Literary Aspects Of North American Mythology Classic Reprint

Author : Robert Harry Lowie
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781333802530
Total Pages : 58 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (25 download)

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Download or read book The Test-Theme in North American Mythology written by Robert Harry Lowie and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2016-09-30 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Test-Theme in North American Mythology: Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Philosophy, Columbia University In view of the admission that the entire series of criteria must be found in order to prove the naturalistic theory, it would not be necessary to dwell on the evident ambiguity of single traits, were it not advisable to call attention to the occasional disregard of this caution, and to indi cate, however brie y, the standing of the naturalistic theory when di vorced from an interpretation of homologies. Some thirty years ago J. G. Von Hahn attempted to interpret Greek and Teutonic mythology on the basis of naturalistic principles, though affirming an historical con nection between them. His fundamental assumption was that the cycle of the seasons, owing to its importance for primitive man's food supply, formed the principal myth-making factor of the outside world, while the succession of day and night, meteorological conditions, and other natural phenomena, have contributed their share. The inter preter's first duty was accordingly to detect motives corresponding to these phenomena. Balder's death, from this standpoint, was taken to refer to the destruction of vegetation by autumnal drought. Thor and Hercules were conquerors of winter - monsters. Eurystheus symbolized the faint new moon, and Gunther's bent form, suspended from a nail, was the crescent of the moon. Without entering into a discussion of the popular-psychological basis of Hahn's system, it suffices to note that the constant error committed by him is the disregard of alternative possi bilities, which is perhaps most strikingly illustrated by his conception of Gunther. When Ehrenreich interprets the rolling skull of North American mythology as the setting disc of the full moon, or the head of entangled-man as the apparently hollow crescent (33: he is liable to the same criticism. The most plausible of such analogies are always subject to Von den Steinen's doubt, whether the notion is not rather the interpreter's than the myth-maker's. So far as the assump tions are concerned from which these interpretations ow, they are no less dogmas of a popular psychology than Hahn's. It is just as gratuitous to assume that the moon, on account of its numerous phases, has been a more important factor of mythology than the sun 34: as it is to derive mythology from the conditions of man's food-supply. There are no objective means of testing these psychological assumptions, or the more or less ingenious hypotheses built on them to explain mythological motives. Without denying the abstract possibility that any such hypo theses may be correct, the conceivability of an indefinite number of alter native explanations must lead to their repudiation. A series of criteria will not be more convincing than a single trait, if all are equivocal. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."