Myth and Story

Bibliographic Data

ID9204662
AuthorsTheodor H Gaster (corresponding author)
Year1954
Volume1
Issue3
Pages184
Publication date1954-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNumen (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0029-5973 • E-ISSN: 1568-5276
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/3269498
OpenAlexW4210920670
LanguageEN
Citations received9

I. Sciences are like small children that constantly outgrow their clothes but are compelled, all too often, by the negligence or penury of their guardians, to make with last year's outfit. Of no science, perhaps, is this more true than of Mythology. During the past fifty years, the science of mythology has reachedif not maturity, at least adolescence. In the first place, thanks to archaeological excavations in the Near East, we now possess a richer body of ancient mythological literature and a wider acquaintance with ancient religious beliefs and practises than ever before 1). Consequently we are now in a position to recognize a number of controlling processes and patterns hitherto unsuspected. In the second place, the intensive work of field anthropologists has now made it clear that Myth can no longer be studied merely as a branch of literature or art, but belongs also-and more fundamentally-within the realm of religion and cult, mythological stories being recited, in many societies, not for entertainment or diversion, but as part and parcel of ritual procedures 2). Nevertheless, the full implications of these developments do not appear even now to have been adequately apprehended. For, altholgh the field of inquiry has certainly been enlarged, the science of mythology continues to be dominated, by and large, by the perspectives of

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Compendium · Cult · Entertainment · History of religions · Literature · Mythology · Realm · Sociology · Visual arts · Classics · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · History · Philosophy · Religious studies