Paper About Myths

Myths and religious doctrine are generally recognized as two entirely different things. Myths are usually referred to as a fictitious story or a half-truth; often they are stories shared between groups of people that are part of a cultural society. Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, and purpose of the universe, and often containing an ethical code dictating appropriate human conduct. Although they differ in certain aspects, they still hold similarities. Comparable to parables within the Bible, myths have different versions which are both motivating, as well as entertaining. There are not only parallels to the idea of the stories but specific tales hold similar morals and equivalent characters.

Most definitions of the word myth define it as a story that deals with supernatural beings like gods that explain natural and social phenomena. But the word myth originally comes from the Greek word muthos, meaning story or word. In their purest form, myths are simply narratives about characters undergoing a certain sequence of events. According to Richard Martin, ‘myths are stories that continue to engage the imagination of a society over a long period of time.’ This definition can easily be applied to the Greek myths of antiquity as seen in their allusions in Shakespeare’s plays or in modern retellings such as Disney’s Hercules. And logically when considering the impact of Harry Potter or Disney on our society, would it not make sense

ANSWER: I do not believe that myths need to be literally true to be valuable. To me myths are a valuable part of history that gives us insight or some type of explanation of times, people, and places. They are a mirror that takes past situations and reflects morals that may even still be used in present day

The culture of mythology is originated as the means of documenting what the culture thinks to be real and have many facts about the beginning of the universe around them. For example, over time and documentation the word of religion took up other meaning for different cultures. When a brand new religion dominates over the previous religion the old book or documents become myths and legends so then beings regarded past recordings as false or fantasy but with no real historical value. That’s when the word myth comes in to play.

Ancient Greek mythology has fascinated people for thousands of years. The stories that were once a part of daily culture now entertain people as a form of fun fiction. When the word myth comes to mind, people automatically think of the words “fake,” “false,” or “untrue.” However, not many people stop to consider that myths are so much deeper than that. These stories were not “fake” to the people of Greece; they were a way of life and an important part of their culture. According to Walter Burkert, author of Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual, a myth is really “a traditional tale with secondary, partial reference to something of collective importance” (Burkert 23). This is certainly true with the old myths, but it may

Myths affect our society today, we continue to tell stories about Hercules, also The Big Three fighting with the Titans in World War II. (www.academia.edu)

In Greek mythology, they tell of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods and gave it to man, allowing man to develop other technologies and become civilized. The Iroquois tell a story of a woman falling from the sky onto an earth composed entirely of ocean, then having the animals build the earth we now know today atop a giant turtle. Every culture has some form of mythology underlying it, seen by some to be a relic of the past. This brings up some questions: Do myths have value and purpose in today’s world? How do myths affect people? How do myths influence our society? Can we see evidence of myths in the modern world?

We tend to think of myth as an untrue story or as an outdated explanation of a mystery long since cleared up by science, but myth is actually a framework of meaning, a set of collective fantasies that story our relationship to each other, the world and the universe. To tell a myth is to tell a culture 's dream about its inner workings and truths. A myth tells its tale through symbol, image and metaphor.

We tend to think of myth as an untrue story or as an outdated explanation for a mystery long since cleared up by science, but myth is actually a framework of meaning, a set of collective fantasies that story our relationship to each other, the world and the universe. To tell a myth is to tell a culture 's dream about its inner workings and truths. Myth does not convey these truths literally, however. A myth tells its tale through symbol, image and metaphor. They don 't explain so much as offer an enchanting, elevating or disturbing experience, sometimes warning us about where we should or should not go. Myths continually come back to life all around us. No one leaves them behind because we always face the recurring problems of life they address.

Mythology is an essential part of describing the origin and culture of different areas in ancient time. While different cultures believe in different Gods and origins of the world, it is still interesting to see how these stories played huge roles in the way people lived life in the past. Cultures such as ancient Greece and Egypt worshipped many different Gods and had a completely set of beliefs and ways of life. While nobody actually knows how these myths came to the forefront, or if actually there were real Gods doesn’t really matter because people still believed in them based on faith and hope. These Gods were worshipped to a point where it effected their actions and the way they lived their lives.

The origin of the word myth seems to be a myth in itself. Myths have generally originated from a Greek history that used an oral tradition to explain events that occurred before the written word. Often supernatural beings or fictitious characters were used to explain popular ideas concerning phenomena's of nature or the history of people. The myths that were carried on from generation to generation were often very imaginative in an attempt to spark the interest of young listeners. These would be told at social gatherings. The main purpose of a myth was to relay historical information among groups. Early myths often dealt with the origin of man, customs, religious rights, incidents involving the lives of gods,

A myth is a traditional story of people within a society, and are used to explain social or natural phenomenon with the use of specific events and divine individuals. Edith Hamilton in Mythology states: Greek and Roman mythology is quite generally supposed to show us the way the human race thought and felt untold ages ago […] retrace the path from civilized man who’s lives so far from nature, to man who lived in close companionship with nature; and the real interest of the myths is that they lead us back to a time when the world was young and people had a connection with the earth, with trees and seas and flowers and hills, unlike anything we ourselves can

Myths have always played a part in society. Mythological stories not only entertain the reader, but the mythological story also plays a major role in cultural beliefs. David Bidney writes, “The function of a myth is thus held to be one of validating or justifying cultural beliefs and practices” (19). The mythical tale reiterates the moral practices and beliefs that a culture needs to succeed. There are four purposes for writing a myth: First myths help in expressing humanity's fear and wonder of nature, myths helps to explain the creation of the universe, myths gives the readers moral guidelines that should be followed, and finally, myths gives instructions on how to contend with crises. Because The Book of Job from the Old Testament

The exact origins of myths are unknown and have been changed or altered because myths were passed on orally before the invention of writing (Barnett 6). As stated by Barnett, “They developed and changed in the telling according to the customs, tastes, and needs of the tellers” (6).

But there are many ways one could interpret myths, Bronislaw Malinowski, an anthropologist, believed that myths tell people about the origins of the early world and that it gives them a reality of how things are to repeat. Malinowski believed that myths weren’t kept alive because of interest, or because they are true tales, but because they give people are a reality of how mankind is to be determined. Malinowski even gives us an example of a grandmother and granddaughter that realize that although everyone still has that youth they once were, they have to come to the realization that everyone gets old and