A myth is a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being a hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation. Xena – The Warrior Princess was televisions show spin off of the Hercules, which was based off of a myth of a Greek God, came out in1995. The series was based on the infamous warrior and her quest to seek redemption for her past sins against the innocent by using her formidable fighting skills to now help those who are unable to defend themselves. With the show being set in ancient Greece and being a spin off of a mythical Greek God, Xena liberally take the liberty of bringing characters from other ancient myths into the show to make this show seem mythical as well. Xena freely borrows names and themes from various mythologies around the world, …show more content…
With spin-offs from the show including books, movies, and even video games, this female warrior shows and depicts women as strong-care-free, and courageous in saving others while saving themselves too. While being totally unrestrained by any social norms at all, Xena cannot be reserved by any gendered expectations. The mythical setting of Xena makes it easier for the audience to accept Xena's strength and independence, which feminist tend to gravitate too. While watching this series, it seems believable that any young woman can be the mightiest mortal warrior on earth. Without a set of rules commanded by a specific historical period or a standard of female behavior, Xena's actions can be considered completely rational. Also, Xena not being set in a specific time period allows Xena to become a timeless character; being able to empower young girls for a lifetime to come. Xena ensures that in the real world, women can look to Xena's freedom for inspiration because her behavior often falls outside of the very real set of gender roles women are expected to abide
The “popular use of the word myth to denote something that is thought by many people to be “true,” but actually is not true can be examined through history. Today’s current understanding of myth is: “A traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or heroor event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a naturalexplanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigodsand explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature,istories or matter of this kind,iany invented story, idea, or concept,ian imaginary or fictitious thing or person,ian unproved or false collective belief that is
Foster defines myth as a forming and managing force of a story and its images; our capacity to clarify ourselves; myths are so profoundly instilled our social memory that they both shape our culture and are formed by it.
Myth… legend or fable? Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines a myth as, “A story that was told in an ancient culture to explain a practice, belief, or natural occurrence.” Children, often sit around, listening to their elders speak of myths. These myths have existed throughout American culture for many centuries and will continue for many centuries to come. These myths, legends, and fables provide the elders with enjoyment, as they observe the children, listening so intensely, believing every detail, amazed at the unimaginable adventures told in each story. Myths reflect experience but go beyond limitations. Indeed the children enjoy the excitement of the fantasy a myth creates. As we grow, we need to realize that these myths, tell an imaginary story and only contain a kernel of truth. Myths serve as a mental escape, stories with few actual facts embellished with many fantasy details. Although, used to entertain, these myths can hurt or even destroy the individuals that believe them.
According to Linda Seger all myths, in all cultures are much the same. In these myths it is just the time, place and setting that changes. This is why Hollywood is so successful at making good movies, because they base it off these myths. The most popular myth is that of the hero, because for most of us this is what we want to be. With this myth we can live that experience through these characters. In the creation of a hero there are ten stages, using the Matrix as an example we will look at these ten stages.
A myth is a purely fictional story that has been passed on for generations, usually involving supernatural persons, actions or events. Hercules (also called Herakles), is one of the strongest and most celebrated mythical heroes. These myths were made up thousands of years ago and have acquired more details as they have been passed down. The story of Hercules is one of a man who was so strong and courageous, whose deeds were so mighty, and who so endured all the hardships that were given to him, that when he died, Hercules was brought up to Mount Olympus to live with the gods.
“Life isn’t fair, it’s just fairer than death.” (Goldman 358) That was said by William Goldman at the end of his novel The Princess Bride. The Princess Bride is a book about a girl named Buttercup who learns throughout the book, about the difficulties of life. Buttercup learns about love, adventure, and truthfulness of life, and people. Buttercup lived in a farm in Florin opposite from the land of Guilder. Her family owned a boy she called “Farm boy.” Buttercup teased Farm boy and told him what to do. One day, the Count and Countess of Florin show up at Buttercups families farm, and asks for their cows milk, which was said to be the best milk around. The Countess takes an interest in Westly, the farm boy, and Buttercup realizes her love for him. When Buttercup admitted to her love for Westly, he told her he was moving to America to build a future for the both of them. Soon, Buttercup got a call that informed her of Westly’s death, she was petrified. Later in the book, the Prince of Florin decided he needed a princess because his father, the king, was very ill. Soon, he would become king, and there must be a queen. Prince Humperdinck went to Buttercups farm to gather her so she could become his wife. Buttercup did so and the marriage was soon to be. One day, when Buttercup had been living in the Princes castle, she decided to go for a ride on her horse. Buttercup was kidnapped by three men, Inigo, Vizzini, and Fezzik. They were planning on taking Buttercup to Guilder to kill her so there could be a war between Florin and Guilder. The group was followed by a “man in black” who turned out to be Westly Buttercups love. Westly defeated each man and planned on taking Buttercup to...
