This week I decided to do the Crash Course Myth videos, which are a set of three videos from Crash Course about mythology (of course). There are three videos: the first one talks about mythology in general (how it’s defined, how it can differ from religion [or not], etc.), the second video talks about how myths are studied and interpreted, and the third is about the idea of the hero and how some people characterize the hero.
Screenshot from the first video (source)
The first video is exactly how it sounds: it gives a pretty good breakdown of what exactly mythology is, what influences it, what all can be learned from it, etc. Something they stress is that myths are old, and come from many different sources. They make sure to mention in the video that if they’re discussing a myth the viewer recognizes, but some details don’t seem right, it might just be they’re using a different source than the viewer has.
Notice they quote John Green! (source)
The second video actually gets into the theory of myth. It talks about how to analyze it and the theories about myth that people have developed. Basically people have been analyzing myth and its theory since Plato and his comrades. The idea that myths were created to explain scientific events, and that they were about real, ordinary people whose deeds were exaggerated until they were gods, has been around for centuries. As more was discovered about ancient civilizations, the more the idea of myths was reworked.
I don’t know who the sword belongs to, but I know where the shield and hat come from! (source)
The third video is about the Hero. The person in the myth or story who’s the main focus, the good guy who’s going to save everyone. Joseph Campbell created the theory of the Hero’s Journey, which is highly influential. Campbell noticed that in many stories from many cultures, there are basic events the hero must go through. The hero will journey away from home and towards adventure, then return home at the end, wiser and presumably in the same physical condition they were in when they left.
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