Mythical Character Research Articles

Taaitta Arap Toweett: A Life Of Social and Political Influence (1925-2007)

Taaitta Toweett emerges as a prominent and influential political figure in Kenya's historical landscape, attracting scholarly attention due to his noteworthy contributions and intriguing life trajectory. With a commanding presence, Toweett is characterized by his insightful and earnest demeanor, infusing his life story with a nearly mythical quality that showcases its uniqueness and intricacy. Researchers in contemporary discourse focus on Toweett's formative years, educational pursuits, political engagements, and personal attributes, examining these aspects in depth. Born in 1925 and passing away in 2007, Toweett's Life spans significant historical periods, enriching his experiences with temporal and socio-political relevance. His rise from relative anonymity to political prominence illustrates leadership's intricate paths in Kenya's socio-political context. Toweett's life story presents a fascinating subject for scholarly analysis, inviting exploration of themes such as social advancement, leadership dynamics, and the interplay between individual will and structural limitations. Through academic investigation, Toweett's legacy emerges as a part of broader socio-political dynamics, enhancing our understanding of Kenya's historical trajectory and the multifaceted nature of its leadership landscape

Four Orphic Hymns: the Poetic Path of Leonida Lari

The four Orphic hymns signed by Leonida Lari rewrite the legend of Orpheus' life in verse. The use of the first person destiny emphasizes the author's empathy with Orpheus' destiny. The poet's sufferings take on mythical proportions, the echo crosses in another pose the conditions of the creative man, which seem the same and, at the same time, different.This cycle is personalized, although it is written after the model of the Orphic hymns, dedicated to several gods. Leonida Lari selects Apollo, the god of the arts, also attributing to him the qualities of Zeus, through the quality of possessing lightning. Leonida Lari restructures the myth of Orpheus in four scores. The first is the paradisiacal memory of the righteous love between Orpheus and Eurydice, the second explains the preparation for the journey into the space of transhumanity. Inner transformation is the condition of recognizing human possibilities to overcome one's condition in the name of love. The third part includes the tragedy of the definitive loss of the beloved. But in this adaptation of the myth in its own shorthand, the death of the beloved begins to be equated with the great despair of losing the song of happiness. The lyrical self exposes itself by recognizing the feelings of the righteous mythical character as a heartbreaking empathy. Finally, there is a testament of happiness addressed to the poets. In the last hymn, the image of Orpheus appears distant, but he is the bearer of the memory of absolute love.

The Oldest Past of Christianity

Abstract The article argues that just as religion is manufactured or invented, so is tradition and history. This starting point is worked out with reference to history as a discursive construction, the past as fictioned in the present. The past does not exist independently of historical practice. History is a tool for ideological persuasion and ideological criticism in the chaotic, disputed and contested present. This understanding of historiography is brought to bear on the scholarly discourse on Christian origins, highlighting the performativity or mythic character of conventional reconstructions of the historical Jesus and the formation of early Christianity, in which sacred apologetic texts are employed as ethnographic sources. What is called for is to take leave of the “stance of the faithful,” and to reorient the study of the history of Christian origins away from a “protectionist doxa” towards a critical historiography that understands early Christian history as invented or manufactured.

Lady Whistledown: A Modern Tiresias in Bridgerton Bibechana Sharma Timsina

This paper explores Lady Whistledown in the Netflix series, Bridgerton, as a modern Tiresias. The series tells a story of people, especially the socio-economic life of people living in the Regency Era. Throughout the entire series, the character: Lady Whistledown narrates people’s lives through her society paper that exposes the scandalous secrets of people living in the society. Drawing on insights from Joshep Cambell's notion of myths, the paper argues that Whistledown’s narrativization of people’s secrets embeds mythical prominence as it deals with the complexities of people and is indeed an inseparable unit from human life. Although the mythical character belongs to the primordial period, Tiresias stays in the mindset of people in an archetypal mode. This archetypal character holds such a power that audiences fail to eradicate it from their memories as they create different forms in their minds. Consequently, this ultimately presents new forms with novel components that serve to inform humans through the behaviors they present. Whistledown exhibiting the quality of Tiresias exposes the secrets of aristocrats through her writing in the society paper. The analysis shows that she empowers characters and audiences through the playfulness of words and projects herself as a modern Tierasis restoring the elements of myths in modern form and evoking the rage to interrogate the societal norms where representation is treated with disparity. Thus, Whistledown despite being a modern character personifies a mythical character: Tierasis, who resists the discrepancies existing in society.

