Social Networks and Mythology

Studying the structures of social networks has yielded a wide variety of insights, as well as the recognition that, despite the variety of social networks studied, they often have certain properties in common. Of course, many of these network properties are those shared by many other networks found "in the wild," from high amounts of clustering to short path lengths between any two nodes as well as heavy-tailed distributions of connections.

However, one property that distinguishes social networks from at least certain other types of networks is that of assortative mixing: highly connected nodes are more likely to be connected to other highly connected nodes (popular people are also friends with other popular people). However, social networks are by no means the only networks that display this property. For example, certain biological networks display assortative mixing as well.

Recently, network scientists used network analysis to examine the social networks in three works of mythology: The Iliad, Beowulf, and the Tain, an Irish epic poem, using assortative mixing as at least one of the lenses with which to study them. They discuss this analysis in a popular piece in the New York Times:

The "Tain"’s historicity is debated: some say it corroborates Greek and Roman accounts of the Celts; others say it has no historical basis whatsoever.

To construct the social networks in each of the narratives, we created databases for the characters and their interactions, and we categorized their relationships as hostile or friendly.

The myth networks were found to have some of the characteristics, including the small-world property and structural balance (related to the idea that the enemy of my enemy is my friend), typical of real-world networks.

Intentionally fictional narratives like "Harry Potter" also have these properties. However, "The Iliad" is assortative as well — a potential real-life indicator that these fictional networks lack. "Beowulf" is also assortative, but only if the main character, who is very different from the rest, is removed from the network. The "Tain," like the fictional networks we studied, is disassortative.

These and other features may corroborate scholars’ belief in the narratives’ historical basis: i.e., the societies underlying "The Iliad" and "Beowulf" may have traces of reality, while that of the "Tain" appears more artificial.

This is an intriguing analysis, although of course the datasets are small and many of these properties can be found in other networks. Furthermore, as the original paper notes (as well as in their popular discussion), in order to distinguish the *Tain *from more realistic fiction, certain modifications to the datasets were made, such as removing main characters or connections, and then examining the networks. While this makes any conclusions speculative (which the authors correctly note), this is certainly an intriguing approach to comparative mythology and should at least be considered as a tool in future mythological research.

Top image:Mr Fogey/Flickr/CC