Etiology
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| - | A '''founding myth''' (Greek ''aition'') is the [[Etiology|etiological myth]] that explains the origins of a [[ritual]] or the founding of a city, group, belief, philosophy, discipline, idea or nation. A founding myth may serve as the primary [[exemplum]], as the myth of [[Ixion]] was the original example of a murderer rendered unclean by his crime, who needed cleansing (''[[catharsis]]'') of his impurity. | + | '''Etiology''' (alternatively '''aetiology''', '''aitiology''') is the study of [[Causality|causation]], or origination. The word is derived from the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] {{lang|grc|αἰτιολογία}}, ''aitiologia'', "giving a reason for" ({{lang|grc|αἰτία}}, ''aitia'', "cause"; and {{lang|grc|-λογία}}, ''[[-logia]]''). |
| + | The word is most commonly used in medical and philosophical theories, where it is used to refer to the study of why things occur, or even the reasons behind the way that things act, and is used in [[philosophy]], [[physics]], [[psychology]], [[government]], [[medicine]], [[theology]] and [[biology]] in reference to the causes of various phenomena. An '''etiological myth''' is a [[mythology|myth]] intended to explain a name or create a mythic history for a place or family. | ||
| - | Founding myths are prominent features of [[Greek mythology]] and the Hebrew Bible. "Ancient Greek rituals were bound to prominent local groups and hence to specific localities," [[Walter Burkert]] has observed. "i.e. the sanctuaries and altars that had been set up for all time." Thus Greek founding myths established the special relationship between a deity and local people, who traced their origins from a [[hero]] and authenticated their ancestral rights through the founding myth. Greek founding myths often embody a justification for the ancient overturning of an older, archaic order. | + | == Mythology == |
| - | + | An '''etiological myth''', or origin myth, is a [[mythology|myth]] intended to explain the origins of cult practices, natural phenomena, proper names and the like. For example, the name [[Delphi]] and its associated deity, ''[[Apollo|Apollon Delphinios]]'', are explained in the [[Homeric Hymn]] which tells of how Apollo carried [[Crete|Cretans]] over the sea in the shape of a [[dolphin]] (''delphis'') to make them his priests. While Delphi is actually related to the word ''{{lang|grc-Latn|delphus}}'' ("womb"), many etiological myths are similarly based on [[folk etymology]] (the term "[[Amazons|Amazon]]", for example). In the ''[[Aeneid]]'' (published circa 17 BC), [[Vergil]] claims the descent of [[Augustus Caesar]]'s [[Julian clan]] from the hero [[Aeneas]] through his son Ascanius, also called Iulus. | |
| - | In the Greek view, the mythic past was deeply rooted in ''historic'' time, its legends treated as facts, Carlo Brillante has noted, its heroic protagonists seen as links between the 'age of origins' and the mortal, everyday world that succeeded it. A modern translator of [[Apollonius of Rhodes|Apollonius]]' ''[[Argonautica]]'' has noted, of the many ''aitia'' embedded as digressions in that Hellenistic epic, that "crucial to social stability had to be the function of myths in providing explanations, authorization or empowerment for the present in terms of origins: this could apply, not only to foundations or charter myths and [[genealogical tree]]s (thus supporting family or territorial claims) but also to personal moral choices." (Peter Green, Introduction to ''Argonautika'') In the period after [[Alexander the Great]] expanded the [[Hellenistic]] world, [[Koine Greek]] poetry— [[Callimachus]] wrote a whole work simply titled ''[[Aitia]]''— is replete with founding myths. Simon Goldhill employs the metaphor of [[sedimentation]] in describing Apollonius' laying down of layers "where each object, cult, ritual, name, may be opened... into a narrative of origination, and where each narrative, each event, may lead to a cult, ritual, name, monument." (Goldhill, "The paradigms of epic: Apollonius Rhodius and the examples of the past") | + | |
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| - | Contrasting examples of Roman founding myths are Virgil's ''[[The Aeneid]]'' and the popular cult of [[Romulus and Remus]]. [[David McCullough]]'s ''[[1776 (book)|1776]]'' details the development of a modern founding myth. | + | |
| + | The story of [[Prometheus]]' sacrifice-trick in [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'' relates how Prometheus tricked [[Zeus]] into choosing the bones and fat of the first sacrificial animal rather than the meat to justify why, after a sacrifice, the Greeks offered the bones wrapped in fat to the gods while keeping the meat for themselves. | ||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| - | *[[National myth]] | + | * [[Eschatology]] |
| - | *[[Promised land]] | + | * [[Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas]] (Latin phrase) |
| + | * [[Geomythology]] | ||
| + | * [[Just-so story]] (comparable to etiological myth) | ||
| + | * [[Teleology]] | ||
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Revision as of 22:12, 30 June 2011
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Etiology (alternatively aetiology, aitiology) is the study of causation, or origination. The word is derived from the Greek Template:Lang, aitiologia, "giving a reason for" (Template:Lang, aitia, "cause"; and Template:Lang, -logia). The word is most commonly used in medical and philosophical theories, where it is used to refer to the study of why things occur, or even the reasons behind the way that things act, and is used in philosophy, physics, psychology, government, medicine, theology and biology in reference to the causes of various phenomena. An etiological myth is a myth intended to explain a name or create a mythic history for a place or family.
Mythology
An etiological myth, or origin myth, is a myth intended to explain the origins of cult practices, natural phenomena, proper names and the like. For example, the name Delphi and its associated deity, Apollon Delphinios, are explained in the Homeric Hymn which tells of how Apollo carried Cretans over the sea in the shape of a dolphin (delphis) to make them his priests. While Delphi is actually related to the word Template:Lang ("womb"), many etiological myths are similarly based on folk etymology (the term "Amazon", for example). In the Aeneid (published circa 17 BC), Vergil claims the descent of Augustus Caesar's Julian clan from the hero Aeneas through his son Ascanius, also called Iulus.
The story of Prometheus' sacrifice-trick in Hesiod's Theogony relates how Prometheus tricked Zeus into choosing the bones and fat of the first sacrificial animal rather than the meat to justify why, after a sacrifice, the Greeks offered the bones wrapped in fat to the gods while keeping the meat for themselves.
See also
- Eschatology
- Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas (Latin phrase)
- Geomythology
- Just-so story (comparable to etiological myth)
- Teleology
