Truth of Illusion: The Purpose of Myths

In the article “Redefining Myth and Religion: Introduction to a Conversation,” Dr. Loyal D. Rue discusses how science, religion, and myth are related and how they coexist. Some people may argue that science and religion should not coincide and that they are opposites. However, Rue argues, “…In an ideal world, the vocabulary of science would inform the myth that binds together the culture.” In this statement, Rue claims that science can be used to help explain the supernatural phenomena that religion and myths describe. Science is not anti-religion; it helps us to explain religion in ways that humans can understand.

Myth is a body of story that matters—the patterns present in mythology run deeply in the human psyche

Hearing, seeing and visualizing the future and our present is frustrating. Believing in what is called “reality” and “society” based off decisions that weren’t made by us, but by the past to protect the outcome of what should happen later. People search for clues to help stabilize and move forward in life in myths and many other sources. Myths are traditional stories that deal with a historical explanation of some natural or social event, usually associating with supernatural appearances. The ancient Greeks told their cosmos through teachings and tales concerning their gods and heroes, and the importance of the culture and ritual practices to show their natural state. The myth of the Amazons and the great story of Hercules explain the

In every culture people have different creation stories from the ancient Aztecs to modern-day. Creation stories myths are symbolic since they are narratives of how the world began and how men were created. These stories or “myths” helped people in the past to explain the world around them (Long, 2015). However, people often use the term myth to describe these stories since they regarded as fiction while to some there true. Regardless, to who believes these “myths” but everyone has their own belief on the origin of the world.

With this, Armstrong states that myths influence various cultures and societies, past and present. Myths gave emotional insight to many cultures, and allowed men and women to experience the insight firsthand. Though many people today view mythology as mere boring, uninteresting “fairytales” of unrealistic gods, Armstrong presents the underlying meanings lie in the pathetic fallacies within the myths, such as thunderstorm representing

The Power of Myth is both a tribute and an organized book conversation between Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers on the subject of mythical symbology in the world today in addition reformatting ancient stories for our inner life today.

After readying Joseph Campbell’s, The Power of Myth, I have understood the importance of myth in understanding and giving more meaning to life. Myths and stories, are important because they help us, as individuals, identify who we are based on what we believe and the stories that we find true to ourselves. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to comprehend who we truly are.

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

This website consisted of a few errors in Campbell’s theory. The theory proposes that "Campbell wrongly pits myth against religion and it proves to be a damaging weakness to his theory. He assumes that in the West, not in the East, religion inevitably literalizes and historicizes myth." The website explores the bias toward religion in Campbell’s theory and argues the necessity and importance of religion. It also questions where Campbell draws the line between myth and religion, despite all the praise that Campbell has received for his findings.

origins of the universe, the causes of good and evil, life and death or anything

In order for the myth to be substantial, it must be able to withstand misunderstandings. Through solidifying the meaning of the myth, it is being limited to two divisions, metaphysics — what the myth says about reality— and normative ethics—the moral imperatives of the myth (Rue 129). This presents a problem for religion because these divisions allow scrutiny of the myth by opposing fields, e.g. science. To give an example of the opposition of science and religion, the creation story in Genesis chapters 1-3 states that God created the Earth in seven days. Science has presented its idea of evolution occurring over a period of thousands of years. These two theories clash and cause doubt of the myth. This is a time where the myth requires reinterpretation by religious leaders in order to defend the core metaphors of the myth. Radical reinterpretations, like in the cases of St. Augustine and St. Thomas, have a high probability of “demonstrating the essential compatibility between the narrative core and the new mode of thought,” and so, “transforming timely new insights into the timeless meanings of the myth” (Rue

Intro: “It has always been the prime function of mythology and rite to supply the symbols that carry the human spirit forward, in counteraction to those that tend to tie it back. In fact, it may very well be that the very high incidence of neuroticism among ourselves follows the decline among us of such effective spiritual aid.”-Joseph Campbell book The Hero with a Thousand Faces represents the idea that myths are people’s way of showing truths related to the way humans do things. They contain similarities from one culture to the next culture but they are all connected within the monomyth. Every myth in every culture follows the format of the monomyth. “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” has broken down the primary structure of human mythology

In many of tradition, a myth carries within it a sense of sacred tradition and primordial relation. These myths are also serving as model for chosen tradition. Myths are extremely complex cultural reality that can be approached and interpreted from various viewpoints. These viewpoints are often related to the whole of

From an academic standpoint, “myth” can be described as “Religious narratives or stories that provide the basis for religious beliefs and practices. Myths tell of the origins and history of the world and the creation of the first human beings. They also prescribe the rules of proper conduct and articulate the ethical and moral principles of society... Religious stories also can be told in art, music, and dance” (Stein & Stein, p. 29). Myths are the the aspects that add culture and definition to society’s values and beliefs. Myths allow for members in a society to teach, inform, and persuade the greater society into conforming to society related norms.

Mythos, the Greek word for myth means story, appertain to colorful tales that enlightens about the origins of humans and the universe. Myths, as amazing as it sounds, is also a cause for birth of new religions, where and how they originated. Many cultures have myths about how the gods and goddesses came to be, even elucidating the origin of humanity and its traditions. Even ideas about how this world of ours came to existence have many myths, creation myths behind it, disparate in every culture and society, which demonstrates a view on its role in the world. Mythology is simply the study of the myth. There are many psychological theories and meanings that explicate mythology. The most recurrent belief about the psychological value of myth is that myths emblematize contrasting elements of our own psyches or souls. The psychoanalytical frames of reference on myths have indisputably been ineluctable. Myths were and still are progressively seen as expressions of desideratum in the human psyche. But the big question is, what is the beneficence of mythology towards the amelioration of society? If there are myths to decipher or exhibit certain things, character or situations, there also are science and technology, which accommodate every explanation needed to understand each of those things. Many go to science for such interpretation, which conveys the impression of taking care of the signification behind all those natural phenomena,