Myth Origins

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Myth Origins

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...

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