We Can Compare the Characters Actions in the Minotaur Myth to the Legal Statutes of the Ohio Revised Code.
The Minotaur Myth has very relatable situations that can be compared to our modern laws. People may believe that the Greek storytellers were trying to influence their listeners to behave in an ethical and moral way. Perhaps they wanted their listeners to lead virtuous lives that these stories were depicting in larger than life consequences. The myth portrayed the swashbuckling hero as living a clean and upstanding existence, battling the vicious monster and winning the princess. After hearing this tale they wanted their listeners to feel that being lustful and lecherous was bad, and that unprincipled trading with your neighbor was going to come to a very bad end. Many aspects of the Minotaur myth relate to today’s laws such as many poor decisions by the Atheneans, the Minotaur lets his appetite get the better of him, Aegeus gets greedy, and King Midas is our central bad guy.
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He did so amazingly well in these games that the Athenean youths were unbelievably jealous. These angry toughs set upon him and killed him for his popularity and physical prowess. If this murder were committed today, they would be tried for voluntary manslaughter. To be considered voluntary manslaughter the killing has to be in a fit of fury or rage. We would not look at the killing of Androgeus as aggravated murder since the violence was not premeditated. The voluntary manslaughter so enraged King Midas that he demanded retaliation from the Atheneans. He made the Athenean populace send a tribute of 14 youths every 9
The Minotaur, meaning Minos bull, was “a monster of dire appearance, having the body of a powerful man and the head of a bull” (Seltman 98). Against his newfound father’s request, Theseus leaves Athens in hopes of returning victorious against the bull-headed beast. In a heroic fashion, Theseus leaps over the next step in Campbell’s hero journey and never refuses his call to adventure. The next step to any hero’s journey is an encounter with a super natural aid, but Theseus’ story takes a moral mentor to gather resources needed for the rest of his journey (Robertson 269). Theseus encounters his unlikely mentor upon arriving to Crete; Minos daughter, Ariadne, instructs Theseus to take a ball of linen with him into the labyrinth in order to trace back his steps after defeating the Minotaur (Martin 129). Crossing the threshold, Theseus ties one end of his ball of linen to the front door and journeys into the unconquerable maze and towards the beast (129). Theseus passes through his first trial of navigating the labyrinth inwards with ease straight into danger. Walking
Every culture has a story in attempt to explain its human origin. The endeavor to understand human existence has been prevalent for as long as we have been on this earth. Origin stories explain the natural world of a group through their religion, customs, and interactions. Indigenous creation stories, such as the Cherokee nation, highlight their connection to the land, language, sacred history, and ceremony. Likewise, the Biblical story of creation emphasizes his or her relationship to their creator and the traditions that arise from that relationship. When analyzing these stories, one can see similarities and differences between them, why they are essential in understanding where a group originated from, and the Peoplehood Model.
All humans are interested in their origins and trying to account for their existence through creation stories. Native Americans tribes are no different from the rest of humanity. The tribes’ stories explain how people came into existence, how they came to be live on the lands they do and the how people interact with nature and each other. These trends can be seen in the legends of three tribes hailing from New England to the Great Lakes Region.
Broad themes are found often in stories, broad outlooks, and day-to-day events. Native American myths all include similar themes like the importance of competition and that good and evil create a balanced world. These themes, and many more, are common for the people of today just as much as the people of hundreds of years ago. Many of the customs, religions, and ideals from ancient Indian civilizations are similar to people today, making us much more alike than different from those who came before us.
Well, the word myth brings to my mind fantasy tale of good and evil and how good wins over evil. I was reading the material’s for the class but however it has brought me to a new form of thinking. For me it was like playing in the woods as a child with my older brother and younger sister they would say to me to the boogey scare, I would hurry and run home scared out my mind, crying to my mother to help me and she
The difference in writing styles between the Iroquois Creation Myth and Christopher Columbus’ letters is very significant. The Iroquois Creation Myth is much more mystical and entertaining while Columbus’ letters are more formal and simply recounting events. Though the two pieces of literature have their differences, there are still some similarities. The Iroquois Creation Myths focus on nature and animals. Likewise, when Christopher Columbus is writing his letters, he describes the nature around him in great detail.
