Metaphor in Myth

Metaphor in Myth

I Made Rajeg

made_rajeg@unud.ac.id

Introduction

Metaphor emerges widespread in our everyday life. It is not just in the way we use the language but also in thought and action” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p.3). It is embodied in various vivid arts, such as cartoons, literary works, dreams, visions, and myths (Lakoff, 2006). In the Balinese society, we can recognize several myths that function, among them, as an effective educational tool to reinforce certain cultural values, social norms, and beliefs. The myths are taught orally from generation to generation by our parents; children, usually, follow and implement this teaching properly. This article will discuss two familiar myths. First, the myth of throwing the lower teeth up, upper teeth down. Second, the prohibition of sitting on pillows. This article aims to disclose the concepts that motivate these two myths.

Concepts of Metaphor

a)      Traditional view

It is defined that “metaphor a figure of speech in which a word or phrase, literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or the analogy between them (as in drowning in money)” (Merriam-Webster, Inc, 2016). Lea, (2020) defines that “metaphor is a word or phrase used to describe somebody/something else, in a way that is different from its normal use, in order to show that the two things have the same qualities and to make the description more powerful, such as She has a heart of stone.” Meanwhile, The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, (2003) puts it “metaphor is a figure of speech that implies a comparison between two unlike entities, as distinguished from simile, an explicit comparison signaled by words like or as”.

Traditionally, the shared view of metaphor also shares the common features of it. First, it is a linguistic phenomenon or a property of words. Second, metaphor is adopted for some decorative and eloquent purposes, such as “all the world’s a stage” written by Shakespeare. Third, metaphor is used based on a similarity between the two things that are being compared and identified. Fourth, metaphor is a sensible and purposeful use of words, and one must have special expertise to use it well. Fifth, it is common for people to think that metaphor is a figure of speech that we do not need it often; the use of metaphor is for certain effects, and we can avoid it in our everyday communication (Kövecses, 2010; Lakoff & Johnson, 2003).

b)      Contemporary View

The traditional view was challenged by Lakoff and Johnson in their 1980’s classic “Metaphors We Live By”. Their concept has been popular as “the cognitive linguistic view of metaphor”. (Kövecses, 2010). They claimed that metaphor is not solely a matter of language, rather it is the matter of concepts; metaphor serves as a mean to understand a certain concept better, it is not merely to show some decorative or artistic usage; metaphor does not always exhibit similarities; we use metaphor in our everyday life without realizing it, even ordinary people often use it without necessarily be a specialist or talented in it; and metaphor is the process of how humans think and make reasons(Kövecses, 2010).

Concept of Myth

“Myth is a traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon” (Merriam-Webster, Inc, 2016). It has been a story from olden days, especially when one has to tell a story of natural experiences or to explain how early life began. People think that this kind of story is similar to a legend. (Lea, 2020). The New Encyclopaedia Britannica (2003) defines that “myth is a symbolic narrative, usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional, that ostensibly relates actual events and that is especially associated with religious belief. It is distinguished from symbolic behavior (cult, ritual) and symbolic places or objects (temples, icons)”. Meanwhile, Roland Barthes defines that “myth is a type of speech” and it has two sections, like a language, “it has a signifier and a signified (making the unit sign) then so does myth” (Barthes,2006: 2013).

The Importance of Myth and Metaphor

A myth is an orally transmitted tradition on a small scope. However, the advanced development of technology has made it possible for people to address myths to a larger audience via various media, films, videos, books, web, etc. According to Barthes & Lavers (2006) myth is based on human history and it can not naturally occur. The importance of myth is in its participation in the creation of an ideology.

