Dr. Ess -- Fall, 1997
Note: this is a formal writing assignment. Review the comments on plagiarism and checklists in the Syllabus, and the handout on documentation. In addition to the basic mechanical standards of formal writing -- correct grammar, good paragraph organization, effective use of quotes, etc. -- I will also be looking for scrupulous documentation of any references to outside resources.
We have spent quite some time examining the stages of human prehistory and early history, attending to both the material conditions and social organization of early peoples, and to how these correlate with specific religious motifs ("sacrifice," vegetation cycle, goddess, sky-god, etc.), religious goals (experiential unity, "swap"), and other elements I have called "the vocabulary of myth."
In particular, we have seen that the rise of agricultural societies brings a shift to patriarchal and patrilineal social structures, along with concommitant need to control female sexuality. This correlates with two fundamental elements of patriarchal religion -- first, the "chaos/order" story, which "demonstrates" that violence against the forces of chaos (usually imaged as female) is justified for the sake of establishing and preserving a (patriarchal) hierarchical "order." This sort of story works to legitimate a patriarchal/hierarchical social structure ruled by kings -- whose power over their subordinates mirrors a pantheon of gods and goddesses also ruled by a single king (e.g., Zeus). Second, a series of reversal myths operate here as well -- i.e., new mythic story and images which work to legitimate the subordination of women in agricultural societies, in contrast with their relatively high status and power in horticultural societies. Such reversal myths include a shift of the generative powers to the male from the female, imaging the female as a "chaos agent" who threatens hierarchical order, and the development of a new image of the female as primarily a "beauty queen," -- e.g., the Aphrodite figure who is defined by her weakness and primary characteristics as dangerously sexually attractive (rather than fertile and nurturing), in light of which image the now "old" images of the powerful goddess are made to appear ugly and laughable.
Explain these developments more fully. In doing so, illustrate and support your basic points with as many examples as you can muster of religious story and institutions -- drawn from lecture, your reading in Fenton (especially ch. 2), and your own knowledge of religion. I will be looking especially for examples drawn from the Purusa Sukta, and Fenton's description of the Indus River civilization and the early Vedic traditions of India. As well, illustrative examples from contemporary Western pop culture and religious traditions would be useful also.
(Helpful hint: for the next writing assignment, I will ask you to describe and/or define the following terms as precisely as possible. You may wish to begin collecting your definitions and descriptions as we go along.
Vedas Srauta ritual rta karma Sutras dharma varnas puja atman Vedanta moksha Samsara maya