Parallel Myths

Parallel Myths by J. F. Bierlein, a scholarly study of cultural mythology and its extensive cross-cultural intersectionality, was originally published in 1994. The book takes up the work popularized by Joseph Campbell in the 1980s and, in the author’s words, attempts to make the subject more “reader friendly” as well as more globally inclusive. Bierlein notes the rise in the popularity of myth in the last few decades, and his work aims to account for that rise, analyzing it from the perspective of disciplines as diverse as anthropology, philosophy, psychology, and religion.

Summary

Parallel Myths begins with a rudimentary definition of myth: a “mirror” in which we, society, see ourselves. Mythic stories are ubiquitous in film and literature and serve as a psychological balm against the existential dread of daily life. Human beings, he argues, need purpose in their lives as much as they need food and water, and myths offer that purpose. The English language is even peppered with words that have their origins in myth, including our ways of measuring time and recording history. They provide a bridge between the mortal world and the divine mysteries of the universe without which the natural world loses its wonder. In short, myths are so tightly interwoven into the fabric of our culture that we cannot escape them.

Bierlein next lists an extensive catalogue of the major players in these stories, the pantheons of gods and goddesses of Greek/Roman, Norse, Indian, Egyptian, Hawaiian, and Aztec mythology. With a few specific exceptions, all of these cultures’ deities serve very similar purposes (god of the sky or heaven, goddess of love and beauty, god of fire, god/goddess of the underworld, etc.). Even more striking are the parallels among various creation myths. Most of these stories begin with chaos or water or a combination of the two, with plants and animals arriving next, followed lastly by the creation of humans, a chronology that echoes the theories of evolutionary biology. Similarly, many of these stories recount humanity’s fall from grace, either an expulsion from paradise or a sudden disfavor in the eyes of the gods. Some myths—Indian, Greek, Navajo—even speak of this fall (and subsequent apocalypse) in cyclical terms, a series of events that repeats ad infinitum until humans learn their lesson.

The biblical story of Noah and the great flood is also a fixture in many other cultural myths, suggesting that such a cataclysmic event actually happened. What is so noteworthy, however, is the reason for the flood. Nearly every flood myth places the blame squarely on the shoulders of humanity and its sinful ways. Likewise, mythic tales of love invariably involve dire consequences, even death, for impetuous young lovers. Myths are also used to teach moral lessons—the virtue of loyalty (the Mahabharata) or the perils of pride (Anansi the Spider).

Bierlein then delves into various hero myths, a motif that has been used extensively in film and literature. From Theseus’s defeat of the Minotaur to Sisyphus’s punishment of meaningless repetition, these stories show humanity at its bravest, cleverest, and occasionally, its most arrogant.

The inevitability of death is manifested in myths of the Underworld, a place often reserved for judgment of man’s character. Those deemed worthy ultimately find sanctuary in paradise while the wicked are condemned to eternal damnation, a perfect example of the use of myth as social corrective. Interestingly, many cultures also have myths of the apocalypse, implying a certain foreknowledge of humanity’s ultimate demise (although some cultures see that demise as simply part of a greater cycle of destruction and rebirth).

Bierlein follows his extensive litany of mythic tales with some scholarly interpretation—historical, psychological, and religious. Citing a wide range of writers and academics, he shows how traditional societies, many of them matriarchal, transitioned to patriarchies as evidenced by their stories (the Mother Earth goddess being replaced by Zeus, Odin, and a host of male gods). He discusses the various schools of myth scholarship, including diffusionism, structuralism, Freud’s Oedipus complex, and Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious.

Finally, he tackles the “demythologization” of culture caused by society’s obsession with science and “rational” thought. Science, he argues, has reduced our thinking to only that which can be observed through the five senses, a paradigm shift that has resulted in a loss of wonder and purpose. Without an ear to the cosmos listening for the wisdom of the divine, humanity is adrift. Social cohesion is lost, and all manner of communal ills—suicide, addiction, loss of hope—are the result. He suggests that the recent resurgence of interest in myth is a necessary response to the moral nihilism and sterility of a science-only society. Human beings cannot exist without these stories.