As well as in humans’ lives, knowledge about metaphor is important in myths. The importance of metaphor, in this context, conceptual metaphor is illustrated in the myth of Oedipus as exemplified in Kövecses (2010). The myth goes like this, Oedipus is on his way to Thebes. When arrives in there, he meets the Sphinx, who asks every passerby a puzzle to solve before one is able to through for the city. The Sphinx swallows everyone if they are not able to answer the puzzle correctly. So far, no one can answer the puzzle correctly. Thus, they have been killed and swallowed by the Sphinx. When Oedipus arrives and meets the Sphinx, Oedipus must answer the puzzle “What animals have four feet in the morning, two at noon, and three feet in the evening?” Immediately, Oedipus responds, “It’s men”. They crawl on fours, they walk on two in maturity, and they support themselves with a stick in their old age. Oedipus’ answer is correct and wins upon the Sphinx. Then, the Sphinx kills himself and Oedipus becomes king of Thebes. The question is how Oedipus is able to deal with the puzzle. The answer is partly because of the knowledge of the conceptual metaphor understood by Oedipus. There seem to be two possible conceptual metaphors that help Oedipus to deal with the puzzle. Number one is the conceptual metaphor “THE LIFE OF HUMAN BEINGS IS A DAY”. Oedipus must have understood the elements of the source domain, the day, that correspond to the elements of the target domain, the life of human beings. Morning conforms to childhood, noon conforms to adulthood, and evening conforms to old age. By understanding the mapping between the source and target domain, Oedipus is successful in answering the puzzle with the right solution. Conceptual metaphor number two is “HUMAN LIFE IS A JOURNEY”. It may be less important than the other one but may have contributed to the success of Oedipus in finding the solution to the puzzle. The metaphor is evoked due to the frequent use of the word feet in the myth because feet are usually used by humans for a journey. From the above myth, we understand that the understanding of the conceptual metaphor has saved the life of Oedipus (Kövecses & Benczes, 2010).

Metaphor in Balinese Myth

One of the well-known and practiced traditions of the Balinese is to throw their lower-teeth up to the roof when they fall and throw and or bury them on the ground when their upper-teeth falls. Parents ask their children to do it so that their teeth will grow back well. Children, usually, just follow what is said by parents. These kinds of traditions take place hereditary and delivered orally. The question is what kind of concept did the creator of the myth try to say to the people? The action may have been motivated by a conceptual metaphor “GOOD IS BALANCED ACTS”. The balance is an activity and to reach a balanced state one must do a balancing activity. Similarly, to result in goodness one must balance the activity that he does, once you throw something upward and once you throw it downward; once you look upward, you’re balancing it by looking downward for once.

Another familiar myth is that sitting on the pillow is prohibited in the Balinese tradition. The Balinese people, especially, children are not allowed to sit on the pillow in order not to have the consequences of having boils that usually appear on the buttocks or on the thighs. The myth may have been motivated by a spatial-orientation conceptual metaphor “GOOD IS UP and BAD IS DOWN” (Lakoff & Johnson, 2003). Traditionally, a pillow is utilized to support the head of someone when he sleeps. Head is an upper part of the human body. Meanwhile, buttocks or the thighs are the lower part of the body. Thus, putting something that is supposed to be on the upper part of the body at the opposite place is not correct. 

Conclusion

The metaphors and myths take an important part in transferring cultural values, social norms, and beliefs to the people, mainly, children. Understanding conceptual metaphors enable people to disclose the concepts that motivate myths. Thus, we can see the intended lessons being transferred by the myth creators.

Bibliography

Barthes, R. (2013). Mythologies. Hill & Wang Inc.U.S

Barthes, R., & Lavers, A. (2006). Mythologies (47. [print.]). Hill and Wang.

Kövecses, Z. (2010). Metaphor: A practical introduction (2nd ed). Oxford University Press.

Lakoff, G. (2006). The contemporary theory of metaphor. In D. Geeraerts (Ed.), Cognitive Linguistics: Basic Readings (pp. 185–238). Mouton de Gruyter.

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. The University of Chicago Press.

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (2003). Metaphors we live by (2nd ed) (2 ed). University of Chicago Press.

Lea, D. (2020). Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: Hardback (with 1 year’s access to both premium online and app).

Merriam-Webster, Inc (Ed.). (2016). The Merriam-Webster dictionary (New edition). Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Outline of knowledge; guide to the Britannica. In 32 Volumes. 32: Propaedia (15 Ed). (2003). Encyclopædia Britannica.