Essay Preview: Myth
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A myth is a culturally important story forming a primary, foundational account of a culture and the individuals role within that culture. A myth commonly explains origins of phenomena; justifies and validates the practices or beliefs of a culture; and reveals the political, moral, or religious values of a culture. Every culture has mythic literature, but the best known are ancient and anonymous tales of gods and other supernatural beings. A myth is often enacted ritualistically and provides images for writers and artists. “Descent of Inanna” has been interpreted as the mythic explanation of seasons and the justification for the annual ritualistic slaying of an appointed sacred year-king, while the myth of Marduk is seen as a creation/cosmogonic myth.
Mythology refers to a network of related myths. Mythic means having the qualities of myth.
Folktales often share characteristics of myths, but in contrast they are stories for entertainment, while myths express beliefs held by a culture to be the truth.
Legends are believed to have a basis in history, but have become fictional over time.
Common Types of Myths
Cosmogonic myths explain how the universe came into existence, what spirit forces operate it, and how humans participate in it.
Whereas cosmogonic myths focus on creation, eschatological myths explain how a world is destroyed.
Hero myths describe the supernatural feats of someone who embodies the values of a culture. Hero myths often form the basis of epics, which are long, narrative poems that tell of the larger-than-life adventures of a hero and portray the foundational beliefs of a society.
Note that the story about Marduk has elements of cosmogonic, hero, and eschatological myths.
Some Theories about Mythology
Psychological: Carl Jung believed that every person has a “collective unconscious” that contains “archetypes” (universal patterns) from which myth springs. Joseph Campbell elaborated upon Jungs archetypal theory. Campbell examined world literature in search of archetypes, and he is best known for his theory of the “monomyth”–the call, journey, and return of a hero. “Inanna” is the oldest written example of this monomyth.
Cultural–Matriarchy