Exposition of Mythology

Exposition of Mythology

Since the beginning of time people have found great interest in the study of mythology and its origin. For the past five weeks I have been studying this deep and complex issue and have come to the conclusion that without myths history would not be the same. In this paper I will discuss what myths are and how scholars have broken them down. Scholars such as Joseph Campbell go into great detail to explain mythology and how it effects the human life.

First you must determine what a myth is? Webster's New Riverside Dictionary defines a myth as, "A traditional story originating in a preliterate society, dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serve as primordial types in a primitive view of the world." Through class discussions and the viewing of the films I would define a myth as, a sacred story involving gods, kings, and heroes. Myths usually tell some type of story of how the gods created man and all that he knows. It is believed that myths were created to give the people some type of guidelines to live their life by.

Myths have been handed down throughout generations so people would know what gods to worship and praise. It was common for the Egyptians and Greeks to build altars and monuments for their gods. The Athenians built the Parthenon to celebrate their superiority over the Persians and to give praise to their goddess, Athena. Through study and research it has been determined that Athena was the goddess of wisdom and war. The ancient Greeks built the Alter of Zeus as a reminder of his role as a supreme ruler. The Greeks saw Zeus as the ruler of the sky and as the god of lightning.

Mythology can be traced all the way back to prehistoric times during the Paleolithic Era. So...

... middle of paper ...

...ken for fact since there is no scientific evidence of these events but should be taken as advice. Morford states that, "Myth in a sense is the highest reality; and the thoughtless dismissal of myth as untruth, fiction, or a lie is the most barren and misleading definition of all" (pg.04). Myths are not just stories and tales to entertain us but they are also a part of our past and present culture. Campbell explains that, "The material of myth is the material of our life, the material of our body, and the material of our environment, and a living, vital mythology deals with these in terms that are appropriate to the nature of knowledge of the time" (Campbell 01). It is important to remember that without myths there would be an unexplainable void in history. Mythology is not only an explanation for the unknown but a tool that helps us better understand one another.