Midterm 1

Question 1

Bernard Fontenelle (1657-1757)

Answer 1

• Believed that myths were linked to fabula (fables or curiosities)
• believed myths aren’t true but said that myths were an attempt to explain the external world, just like the scientific method in the renaissance (bad science)

Question 2

David Hume (1711-1776)

Answer 2

• believed The Enlightenment is anti-myth
• believed that fear caused us to develop these myths
• believed that myths are anti intellectual and we have grown out of these ways of thinking

Question 3

Christian heyne (1729-1812)

Answer 3

• Coined the term myth
• believed myth is an explanation but also a narrative of a sense of awe at the natural world (sense of fear or wonder)
• believed myths are a way of expressing awe
• believed myths are based on a cultures external location
• myth comes first then the poetry

Question 4

Heinrich Schliemann

Answer 4

Found a precedent for the Trojan war

Question 5

Double determination (2 ways to think about the gods)

Answer 5

1. The gods are in control and my hands are the instrument (odysseus)
2. The gods are in control and I’m not. (Telemachus)