Writers don't make up myths
WRITERS don’t make up myths; they take them over and recast them, so begins the article, On Myth, in the Liberal by Marina Warner.
Even Homer was telling stories that his audience already knew. If some individuals present weren’t acquainted with Odysseus’s wanderings or the Trojan War, and were listening in for the first time (as I was when a child, enthralled by the gods and goddesses in H.A. Guerber’s classic retelling), they were still aware that this was a common inheritance that belonged to everyone. Its single author – if Homer was one at all – acted as a conduit of collective knowledge, picking up the thread and telling it anew.
I consider this essay essential for readers and writers. What are your thoughts?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
Hmmm, for some reason I can't get to the article -- but it sounds like excellent food for thought.
There certainly are deep, common themes to humanity's most enduring stories -- love and loss, personal journeys that transcend the purely personal, and I think the best of these stories create heroes and heroines for their time which then, because of their power, are able to transcend time to guide and inspire us.
Hugs, and I wish you a lovely weekend, my friend!
Posted by: Thomma Lyn | November 17, 2007 2:57 PM
I think we try to make up myths. The problem is that when we try, we're not always recognized for doing it 'cause it's a new myth and no one knows it's a myth yet.
Posted by: Susan Helene Gottfried | November 14, 2007 4:05 PM