The Humanities: Myths
There are those who say that seeing is believing and those who will buy into things if a good story is told with enough suspense and curiosity. Myths come from all around the world and all have their own version in every culture. As stated in the text “… explanation for the universality of myth is the predictable one that human beings share common needs, regardless of geography and level of cultural sophistication, and thus certain elements found in all myths must play their part in helping people cope with the conditions in which they find themselves.”(39.3.6) These myths can be described as much as folktales or fairytales that are passed down from generation to generation that will always find a way to mold itself into our very existence.
One of the most common told myths are about the natural born hero that stops at nothing to bring justice and peace. As stated by the author “The hero is an archetype found in almost every culture; hence the label world myth.”(39.3.7) Often times when we hear the word myth we automatically assume Greek mythology but in this case myths come from every part of the world such as Chinese mythology, Judaic, or even Islamic mythology.
Another thing about mythology is that it has a lot of symbols. In this case certain words, numbers, and actions all represent an individual outcome for the good or bad. Growing up in my household, not a day went by that I wasn’t told something strange that piqued my interest a little and made me question reality from time to time. Instead of having a tooth fairy take our fallen teeth out I was told to throw them on top of the roof and ask a rat to give me ugly teeth in exchange for the ones I threw. Of course, asking for the bad teeth really meant that I was supposed to get nice ones in return.
It was very odd, but I did it anyway because I was a kid and did not want to challenge my mom’s authority on things. As I got older, I started to question it and realize that it’s just a silly thing to do in my opinion which really has no effect on your permanent teeth coming in nicely or not. I believe myths were created specifically to kind of answer the universe’s mysteries in ways that cannot be physically proven. So, stories and tales are brought up to fill that curiosity of how things came to be in this world.
Janaro, R. P., & Althshuler, T. C. (2013). The art of being human: The humanities as a technique for living. Pearson Learning Solutions.
Ancient Greek Gods and Heroes of the Peloponnese. (2016, June 29). Retrieved from https://www.greece-is.com/from-heracles-to-the-spartans/
WBE Canada. (2019, April 06). Supplier Diversity Myths — Part 3. Retrieved from https://wbecanada.ca/supplier-diversity/supplier-diversity-myths-part-3/
Laurie, B. A. (1970, January 01). Tooth Fairy / Tooth Mouse? Retrieved from http://drumsforchrist.blogspot.com/2008/09/tooth-fairy-tooth-mouse.html
