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The effects of mythology on modern day
The effects of mythology on modern day
The effects of mythology on modern day
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In the dictionary, a myth is “an ancient story; a traditional story about heroes or supernatural beings, often attempting to explain the origins of natural phenomena or aspects of human behavior”, which, in the context of our lessons, is correct. But this definition is so logical and steely that it couldn’t possibly encompass even a fraction of the meaning that they held for the people who created them, and, thus, believed them to be not fiction, but truth. When early man began pining for answers to everyday occurrences, they found them, usually. But, without records or tales, their origin (our origin) remained firmly beyond their comprehension. So, what is early man to do, so that he may sleep peacefully at night without such a nagging curiosity? He is to dream up creation myths, and, stemming from those, religion. Creation myths are fascinating examples of the values within the culture they were created. While being diverse in the means, along with the number of creators, they all also show many similar ends—Many speak of a “Cosmic Egg”, where either the Creator and/or all matter springs forth from the egg once it breaks or hatches, and a classic example of this story is the Chinese Myth featuring the giant Phan Ku. As stated in the Chinese Myth, in the beginning, there was only an egg containing all—A mixture of all matter, all forces, and mixture of Ying-Yang—including Phan Ku. He broke out of the egg, and thus released its contents. All was created in this brief moment, and then Phan Ku goes on to shape the world. Omitting many of the unnecessary details, the Chinese Myth is fairly straightforward: the Creator emerges from a cosmic egg and makes what we now see every day the way it is. It definitely serves the purpose... ... middle of paper ... ...a large role in their beliefs. Personally, although I am an Atheist through and through, I would like have an afterlife in “The Happy Field Of Food” if I was good, and I would enjoy knowing that all the evil in the world would be cast down by Anubis and fed to Ammut. It sounds like, with such a risk hanging over you, would make quite a pleasant society, but that is just me. Creation Myths make great, interesting tales to explain away the hardships and troubles that early man has had to face, along with giving them guidance and an origin. If these Myths did not exist, one can be sure to expect that our society would be far different than what it is now. Still, to this day, Creation Myths shape our society by telling us what is good and what is bad, how certain situations should be handled, and, above all, giving organization to what could be anarchy and negativity.
Most cultures have a creation myth, a story of how humans came to exist in the world. Often, they involve Gods of some capacity who exist without much question or explanation. Many myths have a common idea for the origin of the world, like Earth being born from water, a golden egg, or a great monster. The Mayan creation myth and the Babylonian creation myth are similar in that they both begin with water, and account the creation and purpose of man. They also differ, as the Mayan Popol Vuh chronicles a peaceful tale of trials to forge the Earth and sentient beings to worship the gods, while the Babylonian Enuma Elish tells of wars between gods that lead to the creation of Earth and of man as a servant to the gods.
Further exploration of the myth teaches more about Northern Europeans who believed it as their creation myth and reveals their emphasis on structure and order as well as a belief in supernatural
The “popular use of the word myth to denote something that is thought by many people to be “true,” but actually is not true can be examined through history. Today’s current understanding of myth is: “A traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or heroor event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a naturalexplanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigodsand explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature,istories or matter of this kind,iany invented story, idea, or concept,ian imaginary or fictitious thing or person,ian unproved or false collective belief that is
Creation texts and most early pieces of literature all share many of the same themes, mythology, and to an extent, the same characters. In the days that early texts like The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Bible, and Popol Vuh, epistemology was of high interest to many philosophers and writers. To answer the questions of “How did we get here,” “Why are we here,” “What do we do here,” and other ontological ponderings, texts like these were written to give some reason. One consistent theme from early literature and creation texts is that early people had the tragic flaw of a thirst for knowledge and a lack of willpower, which is shown in The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Bible, and Popol Vuh.
Over the recent centuries, the definition of myth has decayed into a word synonymous with falsehoods and lies. This idea of myths being completely false and therefore useless is a fairly modern one. To combat the rise of empirical science in the 1900s, theologians brought the idea of wholly literal, fundamental religion into being to combat ideas that did not perfectly align with the tenants of the religion (May 24). This was the final death blow to the idea of the metaphysical myth that was already wounded from thousands of years of being denounced as pagan or barbaric. The rise of empirical science also lent to the decay of the meaning of myth. Science was able to explain the natural world far better than a myth ever could; however, it lacked the metaphysical aspect. Due to these rising ideologies, myths hav...
