- This article is about a system of myths. For the 1942 book Mythology, see
its author Edith Hamilton.
A mythology is a relatively cohesive set of myths: stories that
comprise a certain religion or belief
system.
What is mythology?
Myths are generally stories based on tradition and legend designed to explain the universal and local beginnings ("creation myths and "founding myths"), natural phenomena, inexplicable cultural conventions, and anything else
for which no simple explanation presents itself. Not all myths need have this explicatory purpose, however. Likewise, most myths
involve a supernatural force or deity, but many simple legends and narratives passed down
orally from generation to generation have mythic content. The Brothers
Grimm demonstrated that there is mythic content embedded even in the least promising fairy tales.
A fairy tale itself is not a myth. Other examples of materials with mythic content that are not themselves myths:
What forces generate myths? Robert Graves said of Greek myth "True myth
may be defined as the reduction to narrative shorthand of ritual mime performed on public festivals, and in many cases recorded
pictorially." (The Greek Myths, Introduction). Graves was deeply influenced, perhaps too strongly, by Sir James George Frazer's mythography The Golden Bough and he would have agreed that myth is generated by
many cultural needs (more on thre forces that generate myth is needed)
What human needs do myths satisfy? Myths authorize the cultural institutions of a tribe, a city, a nation by connecting them
with universal truths. Myths justify the current occupation of a territory by a people, for instance.
Mythology figures prominently in most religions, and most mythology is tied to
at least one religion. Some use the words "myth" and "mythology" to portray the stories of one or more religions as false, or
dubious at best. The term is most often used in this sense to describe religions founded by ancient societies, such as Roman mythology, Greek mythology, and Norse mythology, which
were nearly extinct at one time. However, it is important to keep in mind that while some view the Norse and Celtic pantheons as
mere fable, others hold them as a religion
(See Neopaganism). By extension, many people do not regard the tales
surrounding the origin and development of religions like Christianity,
Judaism and Islam as literal accounts of
events, but instead regard them as figurative representations of their belief systems.
Some people, especially within "revealed" religions that are justified in terms of an authenticated scripture, may take
offense at the characterization of any aspect of their faith as an expression of myth. An aspect of fundamentalism requires that every incidental element be accepted as literally
true. However, most people concur that every religion has a body of myths that express deeper truths that are ineffable on the
surface level.
For the purposes of this article, therefore, we use the word "mythology" to refer to stories that, while they may or may not
be strictly factual, reveal fundamental truths and insights about human nature, often through the use of archetypes. Also, the stories we discuss express the viewpoints and beliefs of the
country, time period, culture, and/or religion which gave birth to them; thus one can speak of a Jewish mythology, a Christian
mythology, or an Islamic mythology, in which one describes the mythic elements within these faiths without speaking to the
veracity of the faith's tenets or claims about its history.
Many modern day rabbis and priests within the more liberal Jewish and Christian movements, as well as most Neopagans, have no
problem viewing their religious texts as containing myth; they see their sacred texts as indeed containing religious truths,
divinely inspired but delivered in the language of mankind. Others, of course, disagree.
Modern mythology
Television and book series like Star Trek and Tarzan have strong mythological aspects that sometimes develop into deep and intricate
philosophical systems. These items are not mythology, but contain mythic themes that, for some people, meet the same
psychological needs. An excellent example is that developed by J. R. R.
Tolkien in The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings.
However, copyright law restricts independent authors from extending modern
story cycles. Some critics believe that the fact that the core characters and stories of modern story cycles are not in the
public domain prevents the modern story cycles from sharing several
essential aspects of mythologies. Fan fiction goes some distance to relieving
this problem.
Fiction, however, does not reach the level of actual mythology until people believe that it really happened. For example, some
people believe that fiction author Clive Barker's Candyman was based upon a
true story, and new stories have grown up around the figure. The same can be said for the Blair Witch and many other stories.
Mythology is alive and well in the modern age through urban legends,
scientific mythology, and many other ways. In the 1950s Roland Barthes published a series
of essays examining modern myths and the process of their creation in his book Mythologies.
Mythologies by region
- Akamba mythology - Akan mythology - Alur mythology - Ashanti mythology -
Bambara mythology -
Bambuti mythology - Banyarwanda mythology -
Basari mythology -
Baule mythology - Bavenda mythology - Bazambi mythology - Baziba mythology - Bushongo mythology - Dahomey mythology (Fon) - Dinka mythology -
Efik mythology - Egyptian mythology (Pre-Islam) - Ekoi mythology - Fan mythology - Fens mythology - Fjort mythology - Herero mythology - Ibibio mythology - Ibo mythology - Isoko
mythology - Kamba
mythology - Kavirondo mythology - Khoikhoi
mythology - Kurumba
mythology - Lotuko mythology - Lugbara mythology - Lunda mythology - Makoni mythology - Masai mythology - Mongo mythology - Mundang mythology - Ngbandi mythology - Nupe mythology - Nyamwezi mythology - Oromo mythology - Ovambo mythology - Pygmy mythology - San mythology - Serer mythology - Shona mythology - Shongo mythology - Songhai mythology - Sotho mythology - Tumbuka mythology -
Xhosa mythology - Yoruba mythology - Zulu mythology
- Buddhist
mythology - Bon mythology
(pre-Buddhist Tibetan mythology) - Chinese mythology - Hindu mythology - Japanese mythology
(mainstream) - Japanese mythology (Hotuma version) - Korean mythology - Turkic mythology
- Aboriginal mythology (natives of Australia) - Melanesian mythology - Micronesian mythology - Polynesian mythology
- Anglo-Saxon mythology - Catalan mythology - Celtic mythology - Corsican mythology - Germanic
mythology - Greek mythology - English mythology - Etruscan
mythology - Finnish mythology - Irish mythology - Latvian mythology - Lusitanian
mythology - Norse mythology - Polish mythology - Roman mythology -
Romanian mythology - Sardinian mythology -
Slavic mythology - Tatar mythology
- Arab mythology (pre-Islamic) - Christian mythology - Islamic mythology - Jewish mythology - Sumerian
mythology
- Abenaki mythology - Algonquin mythology -
American mythology (non-Native American) - American folklore -
Blackfoot mythology - Chippewa mythology - Creek mythology -
Crow mythology - Haida mythology - Ho-Chunk mythology -
Hopi mythology - Inuit mythology - Iroquois mythology -
Huron mythology - Kwakiutl mythology - Lakota mythology -
Leni Lenape mythology - Navaho mythology - Nootka mythology -
Pawnee mythology - Salish mythology - Seneca mythology -
Tsimshian mythology - Ute mythology - Zuni mythology
- Aztec mythology - Incan mythology - Guarani mythology -
Maya mythology - Olmec mythology - Toltec mythology
Mythological archetypes
Mythological creatures
Books on mythology
See also
External links
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