archive of Folklore and Mythology e-texts is
particularly strong in folk and fairy tales and in Germanic
myths and legends.
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folktexts.html
Ancient Egypt - The Mythology
April Arnold's general resource on Egyptian mythology.
http://www.EgyptianMyths.com
Goddesses of Ancient Egypt - Katherine Griffis's essays on those
deities.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/8669/index.html
The Perseus Project - An online database about ancient Greece.
Includes lots of ancient texts (including Homer, Hesiod, and
the main Greek dramatists), and pictures of ancient artwork
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/
Herakles - Greece's Greatest Hero
Web site about Herakles (more commonly known as Hercules)
at the Perseus Project.
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/
That Zeus really gets around...
For Greek mythological family trees try:
http://chaos1.hypermart.net/myth/ftgm.html - a very complete
table, saved as an image.
http://members.xoom.com/bladesmaster/timelessmyths/family1.html
also very complete, and somewhat quicker loading than the
link above.
http://www.ancientgreece.com/html/mythology_frame.htm - a
less complete table.
http://www.geocities.com/amwells1/tables3.html - a more
stylized representation.
Free English Translations of the Norse Eddas and Sagas on the
Internet:
http://www.squirrel.com/squirrel/asatru/free.html
Celtic myth - Anniina Jokinen presents an enormous collection of
links to Irish Literature, Mythology, Folkore, and Drama:
http://www.luminarium.org/mythology/ireland/
Over a hundred Native American tales are found in the Lore
section of Stonee's Weblodge:
http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/loreindx.html
WWW Virtual Library's Index of Native American Resources on the
Internet Native American tales
http://www.hanksville.org/NAresources/
Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies - is the primary
medieval site on the web and collects a number of texts from
and about the period from 500 to 1500 C.E.
http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/labyrinth-home.html
Saints and such:
Online Saints Index (could use some proofing)
http://saints.catholic.org/stsindex.html
Edmund LoPresti's Saints Page:
http://www.pitt.edu/~eflst4/saint_bios.html
For further, more exhaustive. research, The Catholic
Encyclopedia:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/
ii. Other related faqs and newsgroups
There are a number of FAQ's associated with special topics that
come up in the group. They include:
Kim and Mike Burkard's The Green - featuring Kim's extensive
mythology booklist FAQ:
http://www.servtech.com/public/greenman/index.html
Mark Isaak's Mythological Resource FAQ at:
http://atta.best.vwh.net/mythsrcs.html
Nicole Cherry's Norse Mythology FAQ:
http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~cherryne/mythology.html
Cindy Tittle Moore's Arthurian and Robin Hood Booklists:
http://www.io.com/~tittle/books/arthurian.html
http://www.io.com/~tittle/books/robin-hood.html
Chris Siren's Sumerian, Assyro-Babylonian, and Canaanite
Mythology FAQs and Hittite/Hurrian Mythology REF:
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze33gpz/sumer-faq.html
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze33gpz/assyrbabyl-faq.html
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze33gpz/canaanite-faq.html
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze33gpz/hittite-ref.html
A number of other newsgroups are related to discussion here as well
including:
alt.mythology.mythic-animals - This group is intended to be for
the discussion of mythic & legendary animals & monsters. It
is also dominated by a lot of PBNG (play by newsgroup)
free-form roleplaying.
alt.mythology.mythic-animals.gryphons
alt.mythology.jinn - a fairly low trafic NG devoted to the
discussion of jinni (aka genie, djinni), ifrits, marids, et al.
alt.legend.king-arthur - a group of similar character to
alt.mythology, but focused on discussing the many versions of
the Arthurian tale, ranging from possible historical roots to
modern retellings and movies.
sci.classics - discussion of Ancient Greek and Latin literature
humanities.classics - sci.classics regrouped?
iii. Where can we find pics of <fill in the blank>?
General mythology:
Sacred Source (formerly JBL Statue): http://sacredsource.com/
Goddess Gallery Online (also contains depictions of male
deities):
http://www.spiritone.com/~goddessg/index.html
Goddess Myths - the paintings on this site are more modern
interpretations, whereas on the previous two sites, the
artwork is more traditional: http://www.goddessmyths.com/
Egyptian mythology:
Neferchichi's Egyptian Graphics contains clip art of Egyptian
deities at:
http://members.aol.com/chichi/index.html
The Phoenix:
Phoenix Arizona Logos:
http://www.ci.phoenix.az.us/birdesig.html
Offworld Design
http://www.offworlddesigns.com/phoenix.html
Classical mythology:
The University of Haifa site - Mythology in Western Art:
http://www-lib.haifa.ac.il/www/art/MYTHOLOGY_WESTART.HTML
Oxford's Beazley Archive of Greek and Roman Sculpture has pix
of classical statues and paintings of gods and goddesses.
http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/BeazleyAdmin/Script/ba_cgprog.html
iv. Best search engines for mythological subjects
AltaVista is a great general search engine, particularly if you
are searching for an specific or unusual topic.
http://www.altavista.com
Google is another good search engine that puts the more linked
to results earlier
http://www.google.com
VI. Myth Studies and Myth Authors
A. The Traditional Myth Authors [Frazer, Jung, Graves, Claude
Levi-Strauss, Joseph Campbell, Kerenyi, Cassirer, Eliade, etc.]
