Myth Origins Essay, Research Paper

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. The real meaning of the word myth, "a story

or legend"(Webster’s p.972) was created as oral traditions that were told

from generation to generation. Often as individuals told the stories, they were

changed slightly in context or meaning. One cannot be certain, however, that

historically based myths are not historically correct. Exaggeration due to

personal vendetta was often the cause for discrepancies of factual or not

factual information included in dialect from a mythical standpoint. An instance

where this fact was the case is seen in the Old Testament. Even, the Old

Testament can be looked upon as being mythical, true, or false. From a religious

perception, the Old Testament may be viewed as the history of Judaism and

believed to be completely factual and true, but from a mythical standpoint that

selection may be fictitious in context. Mythology suggests that due to the fact

that events were perceived and told from many different viewpoints, the Old

Testament may not be factual and only a myth of Judaism. A modern day perception

of the Old Testament suggests that, "the mythic elements in the Bible

cannot be accepted by people living in a scientific age and therefore make

incomprehensible or unacceptable the true message to which they are attached in

the Bible" (OED p.177). The definition of the word myth can best be found

in a myth itself. "The Creation of Man by Prometheus" is an excellent

example of a myth containing gods or superhuman characteristics, a lesson to be

learned, and teachings or beliefs of the time period. This myth explains the

creation of man in the minds of Greeks through super human characters such as

the gods. How was man created in the minds of the Greeks? Prometheus used

materials from nature (mud) to create a form similar to that of the gods, which

can be seen today as the modern symbol of man. Another Greek goddess, Athena,

then blew life into the sculpture. Man was now created. Prometheus then taught

man how to survive and also taught them how to make fire. Zeus, the king of all

gods and goddesses, was not happy with him giving man the gift of fire and

punished Prometheus for the rest of his life. The Greeks in an oral tradition to

explain this phenomenon, known as the origin of man (Hunt) then used this story.

Many cultures, for example, have a different myth to explain the origin of man.

Native Indian myths suggest that the joining of sprits created man. The sprits

also taught man how to survive. This myth is similar to that of the Greek

version because in both versions the creation of man involved supernatural

interaction. As in every culture, the people of it have the individual they

believe is responsible. Every culture has a myth explaining how man was created

that they believe is correct based on their oral tradition. The Greeks believed

that the Gods were responsible for this feat, while the Indians believed that

spirits accomplished this task based on taught tradition. The purpose of these

myths was to create answers to questions that could not be answered in those

early times. The myths eased the minds of mortals and made mortals want to

worship the spirits because the spirits held the only answers to their

questions. Answers to these basic questions were later discovered through modern

science. As science evolved, cultures began to realize that there were answers

to these questions and that their myths contained less evidence of being

correct. Scientific knowledge was often very hard for orthodox cultures to

comprehend because they had always been taught the beliefs of their culture,

which was based on these myths. As cultures have evolved and scientific evidence

has become more evident and understandable, myths have become more as stories of

entertainment than answers to questions. The meaning of ancient myths can be

derived, but with the knowledge that scientific evidence provides, it is absurd

to assume truth of myths because scientific evidence is much easier to believe

and understand. Present day myths deal with issues that have factual evidence

that can explain why things do occur. These issues can also have a mythical side

to them. The mythical side is present because a culture or society does not want

to believe the facts that are known in an attempt to give reassurance to ones

inner self. A modern example of a myth is the belief that one cannot achieve a

pregnancy upon the primal intercourse experience. Research has proven that this

is not true, but many believe or are told that this is the case. These types of

myths are used today to create reassurance for those believing them. The word

myth has been defined by scientific evidence throughout history. As scientific

evidence has become clearer, early myths have become less clear to the present

day human being. Even though early myths are becoming obsolete, they are still

being studied to teach all aspects of life and culture past and present. Also,

modern myths are being studied just as well to teach the aspects of the world

today.