two mythological analyses papers In these two papers , paper 1 :Hades, Persephone and Demeter. paper 2 : The contest between Athena and Poseidon. the guidelines please check the attachment. Each of the papers should be 1-2 pages. MYTHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS Guidelines Pick a myth translated in the Maurizio or ACM textbooks. Be sure to choose one that has enough length and content to provide you plenty of material for analysis. Use the questions below to construct an outline of your analysis. You can arrange the order in which you address these questions any way you want, preferably in an order that fits the development of your analysis towards a conclusion. Be sure to form your analysis into an essay, with a thesis, once you have decided what your research reveals about the myth. 1. Are there any variant versions of this myth or this mythic theme? How do the variants help you to identify what is central to the myth, and what is peripheral? 2. Would you say the myth’s primary focus is on a god or a human? (Think about the significance of this for what one could be expected to learn from the myth.) How is this myth informed by portrayals of the same god or hero in other myths? 3. Does the myth provide any etiologies (origins for current conditions)? Do these contradict other etiologies of the same thing in other myths? 4. Are there any examples of hubris (a person or other being overreaching their proper place) or phthonos (a god’s anger or jealousy) in the story? How does the myth reaffirm or defy this typical understanding of the divine/human relationship? 5. Does the myth have any comic or humorous elements? Do these involve social or political satire? Or buffoonery? Or amusement at human nature? How do you think any humor serves the subject or meaning of the myth? 6. Does the myth have a real locale in the Greek world, or relate to real groups or families? (Think about the significance of this for the local population.) 7. Are any non-Greeks or places outside of Greece featured in the myth? What does that tell us about the Greek view of other peoples? 8. What does the myth tell us about the character of the god featured in it, or about the general order of the world under the gods collectively? 9. Using Malinowski, in what ways does the myth provide a charter that establishes or justifies Greek cultural norms? Is Malinowski’s approach adequate for understanding this myth? 10. What elements of Greek culture and society are embedded in the myth as artifacts of storytelling (not something the myth is really focused on exploring or explaining)? (These are the sort of things that might be explained in notes to the text of the myth to help a modern reader understand it.) Your goal is to create an analysis that could accompany the text of this myth in a textbook or reader on Greek mythology. In other words, a comprehensive examination of how to understand this myth in its original cultural context.
