Plato-who may have understood better what forms the mind of man than do some of our contemporaries who want their children exposed only to “real” people and everyday events-knew what intellectual experiences make for true humanity. He suggested that the future citizens of his ideal republic begin their literary education with the telling of myths, rather than with mere facts or so-called rational teachings. Even Aristotle, master of pure reason, said, “The friend of wisdom is also a friend of myth.”
Modern thinkers who have studied myths and fairy tales from a philosophical or psychological viewpoint arrive at the same conclusion, regardless of their original persuasion. Mircea Eliade, for one, describes these stories as models for human behavior that give meaning and value to life. ” He and others suggest that myths and fairy tales were derived from, or give symbolic expression to, initiation rites or rites of passage — such as metaphoric death of an old, inadequate self in order to be reborn on a higher plane of existence. He feels that this is why these tales meet a strongly felt need and are carriers of such deep meaning.
Other investigations with a depth-psychological orientation emphasize the similarities between the fantastic events in myths and fairy tales and those in adult dreams and daydreams — the fulfillment of wishes, the winning out over all competitors, the destruction of enemies-and conclude that one attraction of this literature is its expression of that which is normally prevented from coming to awareness. There are, however, very significant differences between fairy tales and dreams.
There is general agreement that myths and fairy tales speak to us in the language of symbols representing unconscious content. Their appeal is simultaneously to our conscious mind, and to our ideals as well. This makes it very effective; and in the tale’s content, inner psychological phenomena are given in symbolic form.
1.In the opening paragraph, the author quotes Plato and Aristotle primarily in order to（ ）.
2.In paragraph 2, the word “persuasion” means（ ）.
3.It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s interest in fairy tales centers chiefly on their
4.Which of the following best describes the author’s attitude toward fairy tales?
