Many astute authors have found themselves intrigued by those oft-overarching themes embedded in the mythologies of disparate cultures. Comparative mythology has its roots in Adolf Bastian's concept of "psychic unity," the idea that all humans share the same basic psychological or cognitive makeup [1]. Carl Jung postulated a collective unconscious, codifying recurrent psychological/mythological elements into Archetypes. Mythologist Joseph Campbell built on the ideas of his predecessors, identifying cross-cultural mythos patterns in works such as the Hero With a Thousand Faces (where he introduces the "monomyth") and his four-volume Masks of God series.
As an anthropologist and amateur mythologist, I enjoy identifying cross-cultural themes in mythology. Recently I've been considering the parallels between Orpheus and Eurydice, Lot's wife, and Izanami-no-Mikoto. In each of these stories, there is a pattern of divine or supernatural commandment, a disobeying of that commandment, and subsequent irrevocable punishment. Of particular interest is the fact that, in all of these stories, it is the woman who bears the ultimate burden of penalty, regardless of who actually violated the divine instruction. No doubt the reader can identify numerous other elements of commonality in these myths, among them: the importance of obeying divine order; the futility of challenging death; the fixed nature of the past and the self-destruction that comes from obsessed fixation upon it; hubris and the limitation of human ability.
Orpheus and Eurydice:"Orpheus, a celebrated musician of antiquity, was the son of Apollo and the muse Calliope. He performed upon the lyre with such skill, that to listen to him, rapid rivers ceased to flow, mountains moved, and even savage beasts were tamed by the power of his melody. He married the beautiful nymph Eurydice, but shortly after the celebration of their nuptials, she was stung in the foot by a venemous serpent, and died in consequence of the wound. Orpheus, inconsolable at her loss, determined to attempt her recovery from the infernal regions, whither he immediately repaired, and so charmed Pluto by the melody of his strains, that he consented to allow Eurydice to return with him upon earth, on condition that he forbore looking behind him until he reached the extremest borders of hell. These conditions were gladly accepted; and Orpheus was already in sight of the upper regions, when, forgetful of his promise, he turned to look at his long-lost Eurydice. He saw her, but she instantly vanished from his view. He attempted to follow her, but was not allowed to re-enter the regions of the dead. Orpheus, in despair, shunned all intercourse with mankind, wandering over mountains, or retiring to grottoes, and endeavouring to forget his misfortune in the charms of music." [2]
Lot's Wife:
"Towards morning the angels apprised Lot of the doom which hung over the place [Sodom], and urged him to hasten thence with his family. He was allowed to extend the benefit of this deliverance to the families of his daughters who had married in Sodom; but the warning was received by those families with incredulity and insult, and he therefore left Sodom accompanied by only his wife and two daughters. As they went, being hastened by the angels, the wife, anxious for those who had been left behind, or reluctant to move from the place which had long been her home, and where much valuable property was necessarily left behind, lingered behind the rest, and was suddenly involved in the destruction by which--smothered and stiffened as she stood by saline incrustations--she became a 'pillar of salt'." [3]
"The Arab legend of Lot's wife differs from the Bible account only in the addition of a few frivolous details. They say that there were seven cities of the plain, and that they were all miraculously overwhelmed by the Dead Sea as a punishment for their crimes. The prophet Lot and his family alone escaped the general destruction. He was divinely warned to take all that he had and flee eastward, a strict injunction given that they should not look behind them. Lot's wife, who had on previous occasions ridiculed her husband's prophetic office, disobeyed the command, and, turning to gaze upon the scene of the disaster, was changed into this pillar of rock." [3]
Izanami-no-Mikoto:
"Descent of Izanagi to the lower regions. Desiring to bring back his beloved wife to the land of the living, Izanagi went down to the Underworld. But Izanami had already tasted of the food of the subterranean world, which made her return to earth impossible. Nevertheless she went to ask the gods of the Land of Darkness to make an exception in her favour. First of all she had made her husband promise that he would wait for her without trying to see her. The waiting was long, and Izanagi became impatient. At last he arose and determined to make his way into the palace his wife had entered. There a horrible vision greeted him: Izanami's body in a state of decomposition lay on the ground guarded by the Eight Thunders. Nevertheless the corpse spoke to him: "You have humiliated me," she said. The Eight Thunders, joined by the Ugly Females of the Underworld, then darted in pursuit of Izanagi. Long, long, he ran, outstripping his pursuers by but a little, keeping away from them by various devices, then, once he was outside, he shut the exit from the lower regions with a huge rock." [4]
"Izanagi descended to Yomi, and begged Izanami to return, but she told him: 'You are too late. I have already eaten at the hearth of Yomi.' She promised to plead with the gods of Yomi to let her return, but warned Izanagi not to follow her. But Izanagi did follow her into the darkness; he broke off a tooth from his comb and lit it to use as a torch. When the light fell on Izanami, he saw that her body was already a putrefying mass of squirming maggots, which turned into thunder gods." [5]
1. Postulate of the Psychic Unity of Mankind.
http://www.anthrobase.com/Dic/eng/def/psychic_unity.htm
2. Dryden, John; et al. Mythological Fables. W.E. Dean: New York. 1837.
3. McClintock, John; Strong, James. Cyclopaedia of Biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical literature,
Volume 5. Harper: New York. 1873.
4. Hackin, J.; Couchoud, P.L. Asiatic Mythology 1932. Kessinger Publishing Co.: New York. 2005.
5. Wilkinson, Philip; Philip, Neil. Eyewitness Companions: Mythology. Penguin: New York. 2007.
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