Mythological symbols play an important role in the American legal system from the courtrooms to the Supreme Court of the United States. Myths serve an intelligent purpose, and help guide the legal institutions and the individual actions of people. These symbols also serve as a reminder to live a life dedicated to being a just person and live with integrity. Additionally, they remind people that myths have an important role in handing down traditions and encouraging the younger generation to accept and be guided by them. This supports a widely held belief that modern culture has a need to believe in a greater good, and the legal system of modern day America is greatly influence by mythological symbols.
Every culture has its own past belief on how everything was created; Gods, lands, plants, animals, creatures, and humans all have a unique story to be told throughout the ages. But it is plain to see there is some overlap between ideas on how everything was made. Take the Greek Mythology, the most popular and well known type of mythos, has connections to other cultures like Nordic and Native American. But of course, each story has their own twist or other idea to it, as well.
A belief is defines a true statement, something that exists, or the trust and faith in someone or something. We all have beliefs and have obtained those believes individually in many different ways and whose to say that belief is right or wrong, or true or false. As with a myth, a traditional story, mostly believed to be a false idea or false believe.
In the Iroquois creation myth, Sky Woman understood that she was pregnant with twins and was pushed by her husband into the Earth’s waters below the above world. Little Toad was able to bring up mud to spread on Big Turtle’s back, and it grew to become the size of North America where Sky Woman created the Iroquois world. Her children, Sapling and Flint, were important in creating the details of the land such as rivers, fish, plants, and even the seasons. The Sky People, Demi-gods of the Iroquois, were critical to the Iroquois people as it helped to define who they were and what they believed. The Iroquois people were happy and peaceful. There was little to no violence within their tribes just as in their myth of creation that tells of the Sky People living on an island floating above the “earth” where there was no sadness, violence, or negativity. This shows the ways the Iroquois applied their myth to their everyday lives and their religion. The myth also explains how the Sky Women’s evil son, Flint, was beaten by his good brother, Sapling, and was required to live on the Big Turtle’s back. North America was carried upon Big Turtle’s back and according to the the myth, bones in fish, thorns on bushes, and volcanos erupting symbolized Flint’s anger. The myth of Sky Woman and her sons is the explanation of how all nature came to be.
Many Native Americans tell stories of the creation of earth that explain how they came to be before the Europeans entered North America. Creation myths vary among all cultures; however, they all have one thing in common; heaven and earth. One of the most popular creation myths was the Iroquois creation myth. The Iroquois or Haudenosaunee meaning “People of the Longhouse” (Iroquois Indian Museum, n.d.) consists of six Indian nations that include the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora tribes. In the beginning, there was a belief that before the creation of earth, there were two realms, the sky, and the lower world that consisted of water and water creatures. From the sky, a young woman named the Sky Woman was
As I mentioned above, everything began with Christopher Columbus discovering America in 1492. History is non-fiction, and perhaps the most concrete example of this non-fiction is the story of the beginning of the Indians. Native American mythology contains may different types of character including heroes, tricksters, and more. These characters can have both good and bad qualities, and fall into many categories. For example, creator gods usually restore order, but in some stories can be destructive. Tricksters can even be considered the hero in some stories. (Myths Encyclopedia, 2007). Indian stories are born from experiences and beliefs. Ross also states that “Native American societies are based on the concept of interdependence. Interdependence
Throughout history, and all over the world, mythology has been developed as a way of explaining the unknown and coping with one’s existence. Why does the sun shine? Well, seemingly, to generations past, something is controlling the universe, so there must be a god in charge of the sun and many other natural phenomenon. During the creation of Native American myths, “there was much in the way of free-range food, but hunting wasn't as easy as getting up in the morning, taking a stroll and shooting a few passing bison with your bow” (Godchecker). Times were tough, “even Plains societies who lived off the prolific buffalo fell under the threat of starvation at times” (Godchecker). Finally, “when herds were found, the people were grateful and
Throughout this course, I have learned about what a myth is and all of the themes that fit into myths. The most common themes seen throughout the myths we have studied during this course are fate, pride and hubris, heroism, justice and vengeance, and beauty. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about mythology throughout this course and I have always felt that the controlling question driving this course is, why is mythology so important to us, even today? It is important to know the answer to this question and to know about the different themes seen throughout the myths studied in this course.
Often times we hear the word Myth and don’t have a complete understanding of what the word means. Mythology can vary greatly but it is one thing that countries, cultures, and religions have in common. While beliefs, knowledge, mythology and religion may intersect they also can differ greatly from each other. Like other countries myths have come to help sculpt and shape American cultural values and behaviors.