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| The Return of Ulysses, Georgio de Chirico (1968) |
A myth is 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).
Qualities of a Myth
A myth
1. does not have to make sense.
1. does not have to make sense.
2.
is often unrealistic and illogical.
3.
has inanimate objects (things) and characters that change,
often mysteriously.
4.
is ambiguous (can be interpreted in different ways).
5.
has supernatural elements.
6.
has many unanswered questions.
7.
provides answers to questions asked by human beings.
8.
conveys morals and values of a group of people.
9.
explains the origins (beginnings) of things.
10. has symbolism.
Functions of a Myth
A myth
A myth
1.
entertains.
2.
informs or explains.
3.
gives a sense of control to humans.
4.
reinforces "acceptable" behaviors of a group of people.
Questions that Myths Answer
Questions that Myths Answer
1. Where did we come from?
2. How did we get here?
3. What is the world like?
4. How did the world get that way?
5. How did we learn to do the things we have to do in order to survive in this world?
6. Why do we do the things we do the way we do them?
7. What are our ceremonies and what work do they do for us?
8. What are the powers that hold the cosmos together?
9. What's our relationship to those powers?
10. What do we owe those powers?
11.What have those powers promised to do for us?
12. What happens if we neglect the bargain we made with those powers?
13. What values must we teach our children, so that they can live in the world as we do?
Myths address fundamental questions about how humans came into being, the nature of the world, the purpose of ritual and ceremony, and our relationship to a higher power.
(The information in the "Questions that Myths Answer" Section above was abstracted from a lecture by Professor Grant L. Voth, Ph.D., at Monterey Peninsula College.)
2. How did we get here?
3. What is the world like?
4. How did the world get that way?
5. How did we learn to do the things we have to do in order to survive in this world?
6. Why do we do the things we do the way we do them?
7. What are our ceremonies and what work do they do for us?
8. What are the powers that hold the cosmos together?
9. What's our relationship to those powers?
10. What do we owe those powers?
11.What have those powers promised to do for us?
12. What happens if we neglect the bargain we made with those powers?
13. What values must we teach our children, so that they can live in the world as we do?
Myths address fundamental questions about how humans came into being, the nature of the world, the purpose of ritual and ceremony, and our relationship to a higher power.
(The information in the "Questions that Myths Answer" Section above was abstracted from a lecture by Professor Grant L. Voth, Ph.D., at Monterey Peninsula College.)
