Mythology, Legends, and
Folklore
TAKE NOTES!
Mythology
What is mythology?
Mythology is the study of myths.
What are myths?
Traditional stories of a culture to explain its
historical events, practices, beliefs, and/or
natural phenomenons.
Legends
What are legends?
Popular stories that are passed down from
one generation to the next.
They are regarded as historical, but can
not be verified that they actually
happened.
Folklore
What makes up folklore?
Folklore is a culture’s folktales.
What are folktales?
Stories that are timeless and placeless
among a culture- they usually teach a
lesson.
How?
All myths, legends, and folktales have
been around for generations, even before
the written language came. How?
Oral Tradition
– Passed down from generation to generation
by telling the stories/word of mouth.
Assignment
Read RWL (Readings in World Lit) with
study guide questions
– Pgs 3-6 (African myth)
– Pgs 42-47 (Japanese folktale)
– Pgs 48-56 (Irish legend)
DO NOT FORGET TO READ THE
OPENING PARAGRAPHS!
Flood Myths
Many cultures have their own version of flood
myths.
Archeologists discovered that there was truly a
flood that occurred in the Middle East many
years ago.
– They discovered this from the layers of sediment they
found in the earth.
There are many similarities between flood myths
in each culture.
Noah’s Ark Flood Myth Info
Jews, Muslims, and Christians all share
the stories of the Christian Old Testament.
There are different variations for each
religion, but same type of info.
Judaism- Tanakh
– Torah, Nevi’im, Ketuvim
Islam- Koran
Christian- Old Testament
How are the 3 religions tied together?
God/Allah
Hagar----affair----Abraham----married----Sarai/Sarah
(Judaism)
Ishmael
Issac
Muhammed (Angel Gabriel) Joseph (Angel Gabriel)
Jesus
(Islam)
(Christianity)
Reading Assignments WITH Study Guide Questions!!
In-Class Reading:
RWL The Great Flood with SG?s
HOMEWORK:
Chinese Flood Myth (handout) with SG?s
Noah’s Ark (handout) with SG?s
*Answer the SG? about how all flood myths are alike.
Differences Myths
Cultures have myths to explain why we
are different from one another.
– Skin, language, social status, etc
How the World Changed (BAV)
Tower of Babel
Find Caste System definition!
Sources
The Holy Scriptures: The Tanakh. 2008. 21 Aug
2008
<http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Bible
/jpstoc.html>.
Ham, Alyce. Telephone. 21 Aug 2008.
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary: 10th
Ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc.,
2001.
Mnayer, Maggie. Person to Person. 21 Aug
2008.