Pagan Foreshadowings
Myth Made Fact: Reading Greek and Roman Mythology Through Christian Eyes
by Louis Markos
Classical Academic Press, 2020
(420 pages, $27.99, hardcover)
Louis Markos has written a book unlike any other I have reviewed or read, and, apart from any consideration of its quality, I must say that I was immediately struck by the ingenuity of the idea. Inspired by C. S. Lewis's essay, "Myth Became Fact," Markos has undertaken to work out in practice the notion that Christianity is not discredited because it is mythical, like (for instance) classical paganism. The reason is that Christian "myths," unlike those of paganism, are true. "The heart of Christianity," Lewis writes,
is a myth which is also a fact. The old myth of the Dying God, without ceasing to be a myth [emphasis in original], comes down from the heaven of legend and imagination to the earth of history. It happens [emphasis in original]—at a particular date, in a particular place, followed by definable historical consequences. We pass from a Baldur or an Osiris, dying nobody knows when or where, to a historical Person crucified (it is all in order) under Pontius Pilate [emphasis in original]. By becoming fact it does not cease to be myth: that is the miracle.
And so, Lewis concludes, "We must not be ashamed of the mythical radiance resting on our theology. We must not be nervous about 'parallels' and 'Pagan Christs': they ought [emphasis in original] to be there—it would be a stumbling block if they weren't."
That a Christian literary scholar, especially one with a predilection for Lewis and the other Inklings, would take up this idea is hardly surprising; Markos, however, has used the concept of the parallels between Christian "myth" and pagan myth to create a textbook for students. He has thereby fulfilled one of the most pressing current needs of Christian parents and educators and done so with aplomb. Depending on the nature of the school and the caliber of the students, Myth Made Fact could be useful, I should think, for students as young as eighth or ninth grade and as advanced as first- or second-year college. In the hands of a skilled and dedicated teacher, this book could be used to introduce students to the literature and mythology of the classical world within a specifically Christian context.
In the course of the past two generations, American culture has not merely been "secularized"—the culture has always been secular in its everyday practices—it has, rather, been thoroughly and brutally de-Christianized. Louis Markos offers a pedagogical aid to compensate for the virtual banishment of Christian attitudes, stories, and assumptions from the world in which almost all young persons now grow up. For even the most fervently Christian home, even the most rigorously Christian school, is fighting a rearguard action against the encroachments of a relentlessly hostile and belligerently atheist culture. The children all have cell phones and tablets or at least access to them, and the World Wide Web is the habitat of especially venomous spiders.
Method & Organization
Markos employs a disarmingly simple method: in plain prose versions, he recounts 50 of the more famous and influential of the Greco-Roman myths. Although Markos is telling the story in his own words (much as Edith Hamilton and Robert Graves do in their mythological compendia), he identifies the particular ancient literary source that he uses for each tale. For example, "Phaeton and the Chariot of the Sun" is taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses; "Demeter and Persephone" from the Homeric "Hymn to Demeter"; and "The Twelve Labors" of Hercules from The Library of Apollodorus.
After each story, the author offers "Reflections" on the similarities between the ancient myth and stories and characters from Sacred Scripture, stressing especially how the meaning of the myth may be seen to anticipate the fulfillment of its significance in the Christian version. Following the "Reflections" is a set of "Applications," comprising questions, assignments, and challenges for students. The author draws particular attention to the misconceptions about classical mythology and the Bible that many students will have picked up from distorted references in popular culture.
The myths that Markos treats are organized into six groups according to thematic classifications. "Journeys and Origins" includes such stories as "Odysseus and Circe" and "Pandora's Box." Part II, "Platonic Myths," deals with seven myths found in Plato's dialogues: "The Allegory of the Cave," for instance, and "The Ladder of Love." The remaining sections deal with "The Four Great Heroes" (Perseus, Jason, Theseus, and Hercules), "The Tragic House of Thebes," "The Tragic House of Atreus," and "Love Lost and Found."
The book also includes three appendices on Greek mythology in literature, art, and film; on various pedagogical approaches to The Myth Made Fact; and an appendix devoted specifically to classroom use of the book. Markos adds, further, extensive suggestions for further reading and a bibliography, a glossary of terms and concepts, an index of scriptural references, and an index of mythological characters. It is, finally, an attractive book, illustrated by reproductions of various paintings on mythological themes.
R. V. Young is Professor of English Emeritus at North Carolina State University, a former editor of Modern Age: A Quarterly Review, and the author of Shakespeare and the Idea of Western Civilization (Catholic University of America Press, 2022). He and his wife are parishioners at St. Ignatius of Antioch Church in Tarpon Springs, Florida. They have five grown children, fifteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. He is a senior editor of Touchstone.
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