World Mythology

Catalog description

This interdiscplinary course examines in cultural context the traditional stories – myths, legends and folktales – of the Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Incan, Mesoamerican and other civilizations. Students examine mythology from a cross-cultural perspective across a broad range of time periods and cultures. Topics focus on universal ideas, popular belief, superstition, rituals, human sacrifice, fertility, creation, heroes, deities, other-worlds and the socio-cultural basis of myths. Students analyze the connections these stories have with ritual practice and expressions of daily life, art and architecture. In addition, different theories of the cultural meanings and functions of myth are explored in the ancient, past and contemporary world. By studying mythology as an expression of human thought, students better understand themselves and the world in which they live and also appreciate the myths that they have explored as unique expressions of individual cultures.