Textualisation of Sexual Harassment on the Cameroonian University Campus: Moone Nda’a’s La révolte de Mbazoua et autres nouvelles

ABSTRACT Fictional representations of African university campuses offer a rather dismal image of a world intended to train the intellectual elite of a rapidly developing continent. This is reflected in a statement from the Cameroonian scholar Jean-Marie Wounfa, who asserted: “Writers, for a long time, have put forward a discourse on the university that praises and preserves the mythical character of this institution of which the representation is abundantly watered at the spring of the collective unconscious.” But such a position fails to win unanimous support. Some consider the university to be a depraved institution. While such discourse may find a fertile ground in the novel, it becomes an interesting scriptural paradigm when the analytical medium shifts to the short story, a brief but dense literary genre inspired by reality. Such an image of the Cameroonian university campus can be seen in La révolte de Mbazoua (Mbazoua’s Rebellion) by Moone Nda’a, which describes the campus as a Kafkaesque world haunted by intimidation, rape, threatening behaviour, sectarianism and other ills that students and teachers must suffer. It also highlights the role of the imaginary in the struggle against this form of censorship that shackles the harmonious development of the African university campus.

The Need and Management of hormone Imbalances in Women

Hormones in human body have mythical qualities to some people. Most of us, as we age would say- If I just had my hormones back the way they were, it would all work out better’! Hormonal imbalances are more common in women around puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, menopause, and even years after Menopause (Post-menopause) aging. Some women experience continual, irregular hormonal imbalances leading to a variety of health issues, including mental health disturbances like depression or Anxiety. The symptoms of hormonal imbalance in women are heavy or irregular periods, hair loss, night sweats, headaches, and psychosocial disturbances to the individual & family. Most individuals think that Oestrogen and Testosterone are exclusively female and male hormones respectively. The reality is both are present and required in both sexes. The main reproductive hormones testosterone, oestrogen, and progesterone are instrumental for sexuality and fertility. They are responsible for puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, menopause, sex drive, ovum production and more. Preserving individual’s hormone levels within normal ranges helps every single woman to retain youthful feelings. While managing hormonal imbalance with natural remedies, like- regular physical exercises, maintaining age-appropriate weight, reducing getting stressed or anxious, avoiding sugars, and having adequate sleep is better, it may not be possible for all and always. For individuals who can’t balance hormones naturally consulting a doctor for a hormone therapy (HT) would be the best option. The hormones usually used are oestrogen and progesterone, to replace those that the body has stopped making or doesn't make enough or to negate the effect if what is produced is higher than required. It is current day need and urgency for the primary care /Family physicians to ensure that patients with hormonal imbalance are heard, their symptoms recognized and ascribed to the appropriate problems and referred and followed-up or managed. This article is meant to provide the evidence of when and when not to prescribe Oestrogen. Materials and Methods: The author has used cases from his personal practice over 5 decades and close specialist friends who guided hormone therapy. A thorough literature research both national a d global practices are to put together to the evidence of when and when not to prescribe hormones for women.

Ancient Myth Versus Modern Myth- A Study of the Mythical Character in Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi

The study is based on the Shiva Trilogy written by Amish Tripathi who is one of the greatest Indian authors. Shiva is the central character of the Novel. There are many Gods and Goddess in Hindu Mythology, but Amish devotees lead him to Rama, Shiva, Sati, Ganesha, Kali, Daksh and virini and encluded the greatest saints and avatars of Shiva.

Mythical Character of Space in the Place Legends on the Plateliai Lake

Using the place legends stored at the Lithuanian Folklore Archives and the questionnaires from the Collection of the Lithuanian Place Names, the author of the article analyzes folklore related to the Plateliai Lake (in Plungė District) and its segments, including islands, peninsulas, and shallows. Having systematized a number of place legends related to the lake, the author discerns three themes that are further analyzed in the article, namely: the appearing of the Plateliai Lake and several lakes connected underground, the underwater world of Plateliai (the lake demanding sacrifices), and the image of the Plateliai Queen. Applying the concept of the mental landscape and the current research on placelore, he reveals the mythical character of the Plateliai Lake and its surrounding space. Special attention is paid to the way that various segments of the lake are depicted in place legends. Among the most frequently mentioned, several islands, peninsulas and shallows connected to the mythical plots are pointed out, as well as the lake itself. According to the folklore analyzed in the article, the lake had an important role in human life, while certain motives related to the pre-Christian religion (including the sunken church, the Queen of the lake, the souls residing at the bottom of the lake, etc.) allow one to conclude that from the ancient times, the Plateliai Lake was perceived as an important mythical place.