i. Robert Graves (1895 - 1985)
Graves, a considerable poet, essayist and novelist, wrote two
books that have had a great influence on the modern study of
mythology. The first is _The Greek Myths_, published sometimes
in two volumes, also, more usefully, in one. This is probably
the handiest reference guide to any mythology ever compiled.*
(It is not the one to get if you just "want the story.") Graves,
also a learned classicist, in effect invented a form of hypertext
for the printed page many decades before html was ever dreamed
of. The brief chapters are first divided into alphabetized
paragraphs which tell all or part of a myth (subsequent chapters
continue it). Each paragraph is end-noted to its source(s) from
Greece or Rome (Roman authors are sourced, but only Greek
mythology is considered). Following that, brief numbered
paragraphs give Graves s explanations and interpretations of the
text. At the end of the book is an index of names, giving
pronunciation, translation of meaning (when applicable) and all
citations. _Hebrew Myths_, written with Raphael Patai, uses the
same wonderfully flexible format, but can t be said to be so
influential, possibly because the Bible, for many people, is
inadmissible as mythology.
Graves's other big book, _The White Goddess_, may be the most
eccentric non-fictional work ever written by a classicist. Its
influence on the popular perception of mythology, both Greek and
Northern European, has been enormous, not necessarily a good thing,
but certainly an interesting one. The book has been hard-wired into
20th-century cultural history despite being almost entirely
romantic (or poetic) personal theory. Its theories underwrite
modern neo-paganism, and, even more, have promoted or anointed the
concept of the Triple Goddess to a point past common sense--and
scholarly protest. Otherwise hardheaded people, with a nose for
hokum, can love _The White Goddess_--its charms are many--without
necessarily embracing it, or is that her? Beware, she's dangerous.
A number of Graves's novels may be of interest to alt.mythology
readers: _Hercules, My Shipmate_; _Homer's Daughter_; _King Jesus_;
his translation of Apuleis's Latin novel _The Golden Ass_; and the
two non-mythological novels about the Emperor Claudius that are
the basis for TV's great mini-series, "I, Claudius."
* If you know how to read it, that is. It is important, but easy,
to learn how to read Graves as a solid reference tool. Take all
the alphabetized material, the footnotes and the index as gospel
-- he s completely reliable there. Take the numbered material
(the interpretations) with a great big pinch of salt (remembering,
however, that he was a learned, cultured and well-traveled man,
also that he respected the reader enough to keep his opinions
separate from the facts). Keep in mind that the poetic mind does
not work quite as other minds do. If you doubt that, read The
White Goddess.
ii. Joseph Campbell (1904 - 1987)
The most popular disciple of Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and his
ideas about archetypes and universal myths are no strangers to this
forum. He does tend to be criticized here for, among other things,
making overly broad generalizations. Also his fans are often
chided for not seeing much of Jung's work in Campbell's. Still it
can not be argued that Campbell has not been a major force behind
the popularity of the study of mythology over the past thirty
years. Check Google's groups archive before starting another
Campbell thread here. Other arenas perhaps more suited to
discussion of his works are:
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/josephcampbellmythologygroup
- Very high quality discussion but also pretty friendly.
http://www.onelist.com/community/CampbellFoundation
- Also very high quality, with a lot quoting and some beautiful
writing.
If you're not looking for newsgroups specifically, there are *lots*
of Joseph Campbell forums out there. (And there may be J.C.
newsgroups, too... we just don't know of any.)
One such forum is the Joseph Campbell Foundation Website:
http://www.jcf.org/
iii. Mircea Eliade
Eliade's principal goal was to demonstrate that religion was
something worthy of study in its own right. It was not, to him, just
a consequence of other factors (ala Marx or Freud, for example.) In
Eliade's study of religion he noted three themes that seemed to run
through all religion (at least all archaic religion.) First there
was a distinction between the sacred and the profane, that is,
everyday life. Since it is impossible for men to directly describe
the sacred it must be done symbolically, which is how mythology
enters the picture. One way to rise out of the profane and into the
sacred is to abolish history, that is, we want to return to that
moment before the profane and sacred split apart. To do this we
can view history as cyclic so that we are always going back to the
moment of creation.
One of the major criticisms of Eliade is that the globalism that
he sees in religion is not really there and is only made to appear
there by a superficial view of things that are colored by Eliade's
own beliefs. Another criticism is he often did not define his
terms very well, and so sometimes the concepts he talks about seem
very vague.
Eliade never wrote a systematic treatise on his ideas, which is
one thing that led to the second criticism above, and parts of his
ideas appear in the various books that he wrote. Thus to get an
overall view of Eliade's thought one has to read many of his
writings. The following are a few that can get one started: Images
and Symbols; The Myth of Eternal Return; Myth, Drama and Mystery;
Patterns in Comparative Religion; The Sacred and the Profane. Also
of interest are Eliade's autobiography and his journals.
VII. What about mythological symbols and other tangentially related
topics?
These are usually off topic here but...
A. Amulets & Talismans
Get ye to http://www.luckymojo.com and the newsgroup alt.lucky.w
VIII. Acknowledgements
The members of the alt.mythology FAQ committee have been:
Kim Burkard <gree...@DELETEMEservtech.com>,
Chris Camfield <ccam...@DELETEMEemail.com>,
Dick Eney <dic...@DELETEMERadix.Net>,
Katherine Griffis <egy...@DELETEMEgriffis-consulting.com>,
Mark Isaak <at...@DELETEMEbest.com>,
Don Redmond <dred...@DELETEMEmath.siu.edu>,
Chris Siren <cbs...@DELETEMEalum.mit.edu>, and
Alice Turner <atur...@DELETEMEnyc.rr.com>,
and have been assisted by the rest of alt.mythology in authoring
this FAQ.