Four Myth Theories

673 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The theory of myth

Four Theories of Myth

There are four basic theories of myth. Those theories are: the rational myth theory, functional myth theory, structural myth theory, and the phsycological myth theory. The rational myth theory states that myths were created to explain natural events and forces. Functional myths are what you call the kinds of myths that were created as a type of social control. The third myth theory is the structural myth theory. This theory says that myths were patterned after human mind and human nature. The phsycological myth theory is the fourth myth theory which states that myths are based on human emotion.

The rational myth theory states that myths were made to better understand natural events and forces that occurred in the everyday lives of people. This theory also explains that the gods and goddesses controlled all of these happenings of nature. Examples of this type of myth are creation myths from different cultures. Creation myths explain how man was created and explain what the gods and goddesses used and what actions they took to create humans. These myths also tell what substances were used (if any) in order for man to exist. The existence of man is a natural event but creation myths give other explanations. The functional myth theory talks about how myths were used to teach morality and social behavior. It states that myths told about what types of things should and shouldn’t be done, and the consequences for those wrong doings. The functional myth theory also states that myths were created for social control and served the function of insuring stability in a society. A story about a tribe who rebelled against the great serpent, Degei, is a good example of a functional myth. This story is about a tribe who learned many skills from their great serpent god, Degei, and then became Degei’s workers and servants. Two chiefs of this tribe were sick of working for him and tried to defeat him; they were too weak for Degei. Instead of winning their freedom, they were killed in a great flood caused by Degei. This myth is trying to say that you should not be lazy because if you are, then you will regret it.

Structural myths are said to be myths based on human emotion. These types of myths show the two sides of the human mind; the good side and the bad side. They show the divided self and the duality of human nature.

Show More
Related

  • Inverted Gender Roles: Dracula by Bram Stoker

    1455 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stevenson, John Allen. A Vampire in the Mirror: The Sexuality of Dracula. 2nd ed. Vol. 103. N.p.: Modern Language Association, 1988. JSTOR. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. .

    Read More

  • Victorian Sexuality in Stoker’s Dracula, LeFanu’s Carmilla, and Polidori’s Vampyre

    1689 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bram Stoker’s Dracula illustrated fears about sexual women in contrast to the woman who respected and abided by society’s sexual norms. Joseph Sheridan LeFanu’s “Carmilla” represented not only the fear of feminine sexuality, but also the fear of sexuality between women. John William Polidori’s “The Vampyre” showed society’s fear of sexuality in terms of the seductive man who could “ruin” a young girl.These texts are representative of vampire stories in the Victorian Era, and will be the focus here.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Two Vampires

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    While Cullen chose the path of compassion and became a doctor (Meyers, 2005; pp. 339), the Count planned to invade the British empire (Stoker, 1897/2001; pp. 328). Healing or invading, both can get lonely with time. Cullen, as a physician had decided to turn a human into vampires only if he could save them from death. All the humans that Cullen changed, he called them as his family. They were part of his coven and moved with him wherever he went (Meyer, 2005). On the other hand, count Dracula took by force and against the will of his victims. He possessed the power to hypnotize and control his victims, as he controlled Mina when he forced her to drink his blood (Stoker, 1897/2001). He lives with three beautiful female vampires in his castle, but their relationship to the Count is not clarified in the book. In chapter 3, when they are scolded by the Count for attacking Harker, they taunt him that he does not love, Dracula responds that “Yes, I too can love; you yourselves can tell it from the past” (Stoker 1897/2001; pp. 39). Although they exist in the castle and are fed by the count as noted in Jonathan’s diary entry, Dracula has no apparent interest in them. Similarly, after he changes Lucy Westenra to a vampire he stops visiting her. He feels no need to connect or form relationships with the humans he changes. As immortals, both Cullen and Count Dracula are destined to

    Read More

  • A List of Different Myths

    2560 Words  | 6 Pages

    ...fferent string theories. Thus taking multiple set of algorithms and creating a newer version to support its ideas or representation of an understanding. Myths are understood as being adopted and transformed elements to fit certain cultural aspects of a society or group of people.

