“It is precisely when we consider how people can find the courage and spirit to engage in the rather constant and difficult revaluation of their lives that we encounter the appeal of myths.”[1] 

If the theory of affect is based on what we feel and experience. How can we use it to study mythology that is more than 2,700 years old? If I understand the basic concept of this theory, I shouldn’t focus on how people used to feel or experience mountains, but centre it on my own senses. I’ll try to analyse my experience of mountains and mythology combined. Reading and studying mythology is different from examining culture or traditions, even though myths can show us how Greek society worked in ancient times, the primary function of myth, apart from the explanation of facts (origin of humankind for example), was to entertain.

Stories of heroes and gods fill us with hope, courage, fear, anger and other emotions we normally experience while reading an exciting story. People who love Greek mythology can name their favourite god, hero or creature, meaning that even though the cults of certain gods mostly disappeared, the culture around myths survived. Today’s view on Greek mythology is very different. People writing fanfictions about Achilles and Patroclus, Hades and Persephone written as “enemies to lover” love stories and many other versions too weird to even mention (I tried to search for specific stories and I don’t think I’ll ever be the same…).

The shift in the view on myths is connected to the idea of mountains. Aside from already mentioned feelings revolving around ancient peaks (fear and madness), they were also a place of education. Mount Pelion was home to centaur Chiron. “Many Greek heroes, including Heracles, Achilles, Jason, and Asclepius, were instructed by him.”[2]. Today we do not travel there to live and learn from magical, genius centaurs about the marvels of modern medicine, however reaching the peaks, sacred or not, always brings a valuable lesson, harmony or inspiration. My future research will include the study of myth and how it connects to personality, the imagination of Greek mountains and the religion of ancient Greek, in the end, I want to put the theory into practice and write poems or short stories inspired by the myths and mountain nature surrounding me.  

  [1] Maddi, Salvatore R. “Myth and Personality.” The Journal of Mind and Behavior 1, no. 2 (1980): 145–53. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43852819.

[2] Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Chiron.” Encyclopedia Britannica, March 16, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chiron-Greek-mythology.