Review A narrative review of Greek myths as interpretative metaphors in educational research and evaluation Antonio Fernández-Cano a,⇑ , Manuel Torralbo b , Mónica Vallejo c , Inés M. Fernández-Guerrero d a Department of Research Methods in Education, College of Educational Sciences, Campus de Cartuja, University of Granada, Granada 18071, Spain b Department of Mathematics, College of Education, C/Alfonso XIII, 13, University of Córdoba, Córdoba 14071, Spain c Department of Didactics, College of Education, Campus de Espinardo, University of Murcia, Murcia 28071, Spain d University General Hospital ‘‘Virgen de las Nieves’’, University of Granada, Av. Fuerzas Armadas, 2, Granada 18014, Spain article info Article history: Received 16 February 2012 Revised 10 July 2012 Accepted 11 July 2012 Available online 28 July 2012 Keywords: Review Classical myths Interpretative similes Qualitative research Explanative metaphors Myths as cases Mentoring Procrustean bias Researcher’s Sisyphus anxiety Promethean researcher Periphetic evaluator Ulyssean archetype abstract This paper reviews a series of Greek myths put forward as cultural narratives that could be used as metaphors or interpretative similes for explanatory and evaluative purposes in educational research and evaluation. These myths have been used in educational research literature, and most of them were found by carrying out an exhaustive search of that liter- ature. In particular, the paper discusses Procrustes, referring to the use of arbitrary evalu- ative standards; the myth of Mentor, the embodiment of the researcher as facilitator/ improver for new, inexperienced researchers; Prometheus, or the archetype of the self-sac- rificing researcher; Periphetes, representing the evaluator who is cruel through incompe- tence; Sisyphus, symbolising the researcher’s anxiousness to achieve his goals; and Ulysses, an archetype for qualitative research. These myths are still absolutely relevant today, after more than 20 centuries, and can be used as powerful explicative frameworks of phenomena in the field of educational research and evaluation. By using myths to interpret educational phenomena, one reconnects con- temporary qualitative educational enquiry with its ancient predecessor forms of meaning making. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Sense of the Myth ....................................................................................... 239 1.1. Rationale behind this paper .......................................................................... 240 1.2. Myth and qualitative research ........................................................................ 240 1.3. Some methodological guidelines for approaching the myth ................................................ 240 2. Procrustes or the use of arbitrary evaluative standards ......................................................... 241 3. Mentor or the facilitator/improver .......................................................................... 241 3.1. The dissertation supervisor as the mentor par excellence .................................................. 242 3.2. Mentoring in research publication ..................................................................... 243 4. Prometheus, or the archetype of the honest, self-sacrificing researcher ............................................ 243 5. Periphetes, or the evaluator who is cruel through incompetence .................................................. 244 6. Sisyphus, or the researcher’s anxiousness to achieve his/her goals ................................................ 244 1747-938X/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2012.07.001 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +34 958 244253. E-mail addresses: afcano@ugr.es (A. Fernández-Cano), ma1torom@uco.es (M. Torralbo), monicavr@um.es (M. Vallejo), inesmariafernandez@yahoo.es (I.M. Fernández-Guerrero). Educational Research Review 7 (2012) 238–248 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Educational Research Review journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/EDUREV