    Read More

  • The Wife of Bath

    541 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many critics throughout the years have given the Wife of Bath a title of that of a feminist. She is a strong-willed and dominant woman who gets what she wants when she wants it, by manipulating her husbands into feeling bad for things that they didn’t do, or by saying things that put them to utter shame. No man has ever been able to give an exact answer when she asks to know how many husbands a woman may have in her life...

    Read More

  • Lincoln's Impact On American Literature Essay

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    Emerson who has had a large impact on the writing of many early American Literature. Emerson called Edgar Allen Poe "the jingle man," but at first this does not seem very fitting. One would expect the work of "the jingle man" to be happy and upbeat, but Poe 's work was not that at all. Emerson gave Poe that name because of the musicality of Poe work. Poe 's work was the true beginning of the dark writing in American Literature. Poe was clearly not a transcendentalist. Poe believed in the darkness in the world around him and inside himself. I found the darkness of Poe 's work refreshing after all of the hopeful writing in early American Literature. I enjoy the dark side of America that Poe was willing to expose. It is not surprising that Poe 's work would be dark because of the grim childhood that he experienced. Even into Poe 's life his young adult years did not work out as he had intended. Poe was discharged from West- Point for neglect of his duty. " The Fall of The House of Usher," published in 1839, was my personal favorite writing that I was required to read during high school and literature I was familiar with during this course. Poe 's " The Fall of The House of Usher" was such a eerie work of

    Read More

  • Mythology In Mythology

    881 Words  | 2 Pages

    Myths relate to events, conditions, and deeds of gods or superhuman beings that are outside ordinary human life and yet basics to it” ("Myth," 2012). Mythology is said to have two particular meanings, “the corpus of myths, and the study of the myths, of a particular area: Amerindian mythology, Egyptian mythology, and so on as well as the study of myth itself” ("Mythology," 1993). In contrast, while the term myth can be used in a variety of academic settings, its main purpose is to analyze different cultures and their ways of thinking. Within the academic setting, a myth is known as a fact and over time has been changed through the many different views within a society as an effort to answer the questions of human existence. The word myth in an academic context is used as “ancient narratives that attempt to answer the enduring and fundamental human questions: How did the universe and the world come to be? How did we come to be here? Who are we? What are our proper, necessary, or inescapable roles as we relate to one another and to the world at large? What should our values be? How should we behave? How should we not behave? What are the consequences of behaving and not behaving in such ways” (Leonard, 2004 p.1)? My definition of a myth is a collection of false ideas put together to create

    Read More

  • Greek Mythology Essay

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    A mythology is an important feature of many cultures. A myth is a sacred narrative that explains how the world and humankind assumed their present form. In a broad sense, it can refer to any traditional story. A myth’s function is to provide a model for behavior and to provide a religious experience. By reenacting myths societies bring themselves closer to the divine.

    Read More

  • Definition Essay

    989 Words  | 2 Pages

    The origin of the word myth seems to be a myth in itself. Myths have generally originated from a Greek history that used an oral tradition to explain events that occurred before the written word. Often supernatural beings or fictitious characters were used to explain popular ideas concerning phenomena's of nature or the history of people. The myths that were carried on from generation to generation were often very imaginative in an attempt to spark the interest of young listeners. These would be told at social gatherings. The main purpose of a myth was to relay historical information among groups. Early myths often dealt with the origin of man, customs, religious rights, incidents involving the lives of gods, stories of culture heroes, adaptations of old world myths, or the retelling of biblical stories.

