Undercutting Mythical Expectations in the Gospels -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 17:43:06 02/24/08 Sun
Author: JD
Subject: Undercutting Mythical Expectations in the Gospels

In the Gospel of Luke I noticed that, although it appropriates the trappings of a myth, there are other moments in which the Gospel sets up something that would be part of a myth, but then does not proceed in the same way as a myth. The first instance was in the births of Jesus and John the Baptist. The way in which their births are positioned next to one another in the gospel is reminiscent of stories such as Romulus and Remus and even Jacob and Esau wherein such similar births often lead to strife, yet obviously in this case the two actually submit to each other in a way (although John ultimately bows completely to Jesus. One other glaring instance was when Jesus goes back to Nazareth and the people take him to the cliff so as to throw him off (like any myth of the group unanimously expelling the victim with such means) yet he walks through them and simply leaves. This failure to complete this process led (fortunately in a way) to a group violence that was not unianimous and thus was revealed to us. Are there any other moments that anyone caught as seeming mythical at first but then does not fulfill these expectations?

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Replies:

Re: Undercutting Mythical Expectations in the Gospels -- CS Holden, 19:22:56 02/24/08 Sun