Reaction Paper On Myth And Mythology

What Is Myth? What Is Mythology?

The mythology course, taught by Marilyn Torres, has given me great insight into the world of myths and mythology. I began the class believing I knew what a myth was but I was far from the truth. Like most people I believed a myth to be fiction, untrue, or lies. Nearly every definition of myth includes a statement that a myth is a story but there is far more to a myth. After five weeks in the course there have been plenty of articles and information that has progressed my understanding of myth and mythology. The following explains how my comprehension of myth and mythology has been altered.

The article “Myth and Knowing” by Michael McClure emphasizes the transformation of myths. Initially, I assumed that mythology was the study of myths. This may be somewhat true but, in reality, defining mythology is much more complex and requires an educated understanding of myths. According to McClure, “Myths are ancient narratives that attempt to answer the enduring and fundamental human questions” (McClure 1). I believe this is one of the best definitions of myths, which explains the significance of myths as well. In my opinion myths can be used as a life manual in order to create a better form of living. Not only do myths give life lessons or answer questions about the universe but they also show the development or growth of a person.

To begin, the term myth is to be used when referring to the stories themselves while mythology is to be used when referring to the study and analysis of the stories. The English word "myth" is derived from the Greek mythos, meaning word or story. Mythos was used mutually with logos, another Greek word, which means “opinion” or “an expectation”. In order to understand myths and m...

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...al-poetic tradition and could only be told in sacred times. The characters in a myth can be significant in answering questions of one’s self or by demonstrating obstacle in one’s future.

Just as there is no specific “correct” definition for the word myth, there is no “correct” way of analyzing it. There are many ways of analyzing a myth and each type of analysis creates a certain comprehension but each can also distort our perception of myth as a story. A true or living myth expresses something fundamental about the worldview, values, and lifestyle of the people who accept it. To me a true myth gives an impression of human life as a purpose in the world and therefore making life seem meaningful and worth living. In conclusion I would advise that we familiarize ourselves with mythology and its many kinds of methods in order to read myths on multiple levels at once.