Theoretical Strengths for Weaknesses for

Approach Analysis of myths? Analysis of myths?

New Criticism/Formalism (1) Useful for undated texts in which no author is known or (1) It is pointless (or even misleading) to do a close reading word-
no cultural/historical background. by-word if you are reading the text translated into another language
(like English). You must read the original Greek or Latin. (2)
Approach is strictly non-chronological, so no room to trace changes
in myth over time.
Traditional Biographical (1) Works well for late authors--especially Roman ones-- Many myths are anonymous. Impossible to analyze author's life in
Criticism when we have life-records. (2) Works well for writings of such cases. Even in the case of attributed works, we usually have no
political figures and interpreting political allegory. documentation of early Greek writers.
Folklore Studies and (1) Excellent for exploring anonymous works since no individual (1) Doesn't explain much in the way of complex symbolism,
Anthropology creator of a tale is necessary in folklore. (2) Works well for treating them only as motifs (2) Best at showing similarities
comparative literature approaches. (3) Not limited to one version of a between myths and legends, (3) Few undergraduate students have
myth or one text of a myth--great for regional variety. (4) Works for
taken courses in folklore or anthropology, so are ill-prepared to use
well for discussion "non-literary" practices like superstitions, charms,
Greek and Roman magic, etc. (5) You get to use really cool it.
databases like the Aarne-Thompson folklore index.
Traditional Historical criticism (1) Works well for placing some narratives in a larger context. (2) (1) It's been done for 300 years. Hard to say anything new about it. (2)
Works well in conjunction with specific locations and in later periods Works less well for early and preliterate periods where little clear historical
where we have clear historical records or evidence. (3) Works well evidence survives. Spotty historical records before the eighth century BCE,
for writers in Athens, Corinth, etc. where we have solid historical (3) Works poorly in mythic stories that are divorced from "historical
records, especially in the fifth and fourth centuries. (4) Very good for reality." (4) Works poorly in areas like Lacedemonian Sparta, rural Arcadia,
late dramas and satires criticizing politics. early Macedonia, and Lycia where little textual evidence survives.
Oral-Formulaic Studies (1) Excellent for explaining features of early epics when it comes to (1) It's been done for 110 years. Hard to say anything new about a myth
unusual repetitions or phrasing. (2) Leads nicely into Folklore using this approach. (2) Only works with narratives that pre-date the written
studies. word and were later written down in future generations. (3) Doesn't handle
textual variation well compared to textual criticism.
Linguistics (1) Useful for explaining elements of diction. (2) Useful for (1) Temptation is to use etymology as an inductive method, which
analyzing fragments of texts when we do not have enough is hazardous if words are going through rapid or non-standard
material to build a complete narrative. changes. (2) Also, tends to distract from literary analysis of art.
Semiotics (1) Works well for combining Greek art, architecture, and Works best if you know Greek or Latin and also art, architecture,
rituals as "texts" to discuss in conjunction with narrative and rituals. Without that knowledge, your wheels are often spinning
texts. (2) Reminds us that Greek symbols may be quite in the air without traction.
different in meaning when contrasted with our own
understanding.
Marxist/Materialist Criticism (1) Useful reminder of class structure in Greece. (2) Helps prevent (1) Marxist theory is really concerned with late nineteenth-century
typical oversimplification or idealization of the Greek polis as the capitalism. Not all Greek cities were capitalist in nature. (2) In some regions
world's first democracies. Useful for discussing class issues, power like Sparta, and in some time periods generally, the power dynamics is one
struggles, Corinthian manufacture of pottery with mythic themes, etc. of slavery versus free citizen rather than proletariat versus bourgeoisie in an
Reminds us that the rich are the literate, and the ones who support economic or political competition. (3) Not useful for talking about Greek
the rhapsodoi, and thus must have been involved in surviving demes and tribes.
manuscripts.
Deconstruction (1) Works well with Formalistic Close reading and with translation (4) In spite of the advantages of the approach, I've never read a
studies. (2) Works well with structuralist binaries. (3) Good for single deconstructionist essay focused on Greek or Roman myth
