Keuka College - Kiondaga Yearbook (Keuka Park, NY)

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THE COLLEGE RECORD. 13 turn of the seasons and other cyclic processes of nature. Un- der this also come the lover's alternate wooing and losing of his lady or goddess or fairy love. Generalizations from this class of myths may be stated in this principle : Growth pro- ceeds through a mingling or contending, harmonizing or alter- nating of two apparently antagnonistic forces ; as, light and darkness, heat and cold, love and hate, good and evil. Another group of myths annoy the refined taste of those who see nothing in them. These represent gods and heroes as swallowing their own offspring. These are seen by some to illustrate a true principle of life, beautiful when understood ; growth proceeds through the method of devouring one's own children — that is, eating the fruit of one's own deeds. Still another class of myths represent transformations from gods to beasts, from beasts to gods, incarnations and re-incar- nations, migrations and trans-migrations, as though such freaks might be the sport of a moment. They may be consid- ered the garb of the general truth that growth proceeds through an endless series of transformations. Retro- gression finds place in these illustrations as well as progression. From a hero or a god one may dwindle down to a grasshopper if he is not gifted with the qualities of immortal youth or with the elements of desirable progress. Other principles of growth may be seen in mythic material, according to the classification made of it. The great Epics of Greek and Latin Literature, the Aeneid, the Iliad, the Odyssey, are seen by some to be, in their esoteric meaning, parables of life. They give evidence of being a por- trayal of the growth of the soul, with as true and beautiful significance as allegorical portions of the Scriptures. The twelve labors of Hercules are explained by philologists as the tasks of a solar demigod or hero in his victory over darkness. The essentials of the narrative may be given briefly: Born at Argos (a word signifying brightness ) from the sky (Jupiter) and the dawn (Alcmene), in early infancy he throt- tles the serpents of darkness. With untiring patience and str ength he plods through life, never resting, and always on his journey performing twelve great tasks. These are inter- preted to represent either the twelve signs of the zodiac, or the

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12 THE COLLEGE RECORD. But in all of these is this one factor : Something going on, action, changes, processes, movement. It is not difficult for some types of mind to see in this por- trayal of the ever-present principle of life — the Law of Growth, the Law of Change. It is not necessary to suppose that primi- tive mind was purposely developing a philosophy, or that it had any more than an instinctive consciousness of this great law ; if indeed the word consciousness, as we understand it, may be used at all in such connection. But it is easy to ob- serve that myths are a portrayal of action, and this, in general, expresses the Law of Growth. Whether an esoteric signifi- cance was intentional on the part of myth makers, or uninten- tional, does not matter. This fact of outward movement finds a true correspondence in the myriad changes that take place in the inner world of thought and feeling. How much or how little the ancients may have appreciated this truth need not concern us. Such is the law of life ; as it is in the visible world of changes so, in general, is it in the invisible psychical realm. Thus mythic lore may be said to have application in both realms, the visible and the invisible, and to illustrate the Law of Growth in all departments of life. But an environment of constant changes leads to an inquiry concerning the beginning, the origin of things, and in particu- lar concerning the origin of man. One great class of mythic stories presents theories regarding man's origin. These theories belong to two classes. Common to all such literature are traces of totemistic ideas ; man has arisen from beasts and is akin to them. Likewise common to such literature is the idea, couched in various weird stories, that man has arisen from the gods and is akin to them. Fundamentally there is truth in each kind of story ; man partakes of divine and of animal qualities, and in so far as he partakes of the character- of each he may be said to have arisen from each. Again another great group may be made of those myths that represent the alternate victories of king, hero, or giant over each Other. These are classed as solar myths by philologists, and are said to represent the victory of light and warmth over darkness and cold or the alternation of (lay and night, the re-

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14 THE COLLEGE RECORD. twelve months of the solar year, or the twelve hours of day- light. In harmony with this interpretation of the labors of Hercules is the idea that these twelve great tasks represent great cyclic crises in the history of the soul, in which, Her- cules, the Sun god, means the Sun nature of man overcom- ing the elements of darkness in his own character. Even con- servative critics admit that some parts of the myths about Her- cules have a beautiful allegorical significance. Modern scholars are inclined to think that he seeks in vain who seeks to find esoteric meaning in myths. Those who see any such significance in them are willing to admit that they do not seek ; they do not try to find ; they do not hunt ; they find because they cannot help finding ; they see because they cannot help seeing. Therefore, knowing full well that truth reveals itself in accordance with the degree of Soul-develop- ment of the investigator and in accordance with his type of mind, they feel no inclination to consider their interpretation as authoritive or to thrust it upon others. The ground of an article on this subject has not been satis- factorily covered until some attention has been given to the place of mythical interpretation in the educational field. Edu- cators whose province it is to deal with mythical literature may be considered in three classes : First, teachers of children ; this includes parents and all who have any responsibility in re- gard to children's reading, as well as teachers of English in primary and elementary grades ; second, teachers of Latin and Greek in High School grade ; third, teachers of Greek and Latin in Coll ege. Educators, much more than formerly, are selecting for chil- dren's reading a large proportion of mythical material and fairy stories. It is well for the teacher to be in close touch with the spirit of the literature read and to have a noble purpose in teaching it, but, with children, Interpretation may best be left in the background. It is important for the teacher to recog- nize in the child the functioning of the same Law of life which produced tin- literature that is being read, and to have confi- dence in the working of this Law. Therefore, with children, tli' wise teai her will do little allegorizing. In the ancient languages of High School grade almost no