Plots and Motives of Altai Myths about the 12-year Animal Calendar

The purpose of this article is to identify the plot-motivational features of Altai etiological myths about the appearance of the 12-year eastern calendar. Analysis of historiography on the problem of the origin of this animal cycle allowed the author to come to the conclusion that the animal calendar existed among the Turkic peoples already in the distant past. Based on the material of the narrative folklore of the Altai people, the plots and motives about the appearance of the 12-year animal calendar are considered. The main research method is plot-motive analysis of the text. The novelty of the research lies in identifying the plots and characteristics of the characters in the myths about the 12-year calendar cycle. The animals present in the calendar – dragon, tiger and monkey – indicate the influence of the mythology of other eastern peoples. The results of a comparative analysis of Altai myths about the 12-year animal calendar with the myths of the Kazakhs, Mongols and Chinese showed a difference in the main characters: among the Altai people the creator of the calendar is the deity Kudai (theonym variants: Dayuchi / Dayaachy), the mythical character Dyylchy, others among the southeastern peoples are Buddha, and in particular among the Chinese – Yu Di. A chronological feature of Altai myths is the relationship between the appearance of the calendar and the mythological time after the flood. In the folklore of the Altai people, based on the plot of competitions between animals wishing to enter the calendar, independent plots of an etiological nature also arose. Independent motifs include the mythological motifs “who will see the sun first” (about a camel and a mouse), “thunder is an animal” (about a dragon), “the cloven hoof of a cow” (about a cow and a monkey). The Altaians have developed certain mythological ideas about the characters of each of the twelve years, repeating in a cycle, which they associate with the behavioral characteristics of animals. Using this calendar, people figured out what the coming year would be like.

Protection of small natural springs with drinking water in Republic of Serbia and Republic of Srpska

A spring is a point of exit at which groundwater from an aquifer flows out on top of Earth's crust (pedosphere) and becomes surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere. Springs have long been important for humans as a source of fresh water. Springs have been used for a variety of human needs - including drinking water, domestic water supply, irrigation, mills, navigation, and electricity generation. Modern uses include recreational activities such as fishing, swimming, and floating; therapy; water for livestock; fish hatcheries; and supply for bottled mineral water or bottled spring water. Springs have taken on a kind of mythic quality in that some people believe, falsely, that springs are always healthy sources of drinking water. They may or may not be. On the territory of the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska, there are numerous occurrences of small springs known only to the local population who use them for certain purposes. The chapter provides an overview of the territorial distribution as well as the basic established physical and chemical characteristics of several natural springs in selected parts of the territory (Fruška gora, City of Belgrade, Central Serbia, northern part of Kosovo, Srebrenica, Čajniče, Doboj, Kozarska Dubica and Kiseljak).

Beyond Steiner's "Antigones": Myth Rewriting as Visitation of the Immemorial

This article focuses on the interrelations between myth, mythical character and rewriting. Faced with myth as an epistemological challenge, hermeneutics often is torn between two reductionist temptations: either to ontologize its object or to dissolve it into a kind of original nothingness. We will here first and mainly focus on George Steiner's Antigonesconsidered as a milestone in literary mythography because of its anti-reductionist approach characterized by attention to plurality and emphasis on the complexity inherent in myth. Secondly, and in a much more tentative manner, it will endeavor to propose a new conception of myth, supposedly able to satisfy the so far identified primordial demands it faces us with. We end up proposing a conception of rewriting as visitation and of myth as a face (visage) in Lévinas' sense, thereby ourselves revisiting notions like memory and transcendence. As memory of the immemorial, myth rewriting thus reveals itself paradoxically as a future-oriented, meaning making and hope inspiring task.

Mythological References in Ausonius’ Epistolary

Ausonius’ letters constitute a specimen of the way he employs references to Greek mythology. The process by which Ausonius reworks mythological material fol- lows patterns that were already well established in the Latin literary tradition of re-working Greek sources. The recycling of such material is not only proof of his technical prowess, but also demonstrates his ability to perform precise thematic choices. Frequently, the use of mythology is part of the metaliterary and metapoetic discourses tackled by Ausonius while addressing his friends as recipients of letters. The analysis of individual letters reveals how the poet used mythological references for two main purposes. The first is to elevate the tone and content of the discourse, employing a series of artificial comparisons with mythical characters and events. Brief mythological references used to formulate playful numerical periphrases are also worth noting here. The second aim is encomiastic, namely the celebration of his friends, the recipients of his letters, who are transferred from everyday reality to the higher level of the mythical dimension and the superhuman sphere.

