Think of MYTHOS as a collection of stories all about a central character, either mythical or historical. There can be many contributing factors to creating a mythos. Multiple authors can give different perspectives on how we see the character. Different perspectives can analyze various sides of a character’s traits and abilities, each revealing important ways of seeing the character. A collection of these stories are also called Literary Cycles. Think of all the stories of Robin Hood or King Arthur or in modern literature The Cthulhu mythos of H.P. Lovecraft or if you will…The Batman! Many authors have contributed their take on these characters, thus creating the mythos that surrounds them. Literary cycles also appear in music. Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner.
The Ring is a 2002 horror movie that delivers us an American contribution to the Samara mythos started in the novel Ringu by Kôji Sazuki and then depicted in the Japanese horror movie of the same name, finally recreated in this American version of the film. I picked Literary Cycles for this blog because this whole film is about…well…Rings!
Throughout the film we see lots and lots of circles. They are integral to the plot, but for me the ring is the cyclical nature of the events of the plot. It’s about how one must make a copy of the cursed tape in order for the evil girl Samara to continue her killing spree, so no matter how it ends…it never ends. There was even a sequel to the American film and the Japanese influenced follow up films with “Samara” like characters such as Ju-on: The Grudge and Dark Water (both of which were also remade as American films).
All of these stories worked together to create the mythos of the creepy girl with the hair in her eyes…or Samara! The best contribution to the Samara mythos is a quant very short short story called “The Appointment in Samarra” by W. Sumerset Maugham which had to influence the name chosen by Suzuki for his character’s name. Here it is in its entirety. Creepy stuff. Be warned! How often do you get a story told to you by Death?
"The Appointment in Samarra"
(as retold by W. Somerset Maugham [1933])
The speaker is Death
There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, “Master, just now when I was in the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture, now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me.” The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, “Why did you make a threating gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?” “That was not a threatening gesture,” I said. “It was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.”
(as retold by W. Somerset Maugham [1933])
The speaker is Death
There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, “Master, just now when I was in the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture, now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me.” The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, “Why did you make a threating gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?” “That was not a threatening gesture,” I said. “It was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.”
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