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Comparative mythology is the academic study of different myths, in an attempt to discover how various myths and religions evolved over time, and aims to reveal relationships between distant religions, and describe their origin.
Scholarly debates
Comparative mythology is related to comparative religion. It is a field of study which is technically part of anthropology, but is more usually regarded as part of the subject of ancient history. One very well-known recent author in this field was Joseph Campbell. Campbell is considered to be the pioneer of modern comparative mythology beginning with his book The Hero With a Thousand Faces, which describes the grave similarities between hero myths in different cultures. Campbell's ideas were merged with Carl Jung's studies into the psychological phenomenon of the Archetype, defined by comparative mythologists as recurrent images that exist cross-culturally throughout time. Many of its discoveries elicit great curiosity, such as the god Poseidon having pre-dated the concept of the Olympians, originally having been a land-based god.
Theories in the field have a tendency to denigrate historicity of events claimed to have occurred by religions and suggest that since the idea of what is considered by the faiths as true has evolved gradually, there is no particular reason to trust the recent ideas over the older ones. Developments in this field are often regarded as highly controversial when they involve modern faiths, such as Christianity and Hinduism, because they are seen as undermining claims of historical truth of these tenets of faith.
Despite its significance, the field of study, like ancient history as a whole, has few academics compared to other areas of research. In consequence, developments are slow and drawn-out and frequently suffer uncontested ridicule at the hands of religious conservatives and scholars in other fields whose theories may otherwise be damaged. This situation is not aided by the limited number of other academics in the field to review and constructively criticise such research as it develops.
Analysis
What theories
What theories, in the study of comparative mythology, came to a peak in the 19th century. What theorists were unconcerned with the science of myth, and primarily focused on what exactly myths were. It was believed that the involvement of science in their analysis would be fruitless and would result in unanswerable questions . To What theorists, myth is seen mostly as misremembered history, and that many of the Gods in mythology were based upon real people or events which had some moderate historical significance. Over time these relatively normal accomplishments would be augmented in the same way phrases are skewed in the telephone game. Some influential What theorists include Max Muller, Andrew Lang and James Frazer.Why theories
Why theories, popular in the 20th century, are concerned with the psychological and structural implications of mythology. Why theorists focus on the idea of the collective human unconscious in terms of understanding the origin of myths. Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung used their theories of analytic psychology to understand myths in a way not done before. Freud believed that mythology reflected the psychological forces present within individuals, and more specifically their dreams. Since Freud understood dreams as being sexual in nature then all mythologies, to Freud, were also based upon the innate sexuality of those who perpetuated these myths in various cultures. Freud's Oedipus Complex was a result of his combined study of psychoanalysis and the psychology of mythology. Claude Levi-Strauss was a prominent Why theorist.Earlier Religions
With earlier religions there is much less controversy and consequently much more constructive research occurs. One of the most successful developments has been the partial theoretical reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European religion, which was informed by work in the field of Proto-Indo-European language. Study of early religion of this kind is heavily connected to comparative linguistics, because the apparently distinct behaviour of gods and other figures makes it difficult to draw identifications without finding linguistic connections.
One of the first modern titles in the field was The Two Babylons, which unfortunately is more a polemic against Roman Catholicism than academic text, and many of its theories have since been overturned by subsequent research and review. Another early modern title was The White Goddess, in which attempts were made to draw together many goddesses from various classical cultures, claiming they developed from a single shared figure.
Turn-Over
Much of the early work has since been discarded, partly due to the discoveries of comparative linguistics, which indicate more plausible relationships. Another reason for disregarding them has been the construction of better received theories that posit gradual adaption of gods and mythic characters.
Although it is tempting to completely disregard many earlier theories, it is important to note that it is only most of the works that have been discarded, whereas small parts of the texts have been supported by later, and more academic, research.
Fields of study
- Comparing Eastern and Western religious traditions
- Fundamentalism
- Creation myth
- Christianity and Buddhism
- Judeo-Christian
- Comparing and contrasting Judaism and Christianity
- Christo-Islamic
- Development of religion
See also
Anthropology | Mythology | Indo-European mythology | Religious comparison
Mythologie comparée | Lyginamoji mitologija | Сравнительная мифология
"Comparative mythology"