For example, the woman gives birth to two sons, and one of the sons climbs out of her side killing her in the process. In addition, there is a good mind and a bad mind, then the boys dismember their mother other to create the sun, moon, and stars. Notably, the Ottawa version does not provide an explanation for the appearance of the celestial bodies. Next, the good son begins creating the rivers, vegetation, the weather, and species of animals that sustain life on the planet. Then the good son makes two figures of dust in his own image. Similarly, this portion of the story mirrors the account found in Genesis in the old testament of the Bible when God creates Adam and Eve.
Two closely related creation myths come from the Chinese and Japanese. Their geographical ties and trading patterns forged a link. Both share the symbolism of the egg as part an old creation myth. In the Japanese version of the myth, the two gods that were first formed, made love to each other many times and each time a new god of something was born, such as islands, wind and fire. Izam, the female finally died and the creation of other gods was put to a halt. The pattern used here was from nothing to everything, and from the birth of gods to the halt of the creation, when Izam dies.
Creation stories have profound effects on humans. Those associated with ancient cultures/civilizations aim to ensure the successful survival or well-being of themselves and that particular culture/civilization of their association, but not all are beneficial, prosperous, or fortunate. Mesopotamia’s “The Gilgamesh Epic”, Egypt’s “Hymn to the Nile-Documents”, and Mesoamerica’s Mayan and Aztec creation stories/religion are influential to establishing significant relationships within society, whether that is between humans and nature or humans and their “god(s).”
Every ancient society and civilization has creation myths that were passed down and keep alive throughout the passing of time by word of mouth. These myths are the world’s oldest stories and are vital to these cultures because they explain their beginnings and give purpose to their existence. By analyzing and interpreting different creation myths it becomes easier to understand different cultures and their connections and relationships with heir beliefs and god(s).
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.
In the article “Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths,” researcher Gordon H. Johnston reiterates the conclusions that A. H. Sayce, A. S. Yahuda have reached about the comparisons of Genesis 1 and Egyptian creation myths (Johnston, 180). Johnston postulates that there are undoubtedly strong similarities and connections between Genesis 1 and Egyptian creation myths (Johnston, 180). Johnston noted that these earlier analyses were overlooked and not accepted due to various reasons; easily accessible Mesopotamian materials, the assumption that Genesis 1 should be classified as a Priest source, ignorance of the Hebrew bibles’ Egyptian origins, and misunderstanding of the Egyptians terminology when analyzing creation ideas (Johnston, 179).
Both the Theogony and the Creation in Genesis show nature as a blessing for humans but with negative affects, However the myths differ in the ways that the Earth and humans were created and how humans interact with the deities of the creation stories. These differences include how Gods treat humans and why the Gods/God created Earth. These stories are still being passed on in today’s world and are two of the most influential creation stories to have ever been written. The similarities and differences in the creation stories show that different cultures and religions throughout the world really aren’t that far off from each other.
There are three key elements for creation: fire and ice for the Norse people and Yin and Yang for Chinese people, these elements came together and uncovered/ created giants. It was with the death of the giants in both stories that the elements of the earth were created.
Throughout history many civilizations and cultures have had their own ways of explaining the world and its creation. Each of these civilizations has created unique descriptions and accounts of such events. However, when comparing them to each other, are they really different? Look at the ancient Greco - Roman creation myths as told by Hesiod in his Theogony and Works and Days and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, when compared to the creation myths as seen in the Old Testament’s book of Genesis they may not be as different as one would think. Taking a more in-depth look at both Genesis and Hesiod’s and Ovid’s work more closely, the reader can see that on multiple occasions the myths have almost identical similarities which reflect their views in society. The similarities in particular are the myths of the creation of man, women with their subsequent role of evil in ancient times, and the great floods. These similarities prove that even though these two scriptures were centuries apart, the concepts presented in each myth were almost identical to one another.
Leeming, David Adams. 2010. Creation Myths of the World : An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2010. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed April 21, 2012).