Archeology of Folklore: Ancient inhabitants of the East Siberian Arctic

The subject of the study is the aboriginal tribes of the Yakut Arctic based on the folklore of the indigenous peoples of Northeast Asia. Mythological plots and folklore texts include images from mythical characters – the host spirits of ichchi and kuchun of peripheral border territories and wild "half-human, half-animal" chuchun/suchun, to representatives of alien Omuk tribes with their unusual appearance and habits: "hairy" giants, tiny men and people "falling asleep for the winter". The purpose and objectives of the article are to generalize, systematize and analyze folklore texts about the ancient inhabitants of the Yakut Arctic using materials from mythology, toponymy, ethnography and archeology. In the genres of Yakut folklore, although a cycle of legends and legends about non-Yakut tribes stands out, nevertheless there is no special article dedicated to the ancient inhabitants of the Arctic coast and the islands of the northern seas of Yakutia. Folklore texts contain diverse, including deeply archaic layers of mythological ideas and folk knowledge inherent in both Yakuts and Tungus-Manchurian, Paleoasiatic, Samoyed and Finno-Ugric peoples. At the same time, the plots of legends and legends were constantly developing, absorbing both mythological representations and real features of the life of Arctic hunters and reindeer herders, as well as fragments of Early Russian folklore. Such a wide areal distribution can be explained by a single historical and cultural heritage, including folklore traditions, of Northern Eurasia.

The Crusades and the Latin East in the Memories of the Hispanic Hospitallers (14th Century)

A set of memories forged an institutional history, disseminated for and by the Catalan, Aragonese, and Navarrese Hospitallers, that paid attention to the crusader past in the Latin East as justification for their functional and administrative features after the Order was re-founded in Rhodes. The translated versions of the statutes were a key means for transmitting the Order’s iconic references to the time of the crusades in the Holy Land. These images operated as a mirror that permitted Hospitallers to recreate identity functions and mythical characters in the most emblematic phase and places, after becoming the crusader Order par excellence in the eastern Mediterranean in Rhodes. Reports on military actions from the 12th to 13th centuries and other allusions stood out in a historiographical tour that extolled its mission and identified itself with symbolic places and people. All this was without forgetting the importance of their caring and religious roles in these narratives. This paper analyses the uses of the memory of the Eastern Hispanic priories of the 14th century found in the crusades and in the history of the Latin East fundamental arguments to affirm and guarantee the strong links between East and West in the headquarters in Rhodes.

Керамические звери лесных городищ: игры взрослых с богами или детские игрушки?

The authors believe that the clay zoomorphic plastic figurines from the Early Iron Age settlements of the forest zone (the areas of the Yukhnovskaya, Milogradskaya, Verkhneokskaya and Dyakovskaya cultures) are not votive elements of agrarian cults but children’s toys. These toys as well as miniature vessels, ceramic models of things, clay loaves could be made by children themselves while learning the process of ceramic production. The use of images of wild animals especially predators and toads in agrarian rituals is doubtful. The dominance of horse images in the Milograd-Yukhnovo area seems to be an Indo-European trait associated with mythology and not with farming. In the area of the Dyakovskaya culture with developed horse breeding, attributed to the Finno-Ugric antiquities, there are clay figurines of animals except horses. Profane toys can carry sacred images since myth and fairy tale are closely connected with each other and a toy for a child has many faces and can situationally play the role of a mythical character, a fairy-tale hero, a usual domestic animal. Some figurines become votive objects at the final stage of existence. Toys were sacrificed during initiation into adulthood as in ancient Greece and Rome. Fragments of figurines in ashtrays formed during the annual ritual and sanitary burning of winter straw bedding from houses and stables are often taken as sacrifices. Household garbage trapped in a “cleansing” bonfire is not a meaningful sacrifice.

The moon, the sun, and stars in Vietnamese folk songs

The article is devoted to astral imagery in Vietnamese folk poetry. Author of the study analyzes folk songs (ca dao) about the Moon, the Sun, stars and constellations, as well as about mythical characters associated with astral myths. Folk songs are cited in Vietnamese language and accompanied by a Russian translation made by the author of the research. Moon imagery is widely represented in Vietnamese folk poetry, as the Moon is associated with the time when love songs are sung. There are both autochthonous Vietnamese and Chinese images. Some of the images of the Chinese origin are very popular as God of marriage Nguyet Lao, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. Other Sinitic images as stars Sam and Thuong are rare and rather literary. There are also autochthonous images in folk poetry, associated with Vietnamese mythology, with the legends of Cuoi, who lives on the Moon, with the legend of two brothers who turned into the Morning and Evening Stars.

