What are the functions of myths in the world today?
If we review the four traditional functions of mythology, we will find that they have largely faded away. This is, at least, the view proposed by Joseph Campbell in his Creative Mythology.
The metaphysical-mystical approach
The religious function is, without doubt, the first of the functions of a living mythology. This means, in practical terms, that it must have the implicit capacity to inspire awe (in the sense of reverence) and humility.
But the truth is that theology, in contemporary terms, cannot aspire to be more than a simple literary exercise. Archaic texts, strictly speaking, can only be understood in the light of the historical context that gave them meaning—a universe in which their heroes, deeds, and pronouncements were regarded as infallible.
For this reason, while in the Middle Ages the Holy Scriptures were the repositories of all faith, that same faith took Reason as its destination during the Enlightenment. Is that unconditional faith deposited today in science? In all likelihood, the confidence that science can protect us against the immensity of all that we still do not know is the most notable characteristic of our time. Science replaces myth in its metaphysical and mystical function, presenting itself as an object of worship and as a placebo in the face of the mysterious.
The cosmological approach
We no longer seek the image of the universe in archaic Sacred Texts, since it is science that provides us with this kind of answer. How has science come to gradually supplant the mythic thinking that has dominated the human mind for centuries upon centuries? A brief survey of the history of science will lead us to revisit a series of significant revolutions that progressively separated the mythological from its role as creator of cosmogonies.
The Columbian revolution, or the twilight of the earthly paradise
“Paradise is isolated from the habitable world by mountains or seas, or by some torrid region that cannot be crossed. For this reason, those who have written about topography do not mention it.” Saint Thomas Aquinas
Around 800 BC, the Venerable Bede had suggested that Paradise might not be a physical place but a spiritual one. This idea, however, was rejected first by Saint Augustine, and later by Saint Thomas, who around 1300 would have attempted to argue reasonably for the physical existence of Paradise, which not only existed but would one day be discovered.
And so, in accordance with the dominant worldview of the Middle Ages, Dante had placed Paradise at the summit of Purgatory. It was not, then, a metaphor, but a mythic elaboration that described the way in which medieval men physically understood the world in which they lived. Indeed, when Columbus, during his third voyage, passed between the island of Trinidad and the mainland of South America, the volume of water from the Orinoco flowing into the Atlantic led him to believe without hesitation that he was looking at one of the rivers of Paradise.
The Copernican revolution, or the twilight of cosmic harmony
Every superstition is, without doubt, a relative concept, because from its very etymology it implies believing in something that belongs to a vision of the past. A flat earth with the sun revolving around it is a vision of the past. It was not a superstition in the 8th century BC, but rather an explanation that corresponded to the reach of empirical observation at the time. And the spiritual value of this vision lay in the fact that it granted humanity the assurance that the universe had a meaning: harmony.
But this harmony begins to break down when Copernicus revives the heliocentric theories of antiquity, which had been suggested by Aristarchus of Samos. Later, the investigations of Galileo would end up simultaneously annihilating the biblical universe and the Hellenistic poetry of the music of the spheres.
Today, our view of the universe no longer suggests harmony, but on the contrary conflict, change, and instability. And it is not only a matter of reflecting on the information currently known to science; the paradigm also places humanity in a relationship of instability with respect to scientific knowledge itself, and even with respect to the way in which civilization relates to scientific discoveries.
The Newtonian revolution, or the twilight of the necessary first mover
The theory of impetus proposed by Jean Buridan eliminated from cosmogony the need for the divinely ordained “unmoved first mover”.
Galileo would then introduce mathematics as a method for determining the laws that govern motion and inertia. And finally Kepler would do away once and for all with the concept of the circle as the perfect figure necessary for the workings of the universe. And finally Newton would deliver the decisive blow: the law of gravity suggested that God might have created the machine, but that the machine could function without His intervention.
The revolutions of Kant and Laplace, or the twilight of the creator god
The hypothesis of a universe arising from a cloud of gas gains ground. Is a creator necessary for the machine of the universe?
Slowly, the idea of a creative personality comes to seem unnecessary. It is not possible to speak of time when time does not yet exist. Nor does it make sense to speak of a time that is not time. The mythological ceases to have meaning within all scientific thought.
The Darwinian revolution, or the twilight of humanity as a finished being
The precedent was set by Hutton, who observed that the slow changes in the earth’s surface are achieved only through gradual transformations.
Though, if one is looking for precedents, the truth is that the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci had long before suggested the similarities between different species. But it would be the contributions of Darwin that would finally eliminate from cosmogony the idea of humanity as a fixed, definitive, and finished species. Everything is in motion, and the principle of life was inscribed in evolution itself.
The atomic revolution, or the twilight of absolute motion
When Newtonian physical principles are revisited by quantum theory, the atom ceases to be a solid ball and is transformed into an almost empty universe. Thus, nature is such that it is impossible to determine absolute motion by any experiment.
In summary, if the function of mythology was to awaken awe and humility before the ultimate mystery, we cannot deny that science fulfills this role today with absolute efficiency. Science is currently the body of knowledge that sets forth the cosmogony, and with it the only certainty that remains: that certainties no longer exist.
The social approach
The third function of mythology is to legitimize and maintain the established order. But what happens, as a consequence, is that the individual now finds himself alone. As Nietzsche would say, either everything is false, or everything is permitted.
The psychological approach
And the last function—that of centering and harmonizing the individual, which in itself once generated a total surrender—is no longer possible, because mythology has lost its containing presence within the individual.