    Read More

  • a synthesis of monsters in todays view

    831 Words  | 2 Pages

    Excerpts from three books, written by three magnificent novelists, show how sexuality, race, physical appearance, etc. play a major role in writing that are often times overlooked or downplayed, but are put in the the novel to show a bigger picture of what people define as a monster. In Judith Halberstam excerpt “Parasites and Perverts: An Introduction to Gothic Monstrosity” Halberstam argues that “ Nineteenth century literary tradition is a Gothic tradition and that this has everything to do with the changing technology of subjectivity that Foucault describes” (Halberstam,1991,p.125). In the excerpt from “Gothic Realities: The Impact of Horror Fiction on Modern Culture” L. Anderson Cooper expresses the formula of how “MONSTER=HOMOSEXUAL”(Cooper,2010,p.141). He tells how the homosexual is expected to be reversed with the popular heterosexual. In the final excerpt of “Civilized Vampires versus Savage Werewolves: Race and Ethnicity in the Twilight series” Natalie Wilson show readers about the white privilege. White (vampires) is associated with “ civility, beauty, and intellect...

    Read More

  • Myths

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mythology is defined two ways: a collection of myths, especially one belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition (Oxford Dictionary) and as the study of myths (Oxford Dictionary). Myths are stories that are based on tradition and have significance to a culture. They are sacred tales that explain the world and a person’s experience. Some myths may have factual origins, while others may have fictional origins that explain religion or natural phenomenons. Many philosophers and scientists all over the world have tried to answer the questions that truly can’t be answered: what is the universe and how did it all begin, who am I, where did I come from, and why am I here? Myths and mythology try to provide people with heroic figures such as gods and goddesses—representing a person, place, or thing in a past, present, or future event—to help explain natural phenomenon’s and control civilization giving people a grasp on some type of reality.

    Read More

  • Sexuality And Sexualism In Dracula By Joseph Bram Stoker's Dracula

    2090 Words  | 5 Pages

    Carmilla, the title character and the vampire of the work, is especially important to the definition of vampirism in literature, not only because she threatens to take young women from their religious societies, but also because her victims are all women. A vampire’s victim is often synonymous with his or her lover. Both sex and homosexuality are considered taboo in Western society, because it presents both of these topics, the work is especially deviant from the time in which it was written. Le Fanu in particular was inspired by the near obsession the British Empire had with morality in the 17th century. While sex and sexuality was not necessarily suppressed during the time, and most of society was beginning to come to terms with their own agreement the topic was still banned from polite conversation. Homosexual acts, like those depicted in Carmilla were still considered extremely taboo, and often times illegal, as homosexuality was a crime punishable by death up to ten years before the work was written. Carmilla, like most of the other works in the time it was written is the product of strictly religious society and represents the amoral. Carmilla however was exceptional in the fact that the vampire is female, rather than a male vampire that has remained present throughout most vampire-centered work since their creation. Women were

    Read More

  • Comparisons of Creation Myths

    2080 Words  | 5 Pages

    Myths – as they are known to most of the world – give insight into the pasts of various countries and religions as the people saw them. They have been used to explain phenomena in nature or describe the tales of courageous and important men and women throughout history. Creation myths in particular define how the Earth itself was created, along with the universe, heavens, hell, people, and creatures that exist today. Genesis of Christian mythology, for instance, tells the story of how the single deity God spoke and formed everything from day and night to man and woman. Various African creation myths, such as with the Yoruba, explain the creation of the Earth through at least a couple gods working together and all life sprouting from a seed.

    Read More

  • Native American Folklore As Mythology

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    Essentially, there are three typical characteristics of mythology. Classic myths often include gods or supernatural heroes, are “closely linked to religion,” and “generally take place in a primordial age, when the world had not yet achieved its current form” (“Mythology” Wikipedia). Furthermore, myths provide an explanation for the existence of life and how the world came to be.

    Read More

  • Essay On Cultural Myth

    1181 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the years that humans have roamed this land we call earth they have made myths. Myths that give them a certain sense of security to fill that unknown knowledge they have. The most common myth is the cultural myth. What is a cultural myth? A cultural myth is the narrative explanation--in both written, visual and oral form--of a culture, its origins, its mission, its development, and its future. Along with elements of truth, myths constitute the very substance of a culture’s concept of reality (week 1, day 2 notes).

    Read More

More about Four Myth Theories

Open Document