MYTH-401 Lessons

Professor Morgan works quietly at the front of the classroom. With a flick of her wand, the maps of Ancient Africa and the Middle East roll themselves up and slip into a cupboard in the corner. The Cylinder Seals, demon statues, and scrolls full of hieroglyphics slide into baskets and line themselves up against the classroom wall. Professor Morgan turns towards the door and smiles - a bit sadly - as the students file in and take their seats.

Welcome back, my dears, to our last class of Mythology this year. I can hardly believe that we have come to the end of our studies, nor can I believe how much mythology we have managed to cover in one year! We have barely scraped the surface of history, that is true; however I do hope that you have enjoyed our explorations together.

Before you write your final examinations today (and boy, do I have a surprise for you on that front!), we have a few more things to discuss to wrap up the year. Let’s get to it!

African Mythological Tendencies

As we’ve progressed through the year, I’m sure you’ve noticed distinct similarities common to some, if not all, of the civilizations we’ve studied. One of the similarities is the creation myth.

As you may recall, the creation myths that we have covered follow this basic pattern: in the beginning there is some form of chaos or primeval substance. From that chaos, a sentient entity emerges and begins to create the universe and our world. Usually this creation evolves, at least in part, from the offspring of the first entity. Quite often, especially in Ancient Egyptian mythology, physically separating this offspring creates the Earth and the Sky. Further offspring produces gods and goddesses that relate to and govern many of the physical aspects of the world such as agriculture or wind.

Another very common element in creation myths is conflict. This element relates quite well to the concept that life cannot exist without conflict. In other words, you cannot have the light without the dark.

I’m sure that you have also noticed the number of times the same god or goddess appears in the different mythologies. There are some very common names to almost all of the pantheons (Ea, for example), as well as some that are present in mythologies from a similar geographical region over time. For example, many of the gods and goddesses from the Sumerian pantheon survived the collapse of the Sumerian civilization as they were absorbed into the pantheons of the younger civilizations.

So what do these similarities mean? Well, two things immediately come to mind. First, much of mythology during this time was passed down from parent to child, one generation to the next, and so on. Over time these stories may have changed a bit, but the essence of the original stories remains the same. Additionally, these mythologies show a commonality of human beliefs and values across civilizations. That is, regardless of what geographical region or time a creation myth emerged, the humans who believed in them valued the same aspects of life - such as agriculture, childbirth, and the afterlife.

So why did I take this course again?

I would like to give you a taste of why you should learn mythology if you want to be a curse-breaker or work in another similar position. Truly, the stories and beliefs of a civilization are critical to survival in certain situations.

Let’s take a very basic example that might occur in an Egyptian pyramid and see how knowing Egyptian mythology would be beneficial:

You are walking down a dark passageway deep inside a newly discovered pyramid. The light emanating from your wand is the only illumination you have to aid your exploration. You come to a junction in the passageway - you must choose to go right or left. At first glance, there is nothing distinct or different about either of the passageways. You cast the Enchantment Revealing Charm to look for any indication of magic in the area, and the only changes are two tiny images that appear; one image above the entrance to each passageway. To the left, the image is the god Seth. To the right, the image is the god Ra. Thinking back to the (amazingly, stupendously, wonderful) mythology class with Professor Morgan, you recall that Seth was not exactly the most trustworthy god. You also remember that Ra was the supreme ruler of the gods and the god of the Sun. You choose to follow the path of the Sun, and emerge in a great chamber full of gold and jewels. It was a good choice, as you will discover later from a colleague clinging to life who did not pay as good attention in class, for the other path lead to a room full of mummies…

A very cute (and very inaccurate portrayal) of a mummy

And there you have it. Perhaps a very simplistic example, but one that quite clearly demonstrates the importance of this class.

Final Examinations

I have kept our lesson a bit short today so we have some time to prepare for your examinations. There will be two parts to your final this year, as is common in my classes. The first part of the exam will be a quiz - but the quiz will be quite a bit longer than earlier quizzes - 50 questions, most of which will be fill-in-the-blanks/short answer. This quiz will cover material from all nine lessons of the course; however a higher focus will be placed on Lessons Five through Nine. While there will be no time limit for this exam, there will be no retakes, so take your time and be certain of your answers.

The second part of your exam will NOT be an essay. Surprised? I thought so. You will have a different type of assignment to complete, one that I highly encourage you to use all of your class notes to complete. The details are in the essay prompt. You can put your response directly into the submission box, or you may include a link to an outside site if you wish. Please ensure that any links that you submit work! Again, there will be no retakes for this exam, so make sure everything is in order before you submit your response.

After your examinations are complete - or before, if you wish - there is a third optional “assignment” for you to complete. It is a simple course and professor evaluation form for this year’s class. Again, you are not required to fill it out, but any constructive feedback is always welcome.

I do so hope that you have enjoyed Mythology this year, and I wish you all the best in your future studies!