Myths, folktales, legends, they have been poured upon us from a seemingly inexhaustible horn of plenty since the days of the ancient. We are burdened with far too many of these wacky stories and whopping lies, and the very least we must do is to critically evaluate the content of these mostly crazy concoctions by using our common sense. There are three primary reasons why many people firmly believe in some of this crap: 1. They do not know better. 2. They like it or they just accept it this way. 3. Others told them to believe it. Seldom enough can we trust it, because it is true. But even if we are aware of the fact that things are not real, like most of the content of the myths, folktales or legends, we must also question the value of such ‘works’ and must seriously ask ourselves: What is it good for? Fairy tales are good. Santa Claus and Snow White are good. On the other hand, many stories we consider to be of cultural value are not good. If we treat them like fairy tales – fine! If we try to find a hidden message or a deeper sense – a waste of time! Why can we be so simply misled or deceived? Myths, folktales, legends and similar stories of freaky imagination often contain such a large amount of nonsense and clearly recognizable misinformation that one should identify the ‘masterpieces’, immediately and easily, as pure rubbish. We are simply taken for a ride when we read some of the famous legends. If we want to increase this foolishness, we must reach for the Greek or Roman myths, whereby the latter are nothing else but cheaply cribbed versions of the Greek literary applesauce. The Romans just bothered to change the names of the characters. Myths, folktales, legends – they are so deeply engraved ... ... middle of paper ... ...f truth. All are cordially invited to follow me to this strange land, lying in the paranoid shadows of madness, drug inebriation and other mind dulling excesses that must have influenced those ‘great works of culture, whether or not you believe in the myths, folk tales or legends or if you just love them as they are. In this book, you will also find some stories of newer date, noteworthy or trivial, somber or rather amusing. They have been included to let the reader relax once in a while from the horrible discoveries related to these myths, legends and folktales. However, if you see your picture of our so-called cultural heritage damaged, try to take it with humor, even if it might occasionally prove to be difficult. The potatoes and the humor have one thing in common: You must dig them out first. But then, good or bad is often just a matter of opinion.
Fifteen Works Cited Stories do not need to inform us of anything. They do inform us of things. From The Epic of Gilgamesh, for example, we know something of the people who lived in the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the second and third millenniums BCE. We know they celebrated a king named Gilgamesh; we know they believed in many gods; we know they were self-conscious of their own cultivation of the natural world; and we know they were literate. These things we can fix -- or establish definitely. But stories also remind us of things we cannot fix -- of what it means to be human. They reflect our will to understand what we cannot understand, and reconcile us to mortality.
Why do myths from different cultures around the world address such similar or universal themes? Do we see these same themes in today's myths? Think about how myths explain the unknown and the tribulations of mankind.
Silko counsels that the story's potential for good or ill should not be easily discounted or dismissed. She seems to understand all too well that human beings house both virtuous and vicious impulses; our stories are infused with both the sinister and the sublime. There is a unifying, mythical or archetypal realm which exists just beyond the scope of individual consciousness. Stories are tethered to and wound around this insubstantial place, and the power of each story is firmly rooted in this connection.
It has been said that there are under thirty plots in the world, and that all stories, in all languages, all over the world and throughout history, are simply variations on these. Parallels can be drawn between all literature; however, classical mythology has had particularly far-reaching effects on our present civilization. Modern society holds a fascination with Greek and Roman society, and classical literature and mythology are certainly no exceptions. Regardless of location, language and time period, humankind has always followed relatively similar thought patterns. Therefore, it follows that all stories created by humans would have certain parallels and would contain certain universal themes, details and values.
Fairy tales portray wonderful, elaborate, and colorful worlds as well as chilling, frightening, dark worlds in which ugly beasts are transformed into princes and evil persons are turned to stones and good persons back to flesh (Guroian). Fairytales have long been a part of our world and have taken several forms ranging from simple bedtime stories to intricate plays, musicals, and movies. However, these seemingly simple stories are about much more than pixie dust and poisoned apples. One could compare fairytales to the new Chef Boyardee; Chef Boyardee hides vegetables in its ravioli while fairytales hide society’s morals and many life lessons in these outwardly simple children stories. Because of this fairytales have long been instruments used to instruct children on the morals of their culture. They use stories to teach children that the rude and cruel do not succeed in life in the long run. They teach children that they should strive to be kind, caring, and giving like the longsuffering protagonists of the fairytale stories. Also, they teach that good does ultimately defeat evil. Fairy tales are not just simple bedtime stories; they have long been introducing cultural moral values into young children.
The simplicity of fairy tales and non-specific details renders them ideal for manipulation allowing writers to add their own comments often reflecting social convention and ideology. Theref...
“A myth is a way of making sense in a senseless world. Myths are narrative patterns that give significance to our existence.” ― Rollo May
Thury, Eva and Margaret K. Devinney. “Theory: Man and His Symbols.” Introduction to Mythology: Contemporary Approaches to Classical and World Myths. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. 519-537. Print.
Throughout time, mankind has forged stories and legends to explain the unknown. As years went along the stories and tall tales were passed down to each generation. Each recount of the inherited stories are always told differently, how the story was told usually depended on the person and their particular region of habitance. Thus leading to hundreds of different versions of a single story told throughout the world, written and told by different people. Not only are these stories told as pure entertainment, they serve as wise life lessons and set examples for children when they were eventually introduced to society. These stories are so prominent in human history that even to this day the same stories that were told to children centuries ago
"Les Contes Des F." Endicott Studio of Mythic Arts and Journal of Mythic Arts. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. .
The plot of an original fairytale is darker and haunting even, but nowadays it is cleaned up and edited for the safety of children. Stories are important to us because they let us know what people’s imaginations were like in the past and what they were interested in. Stories get passed down from generation to generation, and when each story is told orally, something changes. Each story becomes a little more unique and has a different moral each time it’s told, depending on the storyteller. They teach us about life and help us tell whether or not the story is really a tall tale.
Zipes, Jack. Breaking the Magic Spell: Radical Theories of Folk & Fairy Tales. Revised and expanded ed. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1979. Print
Firstly, the fairy world allows us to understand our world most deeply and to comprehend its truths in a deeper and more complete way than reality would simply allow. They are the purest expression of the human psyche. Bypassing cultural biases, fairy tales become a universal and timeless means of communicatio...