The Imporatance of Mythology

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   thelestroposted 14 years ago

   The stories we are raised on parrallel times in which humans live. As the writer writes, their idea of the world takes shape and transforms in the reader's mind as a place with societal norms, deviations, spirituality, and the philosophical debate of existance. The foundation of culture is born, some things are clinged onto as truths, others forgotten or reshapen to fit a differet affair. This is mythology, once the words of divinty, now the stories of the ancient world.
       All religious texts try to cover what it meant to be human in their manuscripts to religion. While these stories can't tell us all about a culture or society, they can render insight into the right and wrongs, the valued charatertistics, and other pieces of detail in a format that enterains those who are curious about further understanding of the human condition.
       Mythology is a doorway between the sociology of an ancient people, buried in rubble from their once breathing lungs and pumping hearts. It's also an anthropolgist's best literary tool to better