Section A: 2.2 Myth and early cosmology



Myths are symbolic stories that act as a means of interpreting mystery. They often identify questions of meaning and provide commentary on the goal and purpose of life, the existence of good and evil and the experience of suffering. It is clear from exploring myths of ancient societies that people in every age and civilisation have asked questions of this nature
Past Exam Question

 Compare the way in which questions about the meaning of life are addressed in two myths from ancient times that you have studied.
Prometheus and Pandora’s Box

These are two interconnected myths from ancient Greece, they explore the following questions about the purpose of life and the experience of suffering:




Where do we come from? What is our purpose?

Knowledge of our origins influences how we view the meaning of life. In this myth the gods are rsponsible for the creation of humans. We were designed and fashioned by Prometheus in the image of the Olympians. This has a necessary impact of our sese of purpose, our existence is not accidental. 

Why do we suffer? What causes unhappiness?

Zeus gives Pandora a box full of all the evils that ‘plague mankind’ – out of curiosity she opens the box and unleashes these ills on humanity. All human suffering is a punishment from Zeus. Suffering enters the world as a result of the foolish actions of the first woman. One good thing escaped Pandora’s box and that is hope – it is what sustains us through the experience of suffering and prevents us from giving up in times of trouble



The Epic of Gilgamesh

A story from ancient Babylon concerning the demigod Gilgamesh, a king and ruthless tyrant. The myth that addresses questions of purpose and suffering.




What is our purpose? What will lead to happiness?

Gilgamesh becomes a restless seeker of fulfilment when his friend Enkidu tells him about his vision of the afterlife - the house of dust, where the crowns of kings are stacked high. Gilgamesh, fearing this fate awaits him, searches for immortality going to great extremes in the process. He believes immortality will satisfy him and bring his quest for fulfilment to an end. When he fails in his quest he realises that immortality was not meant for men and discovers that his purpose is to leave behind a legacy


Why do we suffer? Can we avoid it?

Suffering is inescapable, death can’t be avoided. We all have to face it eventually. Knowledge of our death and acceptance of suffering gives our life focus. Searching for a solution to these inevitabilities is a futile task



Conclusion

It’s clear from these myths that ancient societies asked questions of meaning. In their efforts to answer these questions they often asked ‘who?’ instead of ‘how? For this reason their understanding of the world is strongly linked to the personalities of gods

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Section A: 4.2 Secular sources of communal values

Image
In the medieval world communal values were shaped, almost exclusively, by institutional religion. In the case of mainland Europe Christianity cast a particularly long shadow – dictating cultural and behaviour norms, as well as codes of ethics and moral theories.  The Enlightenment heralded the emergence of a secular worldview – and in doing so, severed links between values and religious belief. Beginning in the 16th century we can identify a number of cultural changes that led to the development of non-religious communal values. Past Exam Question The development of non-religious communal values can be traced back to moments such as the rise of humanism, existentialism etc. Profile how any two such moments contributed to the development of non-religious communal values Renaissance The Renaissance is a time of innovation in the arts and human sciences. It represented a 'rebirth’ after the long slumber of the dark ages. The scientific discoveries of Co...
Read more

Section A: 2.2 Early religious behaviour

Image
Religious behaviour is founded upon belief in a power greater than ourselves and manifests itself in codes of moral conduct and rituals that offer praise or worship to this higher power. Archaeological studies of ancient civilisations have uncovered behaviours and practices which can be considered religious in nature. Examples of burial rites, sacrifices and rituals that mark times of transition point to a sense of spirituality in pre-historic societies. Past Exam Question Since ancient times people have used rites to mark key events in life - rite of burial, rite of sacrifice, rite of passage : Explain how evidence of religious belief can be seen in one of the above rites associated with people who lived in ancient times. Through archaeology and historical research we find much that suggest religious behaviour on the part of ancient people. ‘Religious’ means they attached meaning to key moments in their lives, both as individuals and as a community. Events marked thr...
Read more

Section C: 1.2 Influence of primal religions

The term primal religion refers to the practices of pre-historic, pre-literate groups, whose rituals and beliefs have been preserved through an oral tradition. These groups are disparate and can be identified in several different parts of the world, including; the Yoruba tribe in west Africa, the Maya in central America, the New Zealand Maori and the Australian aborigines. Though there was no connection between these groups there are striking similarities in their major beliefs and the expression of their religious faith. Primal religion was practiced by agricultural societies, who lived close to nature and sensed its power. They believed in a spiritual world of beings stronger than mankind. These groups shared similar traits, namely; recognition of the all-encompassing power of religion, with no boundaries between sacred and secular, the use of oral rather than written sources, rituals depicting myths or narratives centred on the human-divine relationship. The main chara...
Read more