Stratification-Analyses of Mythic Plots and Texts in Ancient Cultures

古代神话研究的特点是方法的多元性，这种多元性几乎可以表现为任意性，反映了研究成果及其评价的异质性。比较研究方法是可以发现的，但它们在很大程度上是在并列列举不同来源和专门的个人研究中耗尽的。为了系统地、比较地研究古代神话，必须找到一个有代表性的物质基础，一个全面的理论框架和一种既适用于一种文化又适用于两种文化比较的方法。古代神话的研究主要集中在希腊和罗马的起源上，而斯特拉塔研究小组则从时间、地域、主题和体裁结合最早的，古代近东以及后来，犹太基督教古代世界。基本理论框架的进一步发展和应用将在形式上、特色上和动态上引发新的发展。形式上，神话被包含在以不同形式具体化的情节中，可以在较大的作品和孤立的神话主题中获得，如苏美尔诸神名单，希腊喜剧或晚期古代基督教布道。一个有区别的，详细的语言历史的方法，侧重于分析情节的序列的神话和孤立的神话提供了创新的工具，研究小组作为一个坚实的基础，系统的，量化的比较区别。对以往神话研究的问题分析进一步表明，传统研究方法的一个隐含的前提假设，即神话情节和文本的所有元素必须在一个单一的一致的水平上有意地联系起来，古代神话失败了。相比之下，研究小组将以一种全新的方式探索神话的动态潜力。如果神话情节和文本的异质形态、不兼容和不一致不被视为错误或不准确，因此不被平滑或校正，而是作为一个复杂的传播过程的指标进行评估，分析它将有助于我们识别不同的历史发展阶层，这种创新的方法将被示范性地应用于关于改变领域的古代神话，这是关于去垂直遥远的领域，如天堂和阴间，或水平遥远的外围地区，如祝福之岛的神话。初步研究表明，这种阴谋到目前为止在许多方面仍然令人费解。因此，正是在这一点上，一种新的方法论途径是迫切需要的。在第一个资助期内，该方法将主要通过文本来源得到加强;在第二个资助期内，它将系统地扩展到图像来源。

Characteristic for research about ancient myths is a plurality of approaches which might almost appear as diffuse arbitrariness and which reflects the heterogeneity of research results and their evaluations. Comparative research approaches are detectable, but they exhaust themselves largely in paratactic enumerations of different sources and in specialised individual studies. In order to work through ancient myths in a systematically and comparatively founded manner it is necessary to find a representative material base, a comprehensive theoretical frame and a method which can be applied for one culture as well as for cultures in comparison.While the research of ancient myths has focused mainly on Greek and Roman sources, the research group STRATA broadens the material base regarding time, region, topics and genre by incorporating the earliest, Ancient Near Eastern as well as the later, Jewish-Christian ancient worlds. The further development and application of the basically mapped theoretical framework will initiate a development in formal, distinctive and dynamic respects. Formally myths are encompassed as plots which concretise in different forms, available in larger compositions and in isolated mythemes as in a Sumerian gods list, a Greek comedy or in a Late Antique Christian sermon. A differentiated, elaborated philological-historical method focusing on the analysis of plots as sequences of mythemes and of isolated mythemes provides the research group the innovative instruments to serve as a solid foundation for systematic, quantified comparative distinctions. A problem analysis of previous research on myths shows furthermore that one implicitly presupposed postulate of traditional approaches, namely that all elements of mythic plots and texts have to be intentionally related on one singular consistent level, fails ancient myths. In contrast the research group will explore the dynamic potential of myths in a completely new way. This approach will be successful if heterogeneous morphologies, incompatibilities and inconsistencies of mythical plots and texts are not regarded as mistakes or inaccuracies and as such are not smoothed or emended, but evaluated as indicators of a complex process of transmission, the analysis of which will help us identify different, historically grown strata.This innovative approach will be applied exemplarily to ancient myths about changing spheres, that is to myths about going to vertically remote spheres as heaven and netherworld or to horizontally distant peripherals like the ¿Island of the Blessed¿. Preliminary studies have shown that such plots up to now remain incomprehensible in many respects. So it is just here that a new methodological approach is a desideratum. During the first grant-period the method will be enhanced primarily through textual sources; during the second grant-period it will be expanded systematically on iconographic sources.