Reflection Paper On Myth

Reflection Paper On Myth
When it comes to the definition of myth, most people, including myself at the beginning of this course, claim that myths are ancient stories about gods
and goddesses. However, this is not the case. Reading about different theories from theorists like E.B. Tylor, J.G. Frazer, Bronislaw Malinowski,
Claude Levi–Strauss, and Karl Popper at first only confused me on my personal definition of myth, but after a closer look, I started to be able to piece
it together.
The first two theorists that I looked at while trying to come up with my own definition of myth are E.B. Tylor and J.G. Frazer. Their theories overlap
and are similar, so they were easier to look at together and understand. However, I disagree with their theories for the most part. Segal starts out talking
about Tylor's viewpoint on myth by saying that "myth and science are at odds." He believes that myth only explains natural events and that science has
replaced religion as the explanation of the physical world (14). Frazer and Tylor both see myth as a primitive religion that doesn't correlate with
science in today's world, and myth is something that primitives came up with before science came about. I completely disagree with both of these
men on their ideas of myth. I believe that science and myth are compatible. Segal goes on to explain that neither Tylor or Frazer can explain why
myth and religion as a whole are still placed alongside science in explaining physical events. The example he gives is that when a
Get more content on HelpWriting.net

Theories of Mythology Essay
Theories of Mythology
The definition of mythology is derived from the word "myth". The word itself is developed from the Greek word "mythos", which means sagas,
legend, or fable. The word "myth" is a chronicle that seeks to prove the world around us and is passed down from generation to generation (Lincoln,
1999). It is the nature of humans to marvel about the unknown and explain the unaccountable. It is also the desire for knowing that has inspired
humans to fabricate amazing stories of his descent. Although segregation has been caused by geographical barriers many cultures have developed
creation myths that have basic factors like chaos, the creation of humans, and the explanations of natural phenomena. Whereas few see myths as...show
more content...
Creation myths that come from diverse societies are samples of rational myths. However, there are other theories that give to creation as well (Scott,
2004).
Another myth that perhaps contributes to creation is the structural myth theory. A structural myth theory suggests that a myth maybe characterized after
human intellect and human nature. Basically the idea of the structural myth theory is an encounter between both good and bad and proposes examples
of both acceptable and unacceptable behavior. This type of myth displays the positive and the negative characteristics of human nature. Structural myth
has been recognized to exhibit the disunity of one's self and duality of human essence. The structural theory is generally perceived of as unconscious
regularities of the mind (Scott, 2004). This is just one other perspective of myth theories but should be distinguished given the entire lack of study that
the structuralism approach concedes to the essence of myth.
The history of psychology has observed many changes in its beliefs and methodologies. Psychology is the course of studying the human behavior and
their interactions with the environment. The psychological theory demonstrates how a myth can be established on human emotions and are noted to
transpire from a person's subconscious mind. Because cultures from all over the globe have similar fears and questions that where unaccountable, is the

My Favorite Myth
"a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically
involving supernatural beings or events." A myth is a story that can be a fictional story or a real event, depending on who you ask. For example, you
could ask a non religious man about the myth of "Zeus" and he might say that an event like that could never happen. Then, you could ask a religious
man about it and he might say that it really did happen. No one knows, this is because myths are usually based on old times. This means that no one
can prove or debunk these myths properly. With that being said, I will now talk about one of my favorite myths, and one of the most popular;.King
Midas and the golden touch.
Midas was a king who had everything. He had a wife, children, and was extremely rich. He was very greedy too. He would cover his body in gold and
bathe in it. Gold made him happier than anything else he had. One day, Dionysus,...show more content...
He loved his money more than he loves his friends and family. He only thought of gold and how to get more of it. This is sickening and he deserved
the punishment that he got. This myth also shows not to take things for granted and to love your family more than anything else. Even though it was
not as severe as in other stories, it was necessary. Not much is known about the origin of this myth. Most myths don't have a clear origin. However,
Research can tell you that King Midas lived in the prosperous city of Gordion, a site in what is now central Turkey, circa 750–700 BCE, ruling Phrygia
and influencing the neighboring kingdoms. He likely reigned during the time in which Homer's Iliad was first written down. That concludes King
Midas' story. King Midas was a greedy man who did not realize that the greatest gift he had was his family. That almost doomed him if it weren't for
his change of heart thanks to his

