Myths have deep roots. My own realisation came when I read the Gilgamesh epic for the first time and suddenly there was Utnapishtim right in front of my nose. "Whoa, that looks familiar ... man builds boat to avoid flood. Heard that one before."
(At risk of teaching my granny to suck eggs, Gilgamesh is the hero of one of the first written stories. His adventures take him all over the place and at one point he visits Utnapishtim, who is the Mesopotamian version of Noah. Gilgamesh is described as two parts god and one part man and his battle with his own mortality is one of the core themes of the epic.)
There, I think, is the nub of the matter. With myth, we've all heard that one before. The stories and the way they work are part of how we operate as human beings.
If I was asked to define what makes people, people, I might well settle on stories and story telling as our defining characteristic. Plenty of mammals communicate to share valuable information, but I don't know of any other species that creates history and story for itself as the means to do it.
Stretching that a little further, I wonder at what point this happened. When did we first start telling stories around the fire? When did we first start trying to work out what happened after death? When did we first need heroes? It feels as if that was an evolutionary turning point. The need to know combined with the ability to put ourselves into another place or person.
Of course we still do it today. Drama and games in all their forms are part of this old tradition. We tell stories to keep ourselves human.
Terry Pratchett and his co-authors of the Science of Discworld series suggest that we are Pan narrans, the storytelling ape. I've always liked that.
ReplyDeleteI had (still have) a big children's book full oy myths from all over the world, including the Gilgamesh epos. I loved reading all those myths, it did a lot for my general education and I came across the idea of shared myths in different cultures fairly early (like Daedalus and Weyland the Smith who both try to build wings to escape).
I didn't know the one about Pan narrans. What a great description.
DeleteLike you I have a number of books about myths and love them dearly. They are a fine source of workshop material - or that's my excuse at least. The reality is I just love reading them and like to share.
Great post. When I did M: Mythology I was tempted to deal with flood myths too, but it was already becoming epic ;)
ReplyDeleteI'd say it doesn't look likely any other species tell stories & their histories. I'd be surprised if it doesn't predate our species to our ancestor species though: if not, it must have been very early for us. I think its one of the best things about us.
I loved your Mythology post and it partially inspired this one.
DeleteI could quite happily go with the image of the first caveman to kill something impressive and brought back to the cave to eat, would stand in front of his other clan members, grunting and waving his hunting device around, re-enacting the killing blow, and pounding his chest, as being how stories were born and began.
ReplyDeleteLove the guys beard... bugger to shave, I bet ;)
Wonderful image and a strong possibility as well.
DeleteJust by the way, that beard is clearly a labour of love. Never would it be shaved.
Very cool post.
ReplyDeleteI have created a fantasy setting (primarily for role playing game purposes, but I have other plans) called Shatterworld. The name is derived from The Shattering, which is basically a "flood" story, when the gods "tired of man's wail" (what a great line!).
http://shatterworldrpg.blogspot.com/
I've been promising myself a long catch up once A-Z comes to an end and Shatterworld is high on my list.
DeleteStory telling is as old and venerable as time. Lucky for us!
ReplyDeleteI love hearing the old stories. So good they're told over and over again.
ReplyDelete@ Susan and Christine - I love the notion of a long river of stories stretching back over aeons. All the tributaries branching off from the same source.
ReplyDeleteThanks for an interesting post. I love stories of any type & it seems the hero's journey is repeated every where, so we can identify with the character to watch them successfully complete the way to their destination :)
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome :)
DeleteTwo parts god and one part man has my gears grinding ...
ReplyDeleteExactly. That was the phrase the caught me in the first place.
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