Two Viewpoints Dealing with the Interpretation of Mythology in the Present Day

Greek mythology is one of the coolest things anyone could think of. The ideas of gods and goddesses coming down to earth to interact with the human race, is quite an amazing thing. In many cultures, gods are very important. The ancient greek culture is an example where mythology is very important to the people, the gods are everywhere in daily life. Yet with the made up mythology, they needed a place to begin with and the greeks are no exception, but the story of the gods beginning is very interesting.

In old times, humankind has looked to utilize stories to clarify the world in which it lives. Similarly, as old man utilized stories of divine beings and creatures to clarify the world; superior person utilizes stories of exceptional legends and colossal scoundrels to do likewise (Stuller). Comic books are modern mythology, in that they are superior man 's strategy for clarifying their general surroundings through the fantastical. The characters frequently handle such major, philosophical, (Ahrens, Jörn, and Meeting) social and story ideas as the nature of sound and malevolence, man 's inward battle, the wannabe, the women 's activist, and the rescuer.

Mythology serves to create an explanation for why the world is the way it is. All religions have mythology in them and myths help people understand history. Myth can mean so many different things to different people. Some myths are total fiction, while others may have a hint of truth in them. But most myths are more of a symbolic and metaphoric truth, rather than a literal truth, because most of the time myths cannot be proven and people are not trying to prove that they are true. Myths become true to the people who believe in them and they use them as a sort of lens through which they see the world. They use myths to create explanations for themselves as to why the world is the way it is and they use them to help cope with the difficulties of life. Myths are a natural outgrowth of our imagination and our passions.

A myth is a symbolic way of expressing truths and beliefs that are accepted by society. Myths, which are reading literature that is imaginative, teach truths that may not always have a basis for historical fact. Myths, which communicate ideas in story form, are creative stories that explain and teach religious truths of sin and consequence.

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

A simple definition of a myth is a story handed down through history, often through oral tradition, that explains or gives value to the unknown. Myths are composed of stories or explanations. Myths are not always false sometimes they have some truth to them. They come to being by people making an assumption about a person based on their race.

What is a myth? When one thinks of a myth perhaps one thinks about a story being told by the fire, or a dramatic tale about an invincible hero, or perhaps a cosmological occurrence that caused everything to be. Personally, when I think of the word myth, I think of the ancient Greeks or Romans with their many gods and goddesses; however, to most, the story being told by a myth is simply that, just a story. To most the term “myth” has been confused for a legend or folklore. The truth of the matter is however, that to religious scholars, a myth is more than just a story; a myth is how a society’s religion came to explain what seemed the inexplicable. With modern science booming and being capable of explaining the events

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

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

"A myth is a collective term denoting a symbolic narrative in religion, as distinguished from symbolic behavior (cult, ritual) and symbolic places or objects (temples, icons)". (The New Encyclopedia Britannica. Vol. 24)Mythology is a collection of myths meant to explain the universe. Mythological stories were told in many different cultures and civilizations. The existence of myths is known in every society. Many different myths were conceived to explain occurrences that happened in nature.

When this word “myth” is used, the term is usually related to a fable, invention or a fiction story. Over the years, many scholars started approaching the study of myth differently. These scholars have approach myths in a way their meaning was traditionally regarded. In many traditions these myth are true stories and never refer to as false stories. ( http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/whatismyth.htm )

Not all mythology comes from ancient cultures. People all around the world continue to create new myths and rework existing ones. Modern technology such as movies, publishing, telecommunications, and the internet allow folktales, rumors, and myths to travel faster around the world. A feature of some modern legends is that they originated as artistic creations. Modern legends offer images of the best and worspect aspects of mankind. Modern myths suggest that good behavior can be rewarded while greedy and foolish behavior will be punished. While modern mythology is different from ancient mythology they are similar in that monstrous and scary partly human creatures still fascinate people today. Vampires and Werewolves are examples of modern mythologies most fascinating monsters. Modern mythology spawns from life’s wonder, excitement, mystery, and fear.

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,

Myths differ from other kinds of signifiers. For one thing, they are never arbitrary. They always contain some kind of analogy, which motivates them. Motivation is necessary to the very duplicity of myth: myth plays on the analogy between meaning and form. There is no myth without motivated form. In contrast to ideas of false consciousness, Myth doesn’t hide things, it distorts them. It alienates the history of the