Maricopa Community Colleges  ENH251   886-946 
Official Course Description:   MCCCD Approval:  01/01/01  
ENH251      886-946 LEC 3 Credit(s) 3 Period(s)
Mythology
Deals with the myths and legends of civilizations with the greatest influence upon the development of the literature and culture of the English speaking people. Prerequisites: None.
 
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MCCCD Official Course Competencies:
 
ENH251   886-946 Mythology
1. Use specific terms commonly encountered when discussing mythology. (I-VI)
2. Describe relationships, similarities, and significant symbols in creation myths. (I-VI)
3. Describe the sources of mythology. (II)
4. Describe the contributions of major interpreters of myth. (II)
5. Identify geographic locations such as North America, Africa, Asia, South America which have been wellsprings for mythology. (II-VI)
6. Analyze myth using the characteristics which identify a hero and/or heroine. (II-VI)
7. Analyze myth using characteristics which reflect on history, sociology, and/or politics in a global perspective. (II-VI)
8. Describe events and characters from mythology which are especially familiar in literature, art, and music. (II-VI)
9. Describe the nature of comparative study of myths, especially as explored by anthropologists. (II-VI)
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MCCCD Official Course Outline:
 
ENH251   886-946 Mythology
    I. Characteristics of all myths
        A. Possess a sacred nature
        B. In narrative form
        C. Possess a timeless setting
        D. Consist of supernatural powers as participants
        E. Contain truth and knowledge
        F. Intensely believed
      II. Interpretations of mythology
          A. Nature myth: gods as personified forces of nature
          B. Proto-science: aetiological myth as speculation
          C. Verbal part of ritual: myth's association with religion
          D. Charter myth: precedent and authority for tribal custom
          E. Allegorized history: euhemeristic theory and legend
          F. Myth and psychoanalysis
            1. Fredian view of myth as wish-fulfillment
            2. Jungian view of myth as expression of the unconscious
        III. Common themes of cosmological myth (aetiological and ritualistic)
            A. Creation of the universe
            B. Origin of the gods
            C. Origin of humankind
            D. A golden age
            E. Appearance of death
            F. Places of reward and punishment
          IV. Greek and Roman mythology
              A. Hesiod's "Theogony (Origin of the Gods)"
              B. Orphic creation myth (Dionysus)
              C. Olympian deities and the myths pertaining to them
              D. Mythic hero and the folk hero
              E. Monomyth of the hero
                1. Bellerophon
                2. Perseus
                3. Jason
                4. Theseus
                5. Herakles
                6. Akhilleus
                7. Odysseus
                8. Oidipous
                9. Aeneas
              F. Ovid's "Metamorphoses"
            V. Scandinavian mythology
                A. Sources and background
                B. Cosmological myth
                C. Norse gods and goddesses and myths pertaining to them
                D. Eschatological myth of Ragnarok
              VI. Medieval heroic myth and legend
                  A. Beowulf
                  B. Roland
                  C. Sifrit
                  D. Tannhauser
                  E. Berta
                  F. Peredur
                  G. Cuchulain
                  H. Cid
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