pointing out inconsistencies in myths, especially inconsistencies that that didn't seem arbitrary, artificial, or unhelpful by the time I
have developed over centuries as the myths grew, changed, blended
finished the essay.
with one another, or split into separate versions that now contain
contradictions.
Archetypal Criticism (1) Works well with comparative studies. (2) Ridiculously (1) Tends to lead to subjective and touchy-feely readings when
easy to find examples of archetypes in mythology. (3) done by Joseph Campbell--in the worst cases turning into mere
Usually, pretty fascinating as an approach when you are Reader Response. (2) Tends to lead to reductive, homogenous,
reading myths and thinking about their significance. "cookie-cutter" readings in which critics try to fit all symbols and
characters to fit same dozen or archetypes.
Prosody, stylistics, and genre (1) Useful for poems in set genres and structures like the (1) Prose and style studies only legitimate if you read Greek and
criticism epic, the epithalamion, sapphic verse, etc. Especially useful Latin. (2) Some works are fragments or do not fit into a known
for drama. (2) You get to put to use all those schemes and genre. (3) Some authors and poets only survive as fragments.
tropes you learned in Dr. Wheeler's other classes.
Reception Theory Good for looking at how readers in later centuries used or (1) Modern reception of texts without the original cultural context
changed myths as they read them. Especially good for can be "hair-raisingly ahistorical," as Terry Eagleton put it.
medieval readings of classical myths and Christian or
Victorian allegories built around classical myths.
Feminist Criticism Useful for highlighting how downright different the Greco- (1) Very few female authors have left surviving texts. Often
Roman world is when it comes to gender ideas. scholars limited to analyzing female-characters as seen through
male-perspective.
Gender Theory/Queer Theory Gender theory useful because Greek idea of the Divine is (1) Many modern preconceptions and stereotypes about gender and
often gendered as male or female (or in some rare, weird homosexuality are radically different from Greek ones. We may be
cases, both). Helps with personification. Queer Theory useful superimposing our own ideas on top of theirs like a palimpsest
because Greek culture is inherently bisexual (pansexual?) in a when we read.
way hard to imagine in the modern post-Puritan West.
Translation Theory (1) Excellent for pointing out untranslatable "holes" in (1) Works best if you know Greek and Latin. Useless if you dont.
language (either the original Greek and Latin languages or
the modern languages that we try to use as translations. (2)
Helps make Formalistic close readings possible.
Structuralism (1) Its emphasis on binaries and narrative structure work (1) You have to compete with some really smart French and
splendidly with myths. (2) Good for connecting iconography German scholars who are still doing groundbreaking work after
in temples and rituals with mythic narratives since thirty or forty years in the field. (2) If the structuralist's prose isn't
structuralism looks for connections between parts in larger top notch, the resulting essays are jargon-filled quagmires of
abstract systems. abstraction.

Narratology (1) Helps break down complex narratives into simple (1) Vladimir Propp's ideas in narratology really designed to discuss
components that can be individually analyzed. Russian fairy tales, not Greco-Roman myths.
Ecocriticism (1) Its emphasis on natural terrain works well for discussing (1) Ecocriticism is less applicable to urban myths. (2) It ignores
animistic, agricultural, and nature myths. (2) Lots of much of ritual. (3) It doesn't deal well with deities who represent
publication opportunities, because little work has been done psychological abstractions like wisdom or violence. (4) Fairly new
in this area. field of study, so hard to find essays in myth-focused journals
dealing with nature on any level beyond simple theme.
Textual Criticism and (1) Absolutely indispensable. No other theory is possible (1) Requires Greek and Latin knowledge. (2) Most students
Paleography without the existence of the physical texts as objects of initial ignorant of codicology and paleography, so it works best in
study from which we can extrapolate earlier versions. graduate school rather than at the undergraduate level.

(2) Wins coolness points for geeks who want to show off (3) Overwhelming complexity of some textual traditions. (e.g., over
their fancy charts and digital images of the Greek or Latin 3,000 different manuscripts survive of Homer's Iliad, and no two of
texts. them are exactly alike in content.)