Author Davis explains mythology
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By ANDREW McKEEVER Herald Staff - Published: November 17, 2005
MANCHESTER — If pressed, most readers of the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus, the Herald's sister newspaper, would probably admit they don't know what an "Argus" is.
It's one of the examples of what we don't know about mythology that prompted Dorset writer Kenneth Davis to help us out.
The original Argus, it turns out, is a character from Greek mythology — a monster covered with eyes. The exact number varied with the source, but ranged anywhere from four to 100. Only two were ever closed at a time, Davis writes.
That's just like the watchful eyes of the community, or the local newspaper, Davis said.
"Don't Know Much About Mythology," Davis' latest effort in a series of six books stretching back more than 15 years, follows his first effort, "Don't Know Much About History," which occupied a slot on the New York Times bestseller list for 35 weeks. Subsequent books have covered the Civil War, the Bible, the universe and geography.
His books attempt to explain in an accessible way, without oversimplifying the subject matter, the richness of some of these big topics many may have wondered about, but never had the time or interest to plow through a heavy, lengthy tome.
Davis will be discussing his latest book at 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 18, at the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester.
His books sell because people have a thirst for knowledge and want to know about all these topics, but were bored to death in school as youngsters when they were supposed to be learning them, he said.
But now even middle school teachers tell him they use his books, which grab the attention of their students better than the assigned textbook, he said.
The popularity of his books could be age-related too — some subjects simply get more interesting as people get older, he said.
"It's like the old saying 'education is wasted on the young,'" he said. "People have an enormous appetite for this, and they feel they got cheated."
So was born "Don't Know Much About History," and each succeeding book has emerged out of its predecessor, as Davis followed the age-old rule of the writing craft — write what you know about and what you're interested in.
"Mythology" developed out of the earlier "Don't Know Much About The Bible," because there is a link between the two. Mythology and religion are closely connected — indeed the early Hebrews drew upon ancient Greek and Mesopotamian myths for some of the first Biblical texts, Davis said. And like religion, mythology is a way — at least it was in ancient times — of explaining the creation of the world and how it works.
Intelligent design, anyone?
"We make stories to explain things we can't explain," he said.
If students study mythology at all today — one suspects this may not be as much the case as when current adults of a certain age were in school — they are most likely to read about the Greek gods and goddesses — Zeus, Apollo, Athena and the playful Aphrodite, who contemporary fans of Brad Pitt know caused all that fuss over Troy.
But there is a world full of other cultures that also developed a rich literature of mythology, and these are covered along with the better known Greeks. For Davis, among the most intriguing were the myths of India, whose ancient culture developed a vast mythological literature, he said.
"India has produced a breathtaking array of myths, but for them, they aren't myths, they're religion," he said.
If you've ever tried to unravel the mysteries of the Bhagavad-Gita or make sense of what those six-armed dancing goddesses were up to, this book is a godsend. Davis untangles the meaning behind the cosmic clutter in a way that doesn't shortchange the complexity of the subject, but doesn't leave you scratching your head in confusion.
While many may think of myths as belonging to long dead cultures and of purely academic or literary interest today, Davis takes pains to make clear ancient mythology is still very much with us. It infests our language — think Nike, or Trojan Horse computer viruses, panic or hurricanes. All those words have deep mythological roots.
The bedrock Christian holiday of Christmas has its origins in a pagan holiday worship of celebrating lengthening days after the darkest part of winter. But the lasting influence of mythology may be most clearly seen in the movies, of which the "Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars" are the clearest examples, he said.
But there are many others, he said.
Finally, what of poor Argus, the multi-eyed monster? His task in life it turns out, was to guard the Greek demi-goddess Io, whose beauty attracted the wandering eye of Zeus, the Greeks' supreme God, which in turn made his wife Hera jealous, which caused Zeus to cleverly disguise Io as a cow. If you want to know how that love triangle worked out, you'll have to buy the book.
Contact Andrew McKeever at andrew.mckeever@rutlandherald.com.
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