“Writers and Their Myth-Conceptions”

Myths are all about stories and writers are story people.  Wikipedia defines myths as “any traditional story consisting of events that are ostensibly historical, though often supernatural, explaining the origins of a cultural practice or a natural phenomenon.”

Writers use myths as story material all the time.  Science fiction writers could be thought of as trafficking in myths about the future.  For example, Star Trek (now 50 years old) has given us communicators (we have them today), tricorders (we may have them soon) and the Holodeck (possibly later VR technology). 

Recently, I read an article in Scientific American by Julien d’Huy about myths and how they originated and spread.  It turns out that it’s possible to use a statistical technique common in evolutionary studies to track myths, where they started, where they went and how myths across peoples and cultures compare.  This technique is called phylogenetic analysis. 

D’Huy breaks down various myths into structural elements that he called mythemes, a term which comes from anthropology.  He uses phylogenetic analysis to compare myths from various cultures and has found that the structure of mythical stories, which often remain unchanged for thousands of years, closely parallels the history of large-scale human migration, from Africa to Asia, Europe and the Americas.

For example, the Greek version of a familiar myth starts with Artemis, goddess of the hunt and protectress of young women.  Artemis demands that Callisto and her other handmaidens take a vow of chastity.  Zeus tricks Callisto into giving up her virginity and she gives birth to a son, Arcas.  Zeus has a jealous wife, however, named Hera who turns Callisto into a bear and banishes her to the mountains.  Meanwhile Arcas grows up to become a hunter and one day happens on a bear that greets him with outstretched arms.  Not recognizing his mother, he takes aim with his spear but Zeus comes to the rescue.  He transforms Callisto into the constellation Ursa Major or “great bear,” and places Arcas nearby as Ursa Minor, or “little bear.”

As the Iroquois of the northeastern U.S. tell it, three hunters pursue a bear.  The blood of the wounded animal colors the leaves of the autumnal forest.  The bear then climbs a mountain and leaps into the sky.  The hunters and the animal become the constellation Ursa Major. 

Although the animals and the constellations may differ, the basic structure of the story does not.  These sagas all belong to a family of myths known as the Cosmic Hunt.  Every version of the Cosmic Hunt, which spread from Africa to Europe and Asia at least 15,000 years ago, shares a common story line—a man or an animal pursues or kills one or more animals and the creatures are changed into constellations.

D’Huy has analyzed major mythical types and has been able to show that the structure of myths closely tracks the migration of humans from their earliest origins in Africa, lending additional support to fossil and genetic evidence that we all came from a small group of proto-humans in that part of the world. 

There are many myths: the Cosmic Hunt, the Pygmalion myth, the Polyphemus myth of a monster in the cave (think Cyclops and Sinbad tales).  In reading this article, I realize I have subconsciously followed the Polyphemus myth myself in placing my great adversary Config Zero (from Tales of the Quantum Corps) in a cave atop a volcanic summit called Kipwezi in east Africa. 

Writers traffic in myths, intentionally or not.  If you tell a story that aligns with one of the great myths of human history, you’ve got a ready-made foundation that will lend your story even greater power to its readers, because it will resonate with ideas and stories already embedded in their consciousness.  I’m convinced this is why the Harry Potter stories have been so popular.  They speak to powerful undercurrents in our story consciousness. 

And we all know that we are hard-wired to love stories.  In my October 24, 2016 post to The Word Shed, I quoted California neurobiologist Paul Zak this way: “…as social creatures who regularly affiliate with strangers, stories are an effective way to transmit important information and values from one individual or community to the next. Stories that are personal and emotionally compelling engage more of the brain, and thus are better remembered, than simply stating a set of facts.”

And to that, we can add that stories that align with powerful myths are especially compelling and likely to really grab a reader by the throat and draw him in.  Every writer wants to do that. 

Stir up the oxytocin receptors with myth-conceptions and you’ll have your audience hooked.

The next post to The Word Shed will come on December 19, 2016.

See you then.

Phil B.