Foundations of Mythology

Foundations of Mythology

Brandie Logsdon

HUM/105

September 7, 2014

Matthew Bissell

Foundations of Mythology

The word myth is used quite often in the English language and has become very popular in describing stories that are not real or true but are plausible in some sense. People today even use the word when describing something that is unknown or not yet proven to be true, even if it is not used properly. According to Leonard and McClure (2004), the word “myth” originated from the Greek word mythos converting into the English word story ("Chapter 1, Purposes and Definitions, What is Myth Historically?"). The textbook definition of the word myth is “ancient narratives that attempt to answer the enduring and fundamental human questions: How did the universe and the 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? How should we not behave? What are the consequences of behaving and not behaving in such ways?” (Leonard & McClure, 2004, Chapter 1, Purposes and Definitions). My definition of a myth is a story that has been passed down from generation to generation, from all different types of cultures, that give some type of explanation to things of this world that are, otherwise, unknown.

There are several different mythological themes that are used by different cultures. The most common mythological theme that comes to mind is the differentiation theme. The reason this theme comes to mind first is because it is used in the Old Testament of the bible to describe the six days that God spent creating everything. Another mythological theme that comes to mind is the imperfection theme. This theme states that the creator intended for all to be perfect, but something went wrong. Which, in turn, brought evil, sickness, and death into the creation. The imperfection theme is used throughout all...