C. Scott Littleton
An anthropologist who traced the deep roots of myth, connecting Japanese Shinto rituals to ancient Indo-European stories.
1933–2010 (age 77)·American anthropologist·Birthday: July 1·The Silent Generation
Biography
C. Scott Littleton spent his academic life chasing ghosts of stories across continents. As a professor and department chair at Occidental College in Los Angeles, he built a career on a compelling idea: that the foundational myths of cultures as seemingly disparate as ancient Greece and Japan shared a common ancestral source. This wasn't dry scholarship; it was detective work on a grand historical scale, piecing together linguistic and ritual clues. He co-founded the Journal of Indo-European Studies to give this niche a serious platform. Littleton's work, particularly on Shinto, argued that the world's oldest stories were travelers, adapting to new lands but retaining their original skeletal structure. His legacy is a more interconnected view of human imagination, suggesting our oldest gods might have been distant cousins.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
C. was born in 1933, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When C. Was Born
The biggest hits of 1933
#1 Movie
King Kong
Best Picture
Cavalcade
C.'s Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1933Born
FDR's New Deal launches; Prohibition ends
Gas: $0.18/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Stormy Weather" — Ethel WatersBest Picture: Cavalcade
1938Started school
Kristallnacht and the escalation toward WWII
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $2,850Min wage: $0.25/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Begin the Beguine" — Artie ShawBest Picture: You Can't Take It with You
1946Became a teenager
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1949Could drive
NATO founded; Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Riders in the Sky" — Vaughn MonroeBest Picture: All the King's Men
1951Could vote
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1954Turned 21
Brown v. Board of Education desegregates US schools
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $8,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Little Things Mean a Lot" — Kitty KallenBest Picture: On the Waterfront
1963Turned 30
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1973Turned 40
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1983Turned 50
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1993Turned 60
European Union officially established
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $86,600Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"I Will Always Love You" — Whitney HoustonBest Picture: Schindler's List
2003Turned 70
US invades Iraq; Human Genome Project completed
Gas: $1.59/galHome: $146,000Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"In Da Club" — 50 CentBest Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2010Died at 77
Deepwater Horizon oil spill; iPad launched
Gas: $2.79/galHome: $147,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Tik Tok" — KeshaBest Picture: The King's Speech
Key Achievements
- Co-founded the influential Journal of Indo-European Studies, creating a key academic forum for the field.
- Served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at Occidental College for many years.
- Authored numerous scholarly works exploring the links between Indo-European mythology and Japanese Shinto.
- His comparative mythological theories stimulated significant debate and research in anthropological circles.
Did You Know?
His full name was Covington Scott Littleton.
He taught at Occidental College for over three decades.
His work extended beyond academia, influencing popular understandings of mythology.
“The same mythic hero can appear in the legends of Greece, India, and Japan.”
