Mythology Introduction
Essential Questions:
1. What are myths?
2. Myths, legends, fables, folktales: What are the
differences?
3. When does myth become religion?
4. Are myths all in our mind?
Purpose of myth

According to Kenneth Davis, myths were
a human way to explain everything:
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How Earth was created
Where life came from
Why the stars shined and seasons changed
Why there was sex
Why there was evil
Why people died &
Where they went when they did
(23)
Define myth

Present day – something widely believed to
be untrue

Common – history layered with legend –
“mythologized”
◦ Old West
◦ Founding Fathers
Most basic meaning

“A traditional, typically ancient story
dealing with supernatural beings,
ancestors or heroes that serves as a
fundamental type of world view of a
people, as by explaining aspects of the
natural world or delineating the psychology,
customs or ideals of a society.” (American
Heritage Dictionary; emphasis added)
Why the word mythology
Derived from Greek mythos meaning
“story”
 Plato coined mythology meaning stories
containing invented figures, elaborate
fictions that may reveal a larger “truth”

(Davis 24)
Allegory

Greek meaning essentially “saying
something in a different way”

Plato used allegories as teaching devices –
 Allegory of the Cave
Mythology still plays a role in our
everyday lives.
Homer said, “All men have need of the
Gods.”
 Since ancient times myths have been
depicted through a variety of forms
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Cave paintings
Carved pieces of bone
Fertility figurines
Household idols
Ancient burial practices
Villages →Cities →States
Associated with the gods
 Myths become complex and
interconnected tales
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Organizing principles
Dictating religious rituals
Establishing social order
Developing customs
Defining everyday behavior
Mythological characters
Gods or other divine beings with
supernatural powers
 Essentially sacred or religious significance
separates myth from religion

Legends:
“Stories about historical figures, usually
humans, not gods, that are handed down
from earlier times.” (28)
Characteristics of legend
Kernel of truth (usually)
 Embellished to emphasize a characteristic
of the central figure
 Used to build a shared trait such as
national pride or fraternity
 Creation of national heroes

 George Washington
 King Arthur
Fable

“simple, usually brief, fictitious stories,
typically teaching a moral, or making a
cautionary point or, in some cases,
satirizing human behavior” (31)
Characteristics of fable
Frequently characters are animals who
talk and have other human traits
 Moral usually told at the end
 Instructional – a morality tale

Folktales/Fairytales:

Stories handed down orally; involves
common people and is intended to
entertain rather than instruct. (32)
Characteristics of folktales
Not supposed to have happened
 Do not have national heroes (like legends
do)
 Generally emphasize the customs,
superstitions and beliefs of ordinary
people

Fairytales

Include supernatural creatures like elves,
pixies, witches, fairies, etc.
Shared traits of folk and fairy tales
Central character usually a person of low
status
 Mistaken identity
 Victimized or persecuted
 Overcome adversity – often with magical
help
 Restored to proper place in society

Religion:

“an organized
system of beliefs,
ceremonies,
practices and
worship that may
center on one
supreme God or
deity or on a
number of gods or
deities” (44)

8 major religions
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Buddhism
Christianity
Confucianism
Hinduism
Islam
Judaism
Shinto
Taoism
Shared traits
Religion rituals
 Belief in a deity or prophet
 Sacred stories

◦ “…in the modern study of religion, there is
no implication that a myth is false.” (Smart
qtd. in Davis 44)
According to Psychologists
Myth originated in the unconscious mind.
 Carl Jung coined the term collective
unconscious

◦ Shared by all mankind
◦ Organized into basic patterns and symbols
called archetypes
From Man and His Symbols
“From time immemorial, men have had
ideas about a Supreme Being (one or
several) and about the Land of the
Hereafter; Only today do they think they
can do without such ideas” (Jung qtd. Davis
48).
Albert Einstein wrote,
“The most beautiful thing we can
experience is the mysterious. It is the
source of all true art and science” (qtd.
Davis 49).
“Myth taken together is too complex, too
many-faceted, to be explained by a single
theory.”
− Barry B. Powell
“It is better to know some of the questions
than all of the answers,” wrote James
Thurber.