¶ … Mythology
Foundations in Mythology
Myth is a word, and a concept, which actually has many meanings. They way we use it in contemporary society does differ dramatically to the more academic origin of the word. In popular culture and use, the term tends to represent some sort of legend, story, or fable. However, the way it is seen in an academic context is much different. The myth is still a story, but its purpose has dramatically changed when they are used by modern academics. From this perspective, a myth is a view into the ancient world. It is a way to extrapolate the meanings and symbols of a society which has long passed its prime. Here, the research suggests that "myths are symbolic tales of the distant past (often primordial times) that concern cosmogony and cosmology (the origin and nature of the universe), may be connected to belief systems or rituals, and may serve to direct social action and values" (Magoulick, 2012). Myths are the stories these ancient people generated to explain and illuminate the world around them. Academics today can thus use these myths to better understand the cultural components of a society they can not observe with their...
Mythology The classical myths of Greece and Rome have much in common with medieval myths, because ultimately, all myths have elements in common. The Greek and Roman myths dwell most often on heroes, Gods, and Goddesses. Their characters are larger than life - someone the reader can look up to. Medieval myths also heavily rely on heroes who commit heroic deeds, such as Charlemagne and King Arthur. One difference is many
With respect to the mythology of the male gods, Zeus, Apollo, and Hephaestus seem to be a combination that matches the dynamism of their female goddess counterparts. These gods represent the good and the bad of males; they also represent the spectrum of power and balance of male energy. There is no one god or goddess myth that I feel fully represents the tension between male and female gods because
Interestingly, Venus is a goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, which is significant, since she was literally created from the male genitalia, and males were more strongly linked to sexuality than females, even at that point in Roman history. In the rest of Roman and Greek mythology, Venus/Aphrodite generally plays a benevolent role, though she does use influence women to use their sexuality in inappropriate ways, such as the
"Yeats's flight into fairyland begins in his early childhood with Celtic folklore, 'the chief influence of [his] youth,' and climaxes in his early twenties with the 1888 publication of his first book" (Ben-Merre 2008). Yeats was commissioned to "gather and record the fairy and folk tales of the Irish peasantry" in what eventually became Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (Foster 76). "The collection includes descriptions of
Myth Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings follows the basic concepts and structures of classical mythology, including having heroes who embark on journeys of self-discovery, and those journeys of self-discovery are often thrust upon them. For example, Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey did not want to get thrown off course after the Trojan War. It was Athena and Poseidon's fighting that led to Odysseus's fateful storm that caused him to flit from
However, there are everything from language barriers to misunderstandings and demands between mothers and daughters. In this, it could be the story of any mother and daughter anywhere, because it tells the tale of two different generations with different ideas and different aspirations. The characters reconcile in the end, so as in many myths, the ending is "happy" and gives hope for the future, and teaches a lesson at
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