Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2002. Vol. 8. Eger Journal of American Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 28)
Studies - Zsolt K. Virágos: The Twilight Zone of Myth-and-Literature Studies: Analogy, Anomaly, and Intertextuality
ZSOLT K. VIRÁGOS THE TWILIGHT ZONE OF MYTH-AND-LITERATURE STUDIES: ANALOGY, ANOMALY, AND INTERTEXTUALITY Cadmus slays the Dragon and makes Thebes a prosperous city. Oedipus "kills" the Sphinx and the Thebans welcome him as their king. Perseus kills the Gorgon Medusa (as well as the sea-monster), acquires Andromeda and becomes king of Tiryns. Bellerophon kills the Chimaera, becomes a great hero and wins the daughter of Iobates. Heracles destroys several monsters, including the Hydra and the monstrous lion, and after accomplishing the twelve gigantic labors burns himself to death. St. George kills the Dragon and saves a city— and a maiden —in distress. The analogies are irresistible. All these mythological culture heroes —as well as a profusion of protagonists in the folklore residues of almost every culture, including Hungarian folktales —evoke the monster-killing/heroic-rescue paradigm (with some of them also integrated into city-founding myths). Most of them embody the archetypal task motif: they are sent off on dangerous missions which are bound to finish them off. However, they prove their heroic potential and attain victories against all odds and are rewarded. On first observation, therefore, subjecting these narrative segments to the same kind of paradigmatic —and archetypal —reading appears more than tempting. Indeed, some of these paradigms are implicated in a special kind of intertextual linkage within the mythological realm: the story of Perseus, for instance, may be read as a prevision of Saint George's slaying of the dragon. 277
