All Colour Book of Greek Mythology [antikvár]

Introduction toGREEK MYTHOLOGYSince that stage in evolution when man ceased tobe an animal and became homo sapiens, it has been inherent in hisnature, on looking at the world about him with wondering andpuzzled eyes, to ask the questions 'Why?' and 'How?' It is theresults of his groping attempts throughout the ages to find theanswer to these questions which we call religionor mythology:for we are inclined to consider our own beliefsif we have anyas religion, and other people's beliefs as mythology.A myth then is firstly, man's attempt to explain the world andthe things he sees in it, and to make intelligible to himself thenatural phenomena which condition his way of life in that world.His beliefs will vary according to this way of life and its needs. Forexample, to nomadic herdsmen, wandering about and disputinggrazing territory with rival tribes, a strong, belligerent sky-godwill be the best protector; while to a peaceable and settled agricul-tural community it is the fruitfulness of the earth-mother which isall important.Secondly, and at a later and somewhat higher stage of humanculture, a myth seeks also to justify an established social patterntogether with its traditions and ritual; and it records, as it weredramatically, the historical invasions and migrations, changes ofleadership and foreign influences, which combined to establish thatsocial pattern. This second type of myth will tend to produce ahierarchy of gods which parallels the society of its believers: forinstance, the gods of ancient China were members of a divinebureaucracy resembling in almost all respects the political admin-istration of their worshippers.At some stage in the long, slow development of these twotypes of myth, there will come a priest-poet, often semi-legendary,who will rationalize his people's beliefs and give a formal shape totheir myth, as did Homer and Hesiod for the Greeks, and in thismanner is a national religion established. And later, much later,though still based on the same primitive beginnings, will corne-as they did for the Romansthe elegant sophistications of an Ovidwith his Metamorphoses, or of an Apuleius with his charmingallegory of Cupid and Psyche.The precise difference between a myth and a folk-tale has longvexed scholars, because in many examples the theme and contentof both are similar enough for their stories to be in essence thesame. Just where exactly do the traditions of a people cease to bemyths and become merely folk-tales? It is now generally agreedthat if a story tells of a happening which affects the whole world,or all the members of a certain community, and is set at a timebefore a pattern of everyday life has been established, it is a myth.