since very young i am fascinated with myths i read everything i find about something conserning that, but my biggest let down is just thinking "it isnt real" but perhaps it all existed but it was and comprehension of the unknown maybe still is out of our reach we try to find an answer to everything why couldnt dragons exist because they had the ability to spit flames? or we never found a fossil? maybe they didnt leave a fossil maybe they had some sort of gas in their body that would cremate them upon their death or even goddess and gods ,creators if you want! why couldnt they exist and still exist just because we dont interact with them? "because we cant explain it" is the first thing that comes to me maybe i am just sad about my ordinary dull life or i am just plain stupid ,anyways. i want and always will hope that even a fragment of everything is true
Myths a lie
- Thread starter Noctyz
- Start date
Myrddin
Well-Known Member
I believe that there is no question that fragments of the stories which we hear are, in fact, true. Because every story has to come from somewhere, right? Most stories are fictional, but there is always an idea, belief and human values embedded in these stories which are a type of truth. Which is what I mean when I say that every story has a fragment of truth.
Certainly mythological stories have these types of truth, and I would say even more so since they provide insight and, most importantly, are part of our history. Not only do they tell us how the ancients lived and explained to themselves how they came to be, but they also provide meaning and faith. They are stories that have formed our cultures of the present day. These attributes of the mythological stories are, in short, a kind of truth, and only the stories themselves are attributed to the great imaginations of the ancients. So to ask if myths are a lie, I think, is kind of an unfair question. In answer to your poll, I guess I would say some of it is true (those fragments of them that show human morals, values, and beliefs).
Certainly mythological stories have these types of truth, and I would say even more so since they provide insight and, most importantly, are part of our history. Not only do they tell us how the ancients lived and explained to themselves how they came to be, but they also provide meaning and faith. They are stories that have formed our cultures of the present day. These attributes of the mythological stories are, in short, a kind of truth, and only the stories themselves are attributed to the great imaginations of the ancients. So to ask if myths are a lie, I think, is kind of an unfair question. In answer to your poll, I guess I would say some of it is true (those fragments of them that show human morals, values, and beliefs).
RLynn
Active Member
Myths may be fictitious, but they are not lies. For example, the Phoenix myth is not a lie. It is a beautiful allegory of rebirth/renewal. Originally myths seem to have been taken literally, but even then they were capable of resonating with something deep within the human psyche. Jung would say that they arose out of the collective unconscious of a culture. In any case, certain events in nature evoked a sense of awe and wonder, which came to be expressed in myths. Science has managed to demythologize existence to the extent that we have tended to lose the capacity for such a poetic response to reality.
Modern society still has its myths. However, they generally are so fervently believed (as were the ancient myths to their devotees) that they are considered sacred truth, not myth. Oh, the humanity!
Modern society still has its myths. However, they generally are so fervently believed (as were the ancient myths to their devotees) that they are considered sacred truth, not myth. Oh, the humanity!
Nadai
Active Member
I believe that every myth is based on some fact. It could be that the people of the ancient world were very creative, but I believe that their stories must have had some validity. For Native Americans, we had an oral tradition so stories that were told over generations gained a bit and lost a bit, but they still started from somewhere. Most stories have messages or hidden meanings or are supposed to teach a lesson.
I also wonder at how so many differen cultures in different countries can have myths so similar to one another, even having no contact. In MezoAmerica there are statues of Sky People who appear to be men in space suits. Ancient Egyptians have depictions of men who came down from the heavens and gave them their technology; after the discovery of Pharoh Akhenaten's elonated skull, some scientists believed that perhaps he was an alien. Scientists wonder at myths containing stories about men flying through the sky. The pyramids in Egypt as well as Teotihaucan show that ancient people had an understanding of astronomy and engineering that they should not yet have had. Most cultures share a similar "creation" story explaining the original man, the flood, and the different ages. There are also stories of vampires and werewolves throughout many different cultures as well as bigfoot, the chupacabra, and others.
I also wonder at how so many differen cultures in different countries can have myths so similar to one another, even having no contact. In MezoAmerica there are statues of Sky People who appear to be men in space suits. Ancient Egyptians have depictions of men who came down from the heavens and gave them their technology; after the discovery of Pharoh Akhenaten's elonated skull, some scientists believed that perhaps he was an alien. Scientists wonder at myths containing stories about men flying through the sky. The pyramids in Egypt as well as Teotihaucan show that ancient people had an understanding of astronomy and engineering that they should not yet have had. Most cultures share a similar "creation" story explaining the original man, the flood, and the different ages. There are also stories of vampires and werewolves throughout many different cultures as well as bigfoot, the chupacabra, and others.
RLynn
Active Member
I believe that too, but I think that the correspondence between the myth and the fact may be allegorical rather than literal. One of my favorites is the myth of Demeter and Persephone. It is a poetic portrayal of seasonal change. The wonderful feeling that many of us have with the coming of spring is reflected in the joyful reunion of Demeter with her daughter. The scientific explanation of the seasons is accurate, but it fails to address our corresponding emotional reactions. That is the function of myth.
That there once may have been an actual girl who was abducted from her mother but was allowed to return for part of each year is conceivable, but the power and universality of the myth is unrelated to any such event.
fibi ducks
Active Member
We all seem to believe about the same as what people around us do. In ancient Greece most people seem to have thought that there were gods on the top of Mount Olympos, in modern UK/America most people believe that myths are not literally true but have some abstract truth.
I think the myths are like articles in the tabloid papers. One myth may be a tissue of lies, but we should always remember that it was presented as a true account, and it was then that it meant something. Who ever sacrificed to an allegorical god?
More to the point, if quite a few ancients bore witness to having seen a something or other, and no-one saw it since, does that mean they made it up? Or just that it isn't around much now days?
I will accept that the myths are allegories when someone explains why so many houses were built for the gods - when they didn't exist.
I think the myths are like articles in the tabloid papers. One myth may be a tissue of lies, but we should always remember that it was presented as a true account, and it was then that it meant something. Who ever sacrificed to an allegorical god?
More to the point, if quite a few ancients bore witness to having seen a something or other, and no-one saw it since, does that mean they made it up? Or just that it isn't around much now days?
I will accept that the myths are allegories when someone explains why so many houses were built for the gods - when they didn't exist.
Nadai
Active Member
I agree with you, but the way I learned it, the Gods didn't literally live on the top of the mountain they lived in the stars (space). I think it was Powell and Ovid who said in their story of Lycaaon that the road to Zeus' home was The Milky Way.
fibi ducks
Active Member
i never came accross that about the milky way. thank you (its beautiful). but it does add to the mystery - why did people build
houses for them on earth if the gods were up all there?
houses for them on earth if the gods were up all there?
fibi ducks
Active Member
yes, that makes sense.
Nora_Rose
New Member
I think in every myth and fairy tale there is a small bit of truth. People like to take the truth and elaborate on it. Then it just keeps getting passed down through generations. I also firmly believe that just because you can't see something doesn't make it untrue. There are loads of unexplained happenings in the world.
Myrddin
Well-Known Member
I think you're thinking of legends. They're the stories that start with a nugget of truth, and then become embellished over time to be blown into something much bigger (sometimes literally
). Myths are stories which are told to explain beginnings and past events. I agree, though. Just because you can't see something, does not make it untrue. But neither can you hold to something you can't see.
Nadai
Active Member
Often times the gods would visit people, though a lot of times they would be in disguise. The temples for the gods were built so that people could pray and make sacrifices; the way I was taught was that the gods drew some of their power from sacrifices and if people didn't worship them they would weaken.
