Narratives of Human Evolution

According to Landau, the various theories of human evolution are versions of the universal hero tale in folklore and myth. The narratives all have similar structure, featuring a humble hero (in theories of evolution it is a nonhuman primate) who departs on a journey (leaves his natural habitat), receives essential aid or equipment from a donor figure (through evolutionary principles such as natural selection or orthogenesis), goes through tests (imposed by predators, harsh climate or competitors), and finally arrives at a higher (that is, more human) state.