In a study published in Europhysics Letters, scientists use
a mathematical approach to examine the social networks in three narratives:
“The Iliad”, “Beowulf” and the Irish epic “Tain BoCuailnge.” If the social networks depicted appeared realistic, they surmised, perhaps they would reflect some degree of historical reality.
When we pick up a
mythological text like “The Iliad” or “Beowulf,” we like to imagine that the
societies they describe existed. Even if the stories are fiction, we believe
that they tell us something about ancient Greece or the Anglo-Saxons, and that
some of the characters and events were based on reality.
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| 1.Howard David Johnson - Victorious Achilles |
“Beowulf” is an
Anglo-Saxon heroic epic, set in Scandinavia. Notwithstanding obvious
embellishments, archaeology supports the historical authenticity associated
with some of its characters. The main character, Beowulf, is believed to be
fictional. “The Iliad,” is an epic poem attributed to Homer dating from the
eighth century B.C. Some archaeological evidence suggests that the story is
based on an actual conflict. We contrasted those two narratives with the Irish
epic “Tain Bo Cuailnge” (usually called the “Tain”), which most believe to be
completely fictional. The “Tain,” which survives in three manuscripts from
between the 12th and 14th centuries, concerns a conflict between Connaught and
Ulster, Ireland’s western and northern provinces.
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2.Hans W. Schmidt Beowulf Illustration
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To construct the social
networks in each of the narratives, researchers created databases for the characters and
their interactions, and categorized their relationships as hostile or
friendly. The myth networks were found to have some of the characteristics,
including the small-world property and structural balance (related to the idea
that the enemy of my enemy is my friend), typical of real-world networks.
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| 3.Táin Bó Cúailnge |
The results showed, that all three were scale-free, unlike any of the intentionally fictional narratives they have examined. However, in the Irish myth, the top six characters are all unrealistically well connected. There are 398 other
characters in the “Tain,” but after remove the weakest links (or single,
direct encounters) between these characters and the Top 6, the narrative
becomes as realistic as “Beowulf” from a social-network view. Perhaps these
characters are amalgams of a number of entities that were fused as the
narrative was passed down orally.
The studies approach is different from traditional approaches to comparative mythology. It is not literary analysis; it tells us nothing about events or the human condition. Instead, it promises a new way to analyze old material and find striking new perspectives and evidence — in this case, that which we call “myths” may not be as mythical as we thought.
The studies approach is different from traditional approaches to comparative mythology. It is not literary analysis; it tells us nothing about events or the human condition. Instead, it promises a new way to analyze old material and find striking new perspectives and evidence — in this case, that which we call “myths” may not be as mythical as we thought.