For over 60 years, Wonder Woman has filled the pages of her magazine with adventures ranging from battling Nazis, to declawing human-like Cheetahs. Her exploits thrilled and inspired many young girls, including Gloria Steinem. Through all of this, she has had to pilot her invisible jet through territories that her male counterparts have never had to. She is constantly pulled in two directions; her stories must be entertaining and non threatening to the male status quo, while simultaneously furthering her as the original symbol of 'Girl Power.' She is praised for being an icon of strength to women everywhere, but chastised for wearing a skimpy costume and tying men up, as if she were no more than a male fantasy. No comic book character has had to endure as much scrutiny as Wonder Woman. That's because Wonder Woman represents an entire gender, at a time of important social flux. Although she was created by a man to influence a male audience, Wonder Woman has evolved into an important symbol of the feminist movement.
Mythology is the study of a compiled group of stories that describe the culture’s practices and past experiences. Mythology is a valuable aspect of every culture. It communicates the culture’s truthful everyday experiences or fabricated details of past events, roles, and traditions such as family, sexuality, art, religion, philosophy, laws and marriage. A culture’s collective group of stories help communicate loyalty, ethical and rational teachings, and social models. Ancient Greece and Egypt are two cultures that we’ve studied in this course so far that I will discuss the Creation Myth associated with each culture.
Myths relate to events, conditions, and deeds of gods or superhuman beings that are outside ordinary human life and yet basics to it” ("Myth," 2012). Mythology is said to have two particular meanings, “the corpus of myths, and the study of the myths, of a particular area: Amerindian mythology, Egyptian mythology, and so on as well as the study of myth itself” ("Mythology," 1993). In contrast, while the term myth can be used in a variety of academic settings, its main purpose is to analyze different cultures and their ways of thinking. Within the academic setting, a myth is known as a fact and over time has been changed through the many different views within a society as an effort to answer the questions of human existence. The word myth in an academic context is used as “ancient narratives that attempt to answer the enduring and fundamental human questions: How did the universe and the world come to be? How did we come to be here? Who are we? What are our proper, necessary, or inescapable roles as we relate to one another and to the world at large? What should our values be? How should we behave? How should we not behave? What are the consequences of behaving and not behaving in such ways” (Leonard, 2004 p.1)? My definition of a myth is a collection of false ideas put together to create
A mythology is an important feature of many cultures. A myth is a sacred narrative that explains how the world and humankind assumed their present form. In a broad sense, it can refer to any traditional story. A myth’s function is to provide a model for behavior and to provide a religious experience. By reenacting myths societies bring themselves closer to the divine.
Mythology is an essential part of all cultures. Through myth, ancient cultures attempted to explain the world and make sense of their daily lives. Myth helps us to live in the minds and time period of people who lived many centuries ago with no technology, no running water, and a basic education. Greek myth is possibly the most commonly recognized myth simply because it is likely the most developed and best recorded. Modern Greek myth originated around 1000 B.C. in the writings of the famous Greek poet Homer in the Odyssey and the Illiad. Although early Greek myths are often vague and contain many primitive elements regarding their understanding of death, sacrifice, and fate, later myths show Greek culture developed and changed over time.
Mythology is defined as a collection of interrelated stories of a given culture. Myths are intended to explain and describe the mysteries of nature and give understanding about the world that surrounds us. Each culture has their own mythology that reflects their values and beliefs. Myths were also generated to tell the story of the first people to inhabit the earth. The Egyptian mythology elevated these people to the level of Gods and Goddesses by giving them supernatural and special powers. These myths of creation were passed from one generation to the next, either orally or by hieroglyphs painted in sacred temples, pyramids, and sanctuaries.
In multiple instances throughout the film, female characters violate gender norms by acting as both warriors and leaders because they are adapting typically masculine traits. In the film, women are the majority of the labor force at iron town. The men are merely there to do the labor that needs the most physical power. “Americans oversimplify Japanese women as demure, submissive, and oppressed” (Kyu Hyun, 2002, 38). This quote shows that the stereotype of women in Japanese culture had been just like the western perspective where they were below men. This quote also shows that Princess Mononoke reverses the gender role from being submissive to being above men. Another quote that supports that women were not submissive says that “the young unmarried women in Japan have become a powerful group, demographically and economically” (Kyu Hyun, 2002, 39). The women who were in the upper class society of Japan had time on their hands and we know this because they had time to write literature. “Most of the canonical work from this period was produced by women of the upper social class” (Varner, 2005,
Morreale, J. (1998). Xena: Warrior princess as feminist camp. Journal of Popular Culture, 32(2), page 79. Retrieved from: http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&sid=64cd7df8-8ea3-4d9a-ad60-1deef7e616e6%40sessionmgr114&hid=103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=aph&AN=1585569
There are many strong women characters present in Princess Mononoke which exhibit themes of freedom and spirit.