Myth

Myth meaning

Myths have existed for centuries and are found in every culture, but what is the meaning of a myth?

Due to the importance of myths in different cultures, there are many different ways to interpret them. Myths can be explored through the lens of anthropology, sociology, religious studies or literature, to name a few!

There are different origins for myths. Some are formed to explain the origin of a group of people and are based on history. Other myths may have been created with the intention of entertaining guests. These myths would have been passed on orally (by the spoken word). The practise of writing down myths did not become popular until the nineteenth century.

Myths can be used to explore religious or cultural beliefs. In the Golden Age, myths were principally used to boost morale amongst the public. In other cases, myths would be used to explain events in the natural world. For example, this is seen in the Greek myth of the nymph named Echo, which explains how echoes of sounds began to be heard.

As you can see, myths were also used as lessons and a guide for society. A myth would cover various subjects of human life such as birth, death, the hereafter, concepts of good and evil, what suffering means, animals, the origins of certain things, the beginning of the world and man, stories of gods etc. This also meant that myths do not always have happy endings. Like normal life, myths show consequences and warnings of what’s to come as well as promises and celebrations of events.

Types of myths

There are many types of myths. However, the main ones are historical myths, etiological myths, and psychological myths.

Historical myths

Historical myths re-tell a story of the past but give it more meaning than what the event was about i.e., if the event even did take place.

Another example is in Homer's Iliad (800 BCE), audiences were exposed to the story of the Trojan war. It showed great battles by strong characters like Achilles and Agamemnon.

Etiological myths

The word ‘etiological’ comes from the Greek word ‘aitiología’ which means 'reason'. These myths describe how a particular thing was formed, why it is the way it is and its origins. As a result, etiological myths are often characterized as origin stories. They also explain how the world became the way it is now.

For example, in Norse mythology, it is believed that thunder is formed from Thor’s chariot rushing across the heavens. In a Chinese myth, the institution of marriage is explained through the goddess Nuwa who used to create humans and got tired of doing so so created marriage for people to get married and have children themselves.

Australian Aboriginal mythology explains how kangaroos developed a pouch through the story of the mother kangaroo who saves her son and a wombat from hunters. The wombat reveals to the mother Kangaroo that he is the Father of all Creatures and wants to reward her. He does this by putting bark on her stomach and creating a pouch. Now, she could use the pouch as a way of keeping her son safe.

Fig. 1 - Many myths have been brought to life by art and sculpture.

Psychological myths

These myths are stories of the journey from the known world to the unknown world. Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell believe psychological myths were told as it was a psychological need by individuals to balance their outside world with their inner consciousness of it.¹

Jung believed that myth was an important part of the human psyche that allowed it to find order and meaning in the world. Therefore, myths were not only used for teaching cultural values but also to create a structure in society.

These stories are often of heroes/ heroines going on a journey to discover their destiny or identity and solve a problem, at the same time being culturally relevant to the audience. Joseph Campbell calls the psychological myth type ‘the Hero’s journey.’ ¹

An example of this is Prince Oedipus who leaves the home of his adopted parents after learning of a prediction that he would grow up and kill his father. He travels to another place where he ends up killing his real father who abandoned him when he was born. This would have shown the ancient Greek audience the futility of changing one’s destiny that was controlled by the gods and would lead them to fear, respect and be in awe of the gods.

The oldest myth in the world is a psychological myth explaining the individual’s journey to find their meaning in life and the inevitability of death. The Epic of Gilgamesh (2150 BCE – 1400 BCE) was created in Mesopotamia and came from Sumerian poems telling the story of Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, who eventually earns the status of a demi-god in the story.

In this myth, Gilgamesh is a haughty and proud king and the gods want to teach him a lesson. They groom Enkidu into an opponent for the king and the two engage in a fight. However, when neither can win they become best friends. Later on, Enkidu is killed by the gods after offending them and Gilgamesh, who is in great pain and grief after his best friend’s death goes on a journey to find the meaning of life/ immortality. Though he doesn’t attain eternal life, he learns a great deal from his quest and returns to the kingdom as a better King and man.

Other types of myths

Other types of myths include chthonic myths, myths of gods and goddesses, and creation myths.

Chthonic myths

A chthonic myth deals with issues of destruction and death. Myths of the afterlife were used as a way to explain why people experienced harsh events in life or why children died before having the chance to grow up. Chthonic myths often featured an ‘underworld’ that could either be good or bad and from which only a few came back (which symbolised death and re-birth).

In Egyptian mythology, Ma’at was the goddess of the underworld and would choose who would enter there. When people passed, she would place their hearts on one side of a scale and on the other she would put her feather of truth. If the feather was lighter than the heart then the person would be sent to their second death.

There are myths about phoenixes in various cultures such as in Indian, Egyptian and Greek mythology. The phoenix is usually presented as a large bird or bright eagle linked to the rising sun. After living a long life, when a phoenix knows it will die soon, it creates a funeral pyre. When the fire destroys the old phoenix, a new phoenix is born.