Mito e autoridade: Fórum sobre a atualidade da “Crítica da Violência” de Benjamin em seu centenário, Parte I - A autoridade mítica da fundação: para uma crítica da justiça

Abstract This essay proposes an interpretation of the relationship between law, violence, and justice based on Walter Benjamin’s work ‘Critique of Violence.’ I argue that, in the essay, the three terms are sustained by an underlying notion of authority, which, according to Benjamin, has a mythical character. This is shown by an interpretation of how law’s authority is linked to its mythical foundation. Then, by analysing Western mythology and how the notion of authority in our tradition is linked to the Roman figures of Romulus and Numa, I propose a new interpretation of the relationship between law and myth in Benjamin’s text, showing how law also depends on a mythical justice and how the critique of violence must also involve a critique of justice. I end the paper by tracing a parallel between Benjamin’s divine violence and what could be termed divine justice.

Abd al-Kaafi Mohammad Sa’eed’s Al-Fa’ar fi Qafas Al-Itiham (The Rat in the Dock): A Historical and Critical Study

Objectives: This study aims to analyze Abd al-Kaafi Mohammad Sa’eed’s play, "The Rat in the Dock" (1984), from historical and critical perspectives. The play addresses the dangers of corruption in societies and nations, as portrayed through the trials of a legendary and multi-disguised Rat, known in ancient Yemeni history as the Rat of the Ma’rib Dam. While defending national figures in Yemen's ancient and Islamic history, the play also demonstrates the impact of corruption on nations and people.
 Methods: The study adopts a descriptive historical approach by analyzing and critiquing the text of the play.
 Results: The study highlights the dangers of corruption on societies and individuals, symbolized by the character of the Rat and its role in the destruction of the Ma'rib Dam and betrayal of the country. Furthermore, it attempts to present three challenging historical periods that Yemen experienced: the Sabaean period, the Ethiopian period, and the early Islamic period, embodied in three mythical characters: corruption represented by the Rat, History represented by the old man, and the people of the country represented by ordinary citizens. The study communicates how such corruption and events led to inevitable consequences, such as the migration of the population from their country.
 Conclusions: The study does not solely hold the Rat responsible for corruption and the destruction of the Ma'rib Dam, but also acknowledges the involvement of an army of corrupt individuals. This study paves the way for researchers to explore further studies that illustrate the dangers of corruption on nations and individuals, as well as its role in dismantling states, destroying economies, and undermining social cohesion.

Staging Forgetting: How Botho Strauß and Heiner Müller Dislocate A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Abstract: Comedy may well be the generic form most intensely tied to the contemporary. If contemporariness, as defined by Giorgio Agamben, is “that relationship with time that adheres to it through a disjunction and an anachronism,” comedy stages this relationship by making such disjunctions the prerequisite of laughter while subjecting its protagonists to confusions and anachronisms, in the words of Shakespeare’s Puck, “that befall preposterously” (3.2.121). How, then, does comedy travel through time? How may its disjunctions be displaced to very different circumstances? And how, specifically, can it be rewritten so as to contest the pastness of the past? This article sets out to explore these issues through a reading of two little known, but highly resonant and symptomatic, German stage plays that engage, in rather different ways, with A Midsummer Night’s Dream : whereas Heiner Müller’s Waldstück (1969) relocates the erotic and political entanglements of Shakespeare’s Athens to a workers’ recreation home in the German Democratic Republic, Botho Strauß’s Der Park (1983) tries to reimagine mythic characters and their magic charm under conditions of West German banality. Both merit comparison and study as their project is less directed at remembering and retrieving powerful Shakespearean legacies than marking loss and making us forget their power—comedies which, in Agamben’s sense, hold their gaze on their own time so as to perceive its darkness.

Образ Кухулина в исторической памяти Ирландии в Эпоху Гэльского возрождения рубежа XIX–XX веков

This article is devoted to the analysis of the representation of the image of Cu Сhulainn in the Irish historical memory in the Gaelic revival. The author reveals the image of a mythical character from the Ulster cycle. The researcher revealed the meaning of the hero in the works of W. B. Yeats. Cu Сhulainn became a national hero and became a symbol of Irish identity. And the legends served as an ideological basis for the development of nationalism and the struggle of the Irish for the independence of the country.