Foundations of Mythology

Foundations of Mythology

The meaning for “it’s a myth” in today’s time is said when someone can’t validate the story with facts. Myths are fictional tales that come from the past and are handed down from time and time. Different cultures have different myths that they have been taught for years and years. Myth in academic context would be described as stories ancient narratives that attempt to answer different live questions (Introduction to World Mythology, 2014). People view different myths as stories that they can relate to depending on their culture.

People from different cultures have very different myths that they heard while growing up. They tend to follow the myths that closely resemble myths from their cultures, but can also be hesitant to believe in myths from different parts of the world. The most famous myths that people hear about is Greek Mythology. Aeneas was a Greek Trojan son of Anchises and Aphrodite. Zeus is another famous Greek God that can be heard about in current times (greekmythology, 2017). In the classes weekly readings they read about a boy Jason that was raise by a mythical creature that was half horse and half man.

A common myth in Tad’s culture is the story of La Llorona, a lady that lost three of her kids and can be seen at nights crying for her kids. As kids in San Luis, AZ they heard about this mythical creature all the time to scare kids not to stay up past their bedtimes or to be out in the streets to late. People have tried to tell this myth to different cultures and have been seen as a crazy story, but it’s a very common story in Latino cultures. Everyone has their own definition of myth that can be interpreted in many ways. Studying Mythology will open people’s eyes and also show someone the different myths believed by different cultures.

Some of the most common mythological themes across different cultures are underwater civilizations that are shared by cultures in Cameroon, Peru, Brazil, China, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia ("Colorq.org", 2005). Underwater civilizations can be heard from time and time with the most famous being Atlantis. The biggest myth in today’s times are of those of U.F.O’s. There are shows dedicated to this myth of aliens from different planets. There are many stories as well of UFO visiting earth with some documentation but nothing confirm by science.