Gods and goddesses myths

A lot of classical civilisations create myths featuring the lives and actions of gods and goddesses. The settings of these myths would take place in supernatural, otherworldly destinations such as heaven or the cosmos. It could also take place in mythological places such as Mount Olympus for the Greeks. These gods were personifications of human attributes like beauty and music or natural states like thunder or rain.

The interaction between these gods is used to reason the events of the world that the ancient people lived in. For example, in ancient Greek mythology, it was believed that the Trojan War began due to a disagreement between three goddesses.

Creation myths

The purpose of these myths was not just to give culture an explanation of the beginning of society/ the cosmos but to create a meaningful background that linked to the present time.

In the Hopi story of the Spider Woman who created the first human beings from saliva and dirt, the fall of humanity is also described. It showed how human beings had free will to go against original creation and thus, shows how myths were also used as allegorical warnings and lessons about how society and individuals living in it should behave.

Fig. 2 - Zeus is a prominent mythical figure in Western Civilisation.

Features of myths

In Joseph Campbell’s work The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), he states that there are many similarities in characters, themes, narrative and purpose in myths from various cultures globally and also throughout history which he calls ‘monomyth.’ ¹

As a result, there are similar features in all types of myths.

1. Myths include supernatural qualities and entities such as gods and goddesses, who often have supernatural powers. The characters can be non-human in other ways such as having the characters as animals or other-worldly beings.
2. Myths were like lessons and therefore, were told like they were facts. They were supposed to offer logical explanations of society which made people believe that these stories were true. The tone of the stories further added to the belief system. They were used as ways to explain the origins of certain things in the world.
3. The setting of myths was usually in very ancient places and were often set in places that were similar to the culture in which the myth was being told.
4. Myths were used to teach moral values to their audiences. The metaphorical language was used as a way to analyse and explore real-life events.
5. Conflict plays a key part in myths too. The duality between dark and light, good and evil etc. are present in many myths.
6. Change and metamorphosis is an important part of myths in which a hero goes through a life-changing journey and at the end of it has a different view of life or when a monster turns from bad to good.

Myth stories and examples

Some well-known myth stories and examples include 'Theogony: Clash of the Titans' (700 BCE) and 'Pandora's Box' (700 BCE).

'Theogony: Clash of the Titans' (700 BCE) by Hesiod

In Hesiod’s 'Theogony: Clash of the Titans, at the beginning of time darkness covers everything until Earth is created out of Chaos, with the sea, sky, mountains, moon, stars and sun being born from it too.

After this, Uranus and Earth together produce children called the Titans. Uranus was scared that one of his children would overthrow him and take his throne, so he put all his Titan children into the land of Earth. This doesn’t work, and his son Cronus who is the strongest Titan defeats him and becomes the leader of the world. He marries Rhea and together they have five children, two gods, Hades and Poseidon and three goddesses, Hera, Hestia and Demeter.

However, like his father, Cronus fears that one day his children would overthrow him and take his throne so when they are born, he swallows them. Later, Rhea, who is pregnant with her sixth child and fearing that it would be killed by its father like her other children, secretly gives birth to it on a mountain in Crete and hides her child there (who she names Zeus). She tricks Cronus and makes him believe that he swallowed the sixth child too by giving him a stone wrapped in clothes (which Cronus eats thinking it is the sixth child).

Meanwhile, the nymphs take care of Zeus and bring him up. When Zeus is grown up, he finds Cronus and tricks him into drinking a mixture which forces Cronus to throw up the things in his belly. When he does this, Zeus’s five siblings come out of his mouth now fully grown.

From this, the Titanomachy starts. This was the war between the Gods (with Zeus as the leader) and the Titans. This battle occurred for ten years, with the gods winning and throwing the Titans into the dark Tartarus which is far away from the world. After this, the gods engaged in battle with the Giants in the Gigantomachy for control over the world which the gods won again. In the end, Zeus becomes the king of the world and settles in Olympus with the other gods.

'Pandora’s Box' (700 BCE) by Hesiod

Zeus decides to take vengeance on Prometheus after Prometheus gives fire to the humans against Zeus' wishes. Zeus orders Hephaestus to form the first-ever human woman from water and soil, then each of the gods bestow this woman with a gift. For example, Aphrodite gives her beauty, Hermes gives cunning, Athena gives wisdom etc. The woman is named Pandora (which is Greek for ‘all gifts').

Zeus gives her a box and tells her not to open it under any circumstances. Then he sends her to Prometheus’s brother, Epimetheus. Prometheus previously warned Epimetheus to not take any gifts from Zeus. However, Epimetheus accepts Pandora. Pandora finds it extremely difficult to not open the box out of curiosity and ends up opening it. From the box emerge all the evils that enter the world such as war, hunger, death, sickness and hatred.

1. Joshua J. Mark, 'Mythology,' 31/10/2018, World History.