Foundations Of Mythology Essay

Foundations of Mythology
LaToya Lewis
HUM 105
Christa Menninger
02/23/2015

The word myth is used popularly in stories or tales that have been told over periods of time that are usually not completely true, but are told in a way to be believed as true ("The white hat," 2010). The statement, “It’s a myth” means or refers to something that is not fully true, but it is claimed to be true. It’s basically like if some random individual was to tell you a story about something that has happened to them that was seen as unrealistic, but in reality no one really knows if it actually happened or not. In contrast, the word myth in academic context is used as follows; Myths are ancient narratives that attempt to answer the enduring and fundamental human questions such as: How did the universe and 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 or not behave? What are the consequences of behaving and not behaving in such ways (Leonard & McClure, 2004)? My definition of a myth would be a implausable story that we really do not know if it is true or not that are usually told to children to either inspire them or scare them.
Throughout time and history people around the world all wanted to know who created the earth, animals, mankind, and etc. This in turn made people from cultures around the world to believe in a higher power that created the earth and the humans that live on it. Different cultures around the world believe in a different God, but in each culture their God serves the same purpose and that is as the creator of earth and its inhabitants. This is an example on how myths from different cultures around the world address such similar or universal themes. Another example would be where people believe in Charles Darwin theory where humans were created over time by a common ancestor also known as evolution (change) and other people believe in a higher power or God created the human race (Landry, 2011). With there being many different cultures with many different myths it appears they address similar or universal themes but in different ways trying to give answers to the same things.
The relationship between belief, knowledge, mythology, and religion is that religion and mythology is the base for belief and knowledge. Through religion and mythology you learn between what is right from wrong, good from evil, how to overcome evil, how to behave and not behave, and etc. Through this learning experience from religion and mythology you gain knowledge and faith, and then in turn faith leads you to believe in something. Mythology is considered one component or aspect of religion, so mythology and religion intersect because both pass on systems of concepts that are of high importance to a certain community, making statements concerning the supernatural or sacred ("Religion and mythology," 2011). Mythology diverges from religion when a myth deviates from its immediate significance to the community and change away from the sacred importance into a legend or folktale ("Religion

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