Week 6 Lab

 This week, I chose to do a story laboratory. I watched three Crash Course Myth videos. 

The first one I watched was titled "What Is Myth? Crash Course World Mythology #1," which gave an overview of the crash course discussing some of the origins of myths, getting into some of the interesting things that come along with telling myths. This includes the difficulty of finding the author of many myths, conflicting definitions of myths and mythology. Some people argue that myths must involve gods because they must have an explanatory reason for different aspects of the universe, they used the story of Hades, Persephone, and Demeter as an example, for it explains the seasons. I think the idea of myths being required to be origin stories is interesting, and the inevitable way it leads to intertwining with religion. This is why he specified that they were going to focus more on the stories themselves, leaving belief for the reader themselves to decide, because challenging people's religion can be tricky. 

The second one I watched was titled "Theories of Myth: Crash Course World Mythology #12," which went into some of the different theories surrounding mythology and how to study it. Some people suggest that it is a reflection of culture. in many studies it is deeply intertwined with the study of Anthropology. He also discusses some of the different ways people interpret myth, going into some of the strategies people recommend using when learning myth. Some recommend giving people a toolbox of questions to ask when reading the myth to help them better analyze the myth in an academic way. 

The last one I watched was titled "The Hero's Journey and the Monomyth: Crash Course World Mythology #25," which discussed the hero, the centerpiece of many mythological stories. It focused on the archetype or story outline called The Hero's Journey, or sometimes the monomyth, as developed by Joseph Campbell. This steps through the outline of the hero's journey, including the separation, trials and victories of initiation, and the return, going into more specific steps in each part of the archetype. He discusses the transformation of the hero's journey to what is seen more in pop culture today. This includes how the ending in many versions of the hero's journey is more likely to be in the trials and victories of initiation section, and how defeating the enemy and getting the girl are more likely to conclude the story. He then contrasts that with many hero's journies in mythology that end with the hero returning home. Many times in these stories, heroes are turned into celestial bodies. 

The story of Hercules is a common example of the hero's journey, which is the reason for the selection of the image below. 

("Prometheus and Hercules" Source: Wikimedia)