I was so excited to see watching Crash Course videos was an assignment option this week! Crash Course has always been one of my favorite ways to learn; the videos are fun to watch and easy to understand, and yet I am able to learn quite a bit from them. One of my favorite parts of these videos is reading the fun facts during the opening sequence. The Overview of Mythology videos gave a comprehensive look at what makes a story a myth and different ways to look at mythology.
The first video ("What is Myth?) was helpful for me to get a better idea of what constitutes a myth. According to this video, only stories are considered myths, which means myths cannot be historical. The host, Mike Rugnetta, points out that myths can be difficult to strictly define, and there is sometimes crossover between different types of stories.
This video looks into the story of Persephone and explains how this story was used as an explanation for the reasons. Mike then looks into some of the theories of mythology, which the series focuses more on in later videos and outlines what upcoming videos will cover.
The second video (Theories of Myth") focuses on the definition of mythology. Mythology often was explanations for natural wonders of the world. Myths also began to take form as origin stories. Mythology soon became tied with religion; myths were used to contribute things that could not be explained by science (back then) to God/the gods. Myths then became hero stories and the story became a vehicle for individuals to find their sense of selves. Myths can also be looked at structurally; binaries are often used to show contrast. Contemporary ways of looking at myths include answering the questions about social, psychological, literary, textual, performative, structural, and political to look at the myth comprehensively.
The third video ("The Hero's Journey and the Monomyth") looks at heroes and what makes them a hero. Joseph Campbell created a theory on the structure a hero story tells, called "A Hero's Journey." He believed these stories taught us about ourselves. Humans want adventure and wisdom, and we also go through struggles like heroes do. A monomyth, or a heroic story, has three parts
Hero separates himself from the rest of the world. First he received the call to adventure, then he offers refuses, and finally he gets supernatural aid once he accepts his destiny. He then crosses the first threshold and goes into the middle of danger. In the second part, he goes through trials and victories. The hero must overcome trials to prove himself; these trials represent psychological difficulties people go through, according to Campbell. In the third and final part, the hero returns to society. Their return often still has some difficulty associated with it. Again, the different types of returns represent different psychological thoughts.
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