Myth and the treatment of non-human animals in classical and African cultures : a comparative study

Abstract

This dissertation of limited scope, part of a Course-work Master’s in Ancient Languages and Cultures, consists of five chapters which deal with issues relating to the perception and literary treatment of non-human animals in African and Classical traditional stories involving animal characters. The focus of the research was placed upon arguing that: human characteristics were attributed to animal creatures in the myths/traditional stories from both cultures; both cultures made attempts to explain how certain animals became domesticated and how others remained wild; mythical thinking is not a preserve of one culture, it is rather part of human nature; mythical monsters are present in both cultures and that they have always to be destroyed by man, though not easily; myths served several functions for both cultures, ranging from educational entertainment to socializing purposes, to making attempts to explain ancient man’s environment and its happenings. The study was undertaken in the hope of enabling certain recommendations to be formulated, on the basis of the findings, to effect a better and more informed strategy for teaching Classical Mythology and Classics, in general, in the Mawian/African context.