The foundations of mythology

Running head: FOUNDATIONS OF MYTHOLOGY 1

Foundations of Mythology

Definition of Myths

The world is complicated, and humans in the belief and science prove that humans are the most intelligent all living organisms result in the need to pursue issues that are complex or unnatural to them. Stories, folktales, and oral tradition in need to determine the causes of problems they cannot understand or contemplate tend to use supernatural or unscientific reasons through such mediums. These mediums of fictional or exaggerated facts are myths which people over the years use to explain the unknown and aid facilitate morals. The use of the word myth in popularly has lost its meaning with most people associating it with falsehood (Mac, 2015). For instance, the statement “it’s a myth” means that the information provided is a lie or does not have any facts and evidence. The association limits the significance of myths as used in the academic context. Under scholarly settings, myth is the studies undertaken to determine the cultural influence, facts, reasoning, similarity with other myths, and the origin of the myths. Although popularly meaning tend to discount the facts behind the myths, it is essential to acknowledge that the myths have valuable information, and the fiction does not discredit the truth within a myth.

Dominant Mythological Themes

The curiosity of humans stems from the need to know the origin of the earth and humans. The creation or origins mythology results in themes of divinity or a God, birth, mother and father, good and evil and heroism. The creation story in the Bible where God created the earth from nothing and made man in His image is dominant among Christians and other religions. The evolution theory, for instance, The Big Bang Theory comprises of a supernatural element, which led to the blast (Witzel, 2012). The supreme, all-powerful God in the religion is similar to different cultures. The native African communities, for instance, the Bantu believed that their god created the earth and gave them the entire land to cultivate and fill the earth. Birth, mother, and father are extensive in the origins mythology with the cosmos egg giving life to the humans as depicted by the Hindus, whereas Adam and Eve's main purpose was reproducing and filling the earth.

Morality is founded on the universal agreement of the right and wrong, which are based on religion and cultural perspectives. The explanation of good and evil in myths is evident with the Biblical concept based on humans’ disobedience, the ancient Greek myths demonstrate incestuous acts of Zeus, and his daughter led to the furry of mother earth thus resulting in good and evil in the form of happiness and pain (Witzel, 2012). The inability to explain natural calamities also saw the association of angry gods or supernatural forces at play. The fiction in most theories makes them unbelievable.

Reasons for Universal Themes

The geographical distance may hinder most issues thus the need to determine why the myths from different geographic areas are similar. The first reason is due to human nature and curiosity on humans’ and world’s origin. The failure to understand the origin resulted in origins mythology with the placement of a supernatural being ‘God’ and people as the center of the myths (Witzel, 2012). Most of the immoral behaviors are similar, and with the intention to enhance morality in the society, different cultures are bound to have myths that depict evil deeds with pain and suffering and good behaviors with success and happiness. Lastly, the interactions of the ancient world through wars resulting in the holding of captives may influence the spread of oral myths in different cultures (Rosman, Rubel, & Weisgrau, 2009). The current population tend to dismiss myths, but they are still using similar themes as they did in the past. The film industry depicts the myths, for instance, science fictions tend to educate the governments, and the public on the need to promote humanity with dangers predicted on the creation of robots or other inventions (Rosman, Rubel, & Weisgrau, 2009). Heroism still dominates the myths of today.

References

Mac, S. N. (2015). Foundation myths in ancient societies: Dialogues and discourses . Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Rosman, A., Rubel, P. G., & Weisgrau, M. (2009). The Tapestry of Culture: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology . Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Pub. Group.

Witzel, M. (2012). The origins of the world's mythologies . Oxford: Oxford University Press.