Creation Myth Essay
Myth still remains one of the major links that merges the different cultures and religions from various ethnicities. "The Creation of the Titans and the
Gods", as well as "The Creation, Death, and Rebirth of the Universe", are among the many creation myths that highlight these combinations.
Throughout history, myths have created various similarities and differences between the cultures and religions of the world.
Man – the common principle in myths, illustrates that man was produced exclusively for the pleasure of the Gods. Since the dawn of civilization the
existence of myths had been recorded and narrated in order to praise the Gods that had blessed them with life. Marduk explains that he created Man
with the Gods to assure admiration...show more content...
The passage from "Enuma Elish" reveals that water was a precious element to the Balbylonians; it was difficult to find water because they lived in such
dry and barren land. In Babylonian culture, Titmat became the Earth, which literally made her, Mother Earth, therefore making the land and agriculture
important to the civilization. "The Creation of the Titans and Gods" shows that the people of Greece were abundant in agriculture thanks to Zeus;
although Mother Earth and Zeus are not the same, they had the same value in society and that they had created the land the people lived on. Not only
were the land, water and agriculture important in society, but also the society and structure itself was a growing matter. The myth, "The Creation,
Death, and Rebirth of the Universe" tells of a message that was sent throughout the people of India about their roll in society. In order for one to be
the best of their abilities, they must work within their social cast and not be removed from said placing. In a Chinese teaching, called "The Creation
of the Universe and Human Beings", the people believed in the wealthy and the poor; "The people whom Nu Kua had fashioned by hand from the rich
yellow earth of the riverbed were high–born, wealthy, and intelligent. But the people who had fallen in drops from her rope were low–born, poor,
common folk." Countless of creation myths make use of their tales to furnish their evident society or culture a perceptive or reasoning

Myth Reflection Paper
When I first began this class, the word myth was synonymous with fairy tales and folktales. I believed that a myth was more of a fictional story that
explained the origins of certain things in the world that didn't have a scientific reasoning behind its origin. Myths, I imagined, were being used to teach
lessons or warn children about certain obstacles and ethical issues they would encounter in the future. The concept of myths having no relation to God
or any religion was a very strong concept in my mind, along with the theory that mythology was a question of non–fiction versus fiction. This theory
was a product of the phrase, "It's a myth." being paralleled with the definition of it is false. All these ideas about mythology have changed very much
during the course of the semester, in addition to my increase interest in the classics. In my previous answer to the question. "What is myth?", I
mentioned the following quotes. "Myth in a sense is the highest reality; and the thoughtless dismissal of myth as untruth, fiction, or a lie is the most
barren and misleading definition of all" (Morford, Lenardon, Sham, 5). Myths are primarily about the gods, religion and the supernatural, reflecting the
nature of the gods along with humankind and also what they may experience in the afterlife. Myths utilize the characteristic of the explanation of world
phenomena and entertainment. Myths have the attribute of being true and sometimes spiritual, emphasizing on its connection to

Myths and Religion Essay
When this word "myth" is used, the term is usually related to a fable, invention or a fiction story. Over the years, many scholars started approaching the
study of myth differently. These scholars have approach myths in a way their meaning was traditionally regarded. In many traditions these myth are
true stories and never refer to as false stories. ( http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/whatismyth.htm ) In many of tradition, a myth
carries within it a sense of sacred tradition and primordial relation. These myths are also serving as model for chosen tradition. Myths are extremely
complex cultural reality that can be approached and interpreted from various viewpoints. These viewpoints are often related to the whole of...show more
content...
The religious minds relate muths to the sacredness of their belief. Sometime this sacredness is towards certain object. These objects can be animals,
people, localized spaces within sacredness are found in the history of religion to be primitive to the most highly developed. Mysterious acts. These
mysterious acts can be the manifestations of a stone or tree, which are consider elementary initiation. These mysterious acts also have supreme
initiation, the most notable act is found in Christianity. This supreme initiation is the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. (http:/
/www.theosophy–nw.org/theosnw/world/general/ge–gues.htm). Even though a stone or a tree is, classify as an elementary imitation. Many fail to
understand why people will consider a stone or a tree sacred. Many fail to understand that the veneration of the object itself is not involved. The stone
or a tree is worship, because it is thought to become imbued with something sacred. This makes it no longer just a tree or a stone.
When relating the power of myth to Taoism, one the greatest belief is found in the first cause of the universe. Tao is said to be the first cause of the
universe. The force that produces the universe is what flow through all life. Tao is what a person needs to live harmoniously with nature. If anyone
follows this religion, one must nurture the Ch'I, which is the air, and the breath that has been given to him or her. Each person

