Mythology
A mythology isrelatively cohesive setmyths: stories that comprisecertain religion or belief system.
Whatmythology?
Mythsgenerally stories based on traditionlegend designedexplainuniverse,world's creation, natural phenomena,anything elsewhich no simple explanation presents itself. Not all myths need have this explicatory purpose, however. Likewise, most myths involvesupernatural force or deity, but manysimply legendsstories passed down orally from generationgeneration.Mythology figures prominentlymost religions,most mythologytiedat least one religion. Some usewords "myth""mythology"portraystoriesone or more religions as false, or dubious at best. The termmost often usedthis sensedescribe religions founded by ancient societies, such as Roman mythology, Greek mythology,Norse mythology, which were nearly extinct at one time. However, itimportantkeepmind that while some viewNorseCeltic pantheons as mere fable, others hold them asreligion (See Neopaganism). By extension, many people do not regardtales surroundingorigindevelopmentreligions like Christianity, JudaismIslam as literal accountsevents, but instead regard them as figurative representationstheir belief systems.
People within most religions take offense atcharacterizationtheir faith asgroupmyths,thistantamountclaiming thatreligion itself islie. However, most people concur that each religion hasbodymyths that have developedadditionscriptures.
Forpurposesthis article, therefore, we useword "mythology"referstories that, whilemay or may not be strictly factual, reveal fundamental truthsinsights about human nature, often throughusearchetypes. Also,stories we discuss expressviewpointsbeliefs ofcountry, time period, culture, and/or religion which gave birththem.
Stories from scriptureusually not referredas mythology except inpejorative sense, but one can speak ofJewish mythology,Christian mythology, or an Islamic mythology,which one describesmythic elements within these faiths without speaking toveracity offaith's tenets or claims about its history.
Many modern day rabbispriests withinmore liberal JewishChristian movements, as well as most Neopagans, have no problem viewing their religious texts as containing myth;see their sacred texts as indeed containing religious truths, divinely inspired but delivered inlanguagemankind. Others,course, disagree.
Modern mythology
Televisionbook series like Star TrekTarzan have strong mythological aspects that sometimes develop into deepintricate philosophical systems. These itemsnot mythology, but contain mythic themes that,some people, meetsame psychological needs. An excellent examplethat developed by J. R. R. TolkienThe SilmarillionThe Lord ofRings.However, copyright law restricts independent authors from extending modern story cycles. Some critics believe thatfact thatcore charactersstoriesmodern story cyclesnot inpublic domain preventsmodern story cycles from sharing several essential aspectsmythologies. Fan fiction goes some distancerelieving this problem.
Fiction, however, does not reachlevelactual mythology until people believe thatreally happened. For example, some people believe that fiction author Clive Barker's Candyman was based upontrue story,new stories have grown up aroundfigure. The same can be said forBlair Witchmany other stories.
Mythologyalivewell inmodern age through urban legends, scientific mythology,many other ways.
Mythologies by region
Africa
- Akamba mythology - Akan mythology - Alur mythology - Ashanti mythology - Bambara mythology - Bambuti mythology - Banyarwanda mythology - Basari mythology - Baule mythology - Bavenda mythology - Bazambi mythology - Baziba mythology - Bushongo mythology - Dahomey mythology (Fon) - Dinka mythology - Efik mythology - Egyptian mythology (Pre-Islam) - Ekoi mythology - Fan mythology - Fens mythology - Herero mythology - Ibibio mythology - Ibo mythology - Isoko mythology - Kamba mythology - Kavirondo mythology - Khoikhoi mythology - Kurumba mythology - Lotuko mythology - Lugbara mythology - Lunda mythology - Makoni mythology - Masai mythology - Mongo mythology - Mundang mythology - Ngbandi mythology - Nootka mythology - Nupe mythology - Nyamwezi mythology - Oromo mythology - Ovambo mythology - Pygmy mythology - San mythology - Serer mythology - Shona mythology - Shongo mythology - Songhai mythology - Sotho mythology - Tsimshian mythology - Tumbuka mythology - Ute mythology - Xhosa mythology - Yoruba mythology - Zulu mythology - Zuni mythology
Asia (non-Middle East)
- Buddhist mythology - Bon mythology (pre-Buddhist Tibetan mythology) - Chinese mythology - Hindu mythology - Japanese mythology (mainstream) - Japanese mythology (Hotuma version) - Korean mythology
AustraliaOceania
- Aboriginal mythology (nativesAustralia) - Melanesian mythology - Micronesian mythology - Polynesian mythology
Europe
- Anglo-Saxon mythology - Celtic mythology - Corsican mythology - German mythology - Greek mythology - English mythology - Etruscan mythology - Finnish mythology - Fjort mythology - Irish mythology - Latvian mythology - Norse mythology - Polish mythology - Roman mythology - Romanian mythology - Sardinian mythology - Slavic mythology
Middle East
- Arab mythology (pre-Islamic) - Christian mythology - Hebrew mythology - Islamic mythology - Jewish mythology - Sumerian mythology
North America
- Abenaki mythology - Algonquin mythology - American mythology (non-Native American) - Blackfoot mythology - Chippewa mythology - Creek mythology - Crow mythology - Haida mythology - Hopi mythology - Inuit mythology - Iroquois mythology - Huron mythology - Kwakiutl mythology - Lakota mythology - Leni Lenape mythology - Navaho mythology - Pawnee mythology - Salish mythology - Seneca mythology - Winnebago mythology
South AmericaMesoamerica
- Aztec mythology - Incan mythology - Guarani mythology - Maya mythology - Olmec mythology - Toltec mythology
Mythological archetypes
- culture hero
- earth mother
- first man or woman
- life-death-rebirth deity
- lunar deity
- mana
- psychopomp
- sky father
- solar deity
- trickster
- underworld
Mythological creatures
- listfictional species (look under "Legendary / Mythological Species"this article)
- fantasy bestiary (creatures relatedfantasy fictionrole-playing games)
- legendary creature
Books on mythology
- Bulfinch's Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch
- ''The Golden Bough by James George Frazer
- Mythology by Edith Hamilton
- The Hero WithThousand Facesother titles by Joseph Campbell
See also
External links
- Encyclopedia Mythica An encyclopedia on mythology, folklore,legend
- Using Mythic-Archetypal Approaches inLanguage Arts. ERIC Digest.
For1942 book Mythology, see its author Edith Hamilton.
