The origin of the word myth seems to be a myth in itself. Myths have generallyoriginated from a Greek history that used an oral tradition to explain eventsthat occurred before the written word. Often supernatural beings or fictitiouscharacters were used to explain popular ideas concerning phenomena’s of natureor the history of people.
The myths that were carried on from generation togeneration were often very imaginative in an attempt to spark the interest ofyoung listeners. These would be told at social gatherings. The main purpose of amyth was to relay historical information among groups. Early myths often dealtwith the origin of man, customs, religious rights, incidents involving the livesof gods, stories of culture heroes, adaptations of old world myths, or theretelling of biblical stories.
The real meaning of the word myth, “a storyor legend”(Webster’s p. 972) was created as oral traditions that were toldfrom generation to generation. Often as individuals told the stories, they werechanged slightly in context or meaning. One cannot be certain, however, thathistorically based myths are not historically correct. Exaggeration due topersonal vendetta was often the cause for discrepancies of factual or notfactual information included in dialect from a mythical standpoint. An instancewhere this fact was the case is seen in the Old Testament.
Even, the OldTestament can be looked upon as being mythical, true, or false. From a religiousperception, the Old Testament may be viewed as the history of Judaism andbelieved to be completely factual and true, but from a mythical standpoint thatselection may be fictitious in context. Mythology suggests that due to the factthat events were perceived and told from many different viewpoints, the OldTestament may not be factual and only a myth of Judaism. A modern day perceptionof the Old Testament suggests that, “the mythic elements in the Biblecannot be accepted by people living in a scientific age and therefore makeincomprehensible or unacceptable the true message to which they are attached inthe Bible” (OED p.
177). The definition of the word myth can best be foundin a myth itself. “The Creation of Man by Prometheus” is an excellentexample of a myth containing gods or superhuman characteristics, a lesson to belearned, and teachings or beliefs of the time period. This myth explains thecreation of man in the minds of Greeks through super human characters such asthe gods.
How was man created in the minds of the Greeks? Prometheus usedmaterials from nature (mud) to create a form similar to that of the gods, whichcan be seen today as the modern symbol of man. Another Greek goddess, Athena,then blew life into the sculpture. Man was now created. Prometheus then taughtman how to survive and also taught them how to make fire. Zeus, the king of allgods and goddesses, was not happy with him giving man the gift of fire andpunished Prometheus for the rest of his life.
The Greeks in an oral tradition toexplain this phenomenon, known as the origin of man (Hunt) then used this story. Many cultures, for example, have a different myth to explain the origin of man. Native Indian myths suggest that the joining of sprits created man. The spritsalso taught man how to survive.
This myth is similar to that of the Greekversion because in both versions the creation of man involved supernaturalinteraction. As in every culture, the people of it have the individual theybelieve is responsible. Every culture has a myth explaining how man was createdthat they believe is correct based on their oral tradition. The Greeks believedthat the Gods were responsible for this feat, while the Indians believed thatspirits accomplished this task based on taught tradition.
The purpose of thesemyths was to create answers to questions that could not be answered in thoseearly times. The myths eased the minds of mortals and made mortals want toworship the spirits because the spirits held the only answers to theirquestions. Answers to these basic questions were later discovered through modernscience. As science evolved, cultures began to realize that there were answersto these questions and that their myths contained less evidence of beingcorrect. Scientific knowledge was often very hard for orthodox cultures tocomprehend because they had always been taught the beliefs of their culture,which was based on these myths. As cultures have evolved and scientific evidencehas become more evident and understandable, myths have become more as stories ofentertainment than answers to questions.
The meaning of ancient myths can bederived, but with the knowledge that scientific evidence provides, it is absurdto assume truth of myths because scientific evidence is much easier to believeand understand. Present day myths deal with issues that have factual evidencethat can explain why things do occur. These issues can also have a mythical sideto them. The mythical side is present because a culture or society does not wantto believe the facts that are known in an attempt to give reassurance to onesinner self.
A modern example of a myth is the belief that one cannot achieve apregnancy upon the primal intercourse experience. Research has proven that thisis not true, but many believe or are told that this is the case. These types ofmyths are used today to create reassurance for those believing them. The wordmyth has been defined by scientific evidence throughout history. As scientificevidence has become clearer, early myths have become less clear to the presentday human being. Even though early myths are becoming obsolete, they are stillbeing studied to teach all aspects of life and culture past and present.
Also,modern myths are being studied just as well to teach the aspects of the worldtoday.
