The Purpose of Myths and Legends

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Recommended: Myth Folktales and Legends

Myths and legends have definitely made their way through history everyone knows. They represent the world around us and our ideas and stories. There are all different types of mythology around the world and a lot of things today are based on it. Almost every region in the world has some mythology to it. We pass myths and legends down through history and through all types of people for an explanation of something. Myths exactly the same as legends though. Majority of legends are based on true events that took place in the past, while myths are usually stories created to teach people about something or explain why something happens. Both myths and legends have been passed from person to person over huge time periods. Eventually around 700 BC we wrote them out rather than just telling them to others. Greek mythology is something almost everyone is familiar with; you might not know everything about all the gods and goddesses, but I am sure you have heard something about it.
Myths and legends have been around for hundreds of thousands of years, and to a lot of people it’s very interesting to know what kinds of myths or legends came from specific time periods. 1 BC and before was a long time ago and yes, myths and legends were around then. People would tell them to others; they were passed just like we pass stories today to each other. Most of us have all heard of the Odyssey even if we don’t know exactly what it was. The Odyssey was a poem written by Homer around 800-700 BC. The poem is about Odysseus and his journey home after the fall of Troy. The poem was read in the Homeric Greek and eventually was translated to the vernacular of the people in different places around the world. Some scholars believe that the poem was composed oral...

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