MAKING SENSE OF ANCIENT MYTHS: THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH AND POPOL VUH IN THE LIGHT OF CLAUDE LÉVI-STRAUSS AND IMAM GHAZALI’S METHODOLOGIES

Léonard Faytre

ABSTRACT

Many ancient mythological stories remain unfamiliar to the modern reader since they are not carried anymore by a living exegesis tradition. The study of myths needs, therefore, a prior discussion on interpretation. In this paper, I compare Claude Lévi-Strauss and Imam al-Ghazali’s interpretations of myths and apply them to the mythological accounts of Epic of Gilgamesh and Popol Vuh. Claude Lévi-Strauss’s theory of structuralism and Imam al-Ghazali’s classification of beliefs share a common essential point: they both present myths as an explanation of the empirical world. According to these theories, myths reflect the relation a particular society has with human faculties (“mental” for Lévi-Strauss and “spiritual” for al-Ghazali) but also with its physical (Lévi-Strauss) and metaphysical (al-Ghazali) environment. I base my analysis on Claude Lévi-Strauss’s Myth and Meaning (1978) and al-Ghazali’s Mishkat al-anwar (The Niche for Lights, 11th century AD), especially the third chapter of his opus.