Myth Essay
Myth
There once was a god named Perculus, he was one of the three lost gods that were destroyed by Zeus. He was the god of education; he was
responsible for teaching all the citizens of Greece the basic ways of living. Once Zeus got into power he was jealous that someone other than himself
was teaching the citizens so he sent him to Hades, along with two other gods for other personal reasons, Diminutive the original god of Truth and,
Gargantuan the god of punishment.
When Perculus got to Hades underworld, Hades was planning to exile the three gods to newly discovered island in the southwest. When Hades was
tricking them to board a boat, Diminutive sensed that the story that Hades told the gods was a lie. So they backed off and then...show more content...
One of which Perculus was the "acting" head god. There was concern about Hades and Zeus but not to the point of panicking. After a week the three
gods decided to check on Zeus and Hades, but little did they know that they too were scheming a plan to reverse the reign of power. When the three
gods got back to Hades underworld they were seized and left there while the power was again changed.
When Zeus and Hades retuned almost everyone had forgotten about Perculus, Diminutive and Gargantuan. But little did Zeus know Perculus had
become good friends with Aphrodite (Goddess of love and beauty), and Aphrodite was wondering where he was. When she went to ask Hades where
Perculus went, he panicked and made up a ridiculous lie. Then she knew something was going on. She then decided to search Hades lair. There she
found Perculus, Diminutive and Gargantuan tied to a ship being prepared to be exiled. She then untied them and she then had them explain what was
going on. Form there she obviously sided with the three gods. Diminutive and Gargantuan ran away to an unknown place but Aphrodite and Perculus
got revenge by taking away most of Zeus education and diminishing the love life for Hades, both acts preformed by the gods.
Years passed and Perculus eventually lost his popularity because Zeus had conquered his goal and practically taking over Perculus' job. By then Zeus
had become remarkably powerful, so any plans to hurt Zeus were out of

Troy, Truth in the Myth? Essay example
The ancient city of Troy, a legendary city in classical literature and Hollywood films alike, has been an attraction to visit for at least twenty–five
centuries. Visitors such as Alexander the Great, who stopped at Troy in 334 BC while on route east to conquer Asia, came to Troy looking for the city
immortalized in Homer's Iliad. Presently, archaeologists visit Hisarlik, a site in northwest Turkey, as it is believed to be the location of the ancient city.
Alexander must have been puzzled when he had arrived in Ilion, the name of the city at the time of his visit. Ilion was a small colony founded
centuries after the Trojan Warsupposedly took place; Alexander and his men must have had a similar reaction to what they saw as many a...show more
content...
Instead of a single Trojan war, he believes, there were dozens of conflicts fuelled by Troy's geopolitical strategic position astride the sea–lanes of the
Dardanelles. The prevailing winds and currents would trap ships for months in Troy's harbor on the Aegean, where they were ripe for plunder or
simply the collection of a port tax. (Fleischman)
It was these practices, according to Korfmann, that had made Troy very rich, yet hated throughout the sea. Troy was feared by sailors, and had also
become a great target for military ventures. Korfmann called Troy "a pirate fortress." (Fleischmann)
In the late Bronze Age, villages had started to come together into larger regions. The first of these to come to significant power was Mycenae.
Mycenae was across the Aegean from Troy, and was the mythical seat of King Agamemnon. According to Homer, it was here in Mycenae that the
trouble with the Trojans had begun. Paris of Troy (with a little push from the Gods) kidnapped Helen; then married to Agamemnon's brother, Menelous.
Agamemnon came to the aid of his brother by getting Odysseus, Achilles, and many other warriors, and left in pursuit of her captors. Once at Troy,
though, they were held at bay for ten years by King Priam's (Paris' father) army. The Greeks were finally able to penetrate the walls of the city by
pretending to retreat, and offering the legendary Trojan Horse as a gift. The wooden horse was full of commandoes who, once nightfall

The Myth Of A Myth
all around the world
Something that is found a lot in every culture is storytelling. The majority of people love listening to stories. Storytellers have fulfilled the want for a
'good story' for many years.
A myth is a type of story based on a tradition or legend which has symbolic meaning to culture. A truth is conveyed to those who tell or hear a myth.
Some myths are accounts of real events. Myths become shifted in time or place and changed by symbolic meaning. Myths can be used to explain local
and universal beginnings, also they can sometimes contain supernatural beings. A myth contains a great power of meaning to the culture from which it
blossomed. This is the main reason why myths stay around so long– sometimes even thousands of years.
People sometimes confuse myths with legends and folktales. A legend is half true and is passed from person to person. A legend is based on historical
facts but they also has mythical qualities. Legends can involve heros and incredible places.
A folktale is a popular story passed on to generations by speech. Usually the author of a folktale is unknown. Folk Tales are fairy tales, old legends,
and urban legends. Folktales may have been based on truth that is lost over time ("Myths and Legends").
There are so many different civilizations all around the world each one with their own myths. These civilizations also have creation myths. Creation
myth are symbolic narratives about how the world began and how people first came to inhabit

Reflection Paper On Myth

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

More from Buy Papers Online Cheap Greenville

More from Buy Papers Online Cheap Greenville (12)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Reflection Paper On Myth