In this journal response I will use Power of Myth, the evolution of the term mythos according to Lincoln, and my notes regarding pantheistic and polytheistic myths to answer some of these questions and address my takeaway on the subject matter.
Is suffering a good way to get to happiness? According to Campbell, the secret to all suffering is mortality itself which is the prime condition of life (Campbell, 1991, xi). In other words, by inherently being alive an individual can not avoid suffering. For example, consider a baby that is crying when it is hungry. The baby is distressed and seeks to alleviate its hunger by crying out to its mother, in this way suffering is innate.
So if a person cannot be excluded from suffering is there a way to optimize suffering to get to happiness? The basis of Buddhism is to alleviate suffering by following the Eightfold path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. The Eightfold path uses concepts of moral virtue, meditation, and insight to achieve liberation from suffering in the form of nirvana.
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What happens after death? Hunters and gathers believed that after death a person would move onto another life. Christians will say that after death you will go to heaven or hell depending on whether you accept Jesus as your savior and repent for your sins. In Christian, Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology believe that there are different paths the soul travels after death.
In Christianity, depending on which sect and time era, originally there was the idea that after death a person can be sent to hell, purgatory, or heaven. These ideas were largely influenced by Dante’s Divine Comedy. According to Dante there are nine sphere of heaven, nine circles of Hell, and seven terraces in purgatory, with some intermediate sections in all of these spheres, circles, or terraces.
In Greek mythology, there are four division of the afterlife: Fields of Punishment, Fields of Asphodel, Elysian Fields, and Isles of the blessed. The field of punishment is where souls would go if they commit a crime. In Fields of Asphodel, souls are put here when they did not commit crimes but did not achieve anything worthwhile in their lifetime. In Elysian Fields, people that were righteous and virtuous were sent here after death. The Isles of the Blessed is for people that were reincarnated three times and are worthy of living in eternal paradise.
In Roman mythology, the underworld consists of Elysian Fields, Tartarus, and Plain of Asphodel. The Elysian Fields is similar to Heaven in Christian and Greek mythology. Tartarus is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for wicked people or as a prison for Titans. The Plain of Asphodel is where people who lived an ordinary life are sent after death.
In Egyptian mythology, the Land of Two Fields is considered to be a heavenly place to live after you die. Basically, Anubis would weigh your heart against a feather and if the heart was equal or lighter in comparison to the feather you could get into the Land of Two Fields. If your heart is heavier than a feather your soul was eaten by Ammut. Additionally, in order to get into the Land of Two Fields, besides having a heart lighter than a feather, a person also needed to have their name documented somewhere and also needed to have a preserved body after death. Furthermore, once a person passed away their soul split into two, the Ba and the Ka. If your name was not written down the Ba and Ka would get lost on their way to your tomb to sleep.
In Hindu mythology, humans are in a cycle of death and rebirth. When a person dies, their atman (essence of a person) is reborn in a different body. Whether this rebirth happens immediately after death or their spirit may exists in other realms varies from different sects in Hinduism. Living life according to teachings in Hindu scripture will eventually lead to moksha (escape from the cycle of reincarnation). The moksha is eventually absorbed into a supreme being called the Brahman (Vishnu) or lives in a realm of a supreme being. Additionally, there are ten other avatars related to Vishnu that are supreme beings in their own right.
In Mayan mythology, Xibalba (underworld) is ruled by the Maya death gods and their helpers. The Maize god with the help of two hero twins battles the Maya death gods in Xibalba and after making it past the death gods finish their journey to the Earth where Maize is reborn, dies, and cycle repeats. In this aspect, the Mayans believed that they are either reincarnated and or serve another role after death.
Why are myths important? According to Campbell, myths help serve a cosmological, sociological, and pedagogical function (Campbell, 1991, pp. 33). For example, a myth that serves a sociological function helps validate a type of social order (Campbell, 1991, p.33). However, simple modifications to an accepted myth can advance new lines of interpretation towards how a society should respond to a social issue or problem (Lincoln, 1989, pp. 26). This occurred at some point in the Roman Catholic church when priest started accepting money from people in exchange for dispensing God’s grace to forgive people for their sins.
A pedagogical myth describes how people should live their life. A cosmological myth helps explain how the universe came to be and how it operates. For instance, in the pre-socratic era, myths were described as either straight or crooked. A straight mythoi describes headstrong men, who are proud of their strength and bent on victory (Lincoln, 1991, pp. 12) While a crooked mythoi describes a wicked person (Lincoln, 1991, pp. 12).
In any case, myths help explain life and death, offer explanations of how the universe came into existence, and guide humanity with a moral compass.
Works Cited
- Campbell, Joseph. (1991). The Power of Myth. Toronto, Canada: Random House of Canada Limited.
- Lincoln, Bruce. (1989). Discourse and the Construction of Society Comparative Studies of Myth, Ritual, and Classification. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.
- Lincoln, Bruce. (1999) Theorizing Myth Narrative, Ideology, and Scholarship. Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press.
