Similarities Between African And Greek Myths

What are some major similarities between African and Greek myths? Differences?

Aaron Sanders

Ms. Williams

English II

9/25/15

Myth: a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice rite, or phenomenon of nature (Dictionary.com). We have a definition for what a myth is, so all myths have to fit into this definition somehow. But other than this basic definition of a myth, there other major similarities between African and Greek myths than meets the eye.

Africa and Greece are thousands of miles apart, but there still are some very close similarities between them. One of the first is that they both portray a certain moral no matter what the story is about. In the African myth “The Hare and the Elephant”, a

The first difference is that the Greeks involved monsters more in their myths than in African myths. The monsters that you hear the most about came from Greek culture, such as the Cyclops, Chimera, Minotaur, Medusa, Hydra, Cerberus.... etc. Rarely do you ever hear about African monsters. Also another major difference between Greek and African myths are the difference between who is involved in the story and to whom they are based. In Greek myths, you have stories that talk more about warriors fighting monsters, gods quarreling over the mortals, or great wars between the gods and the Titans. In African myths, you have stories that talk more about animals and their relationship with humans. Examples of Greek myths that talk about warriors fighting monsters “Jason and the Argonauts” or “Hercules”. African myths such as “The Hare and the Elephants” or “The Tortoise of the Zulu” both are myths that talk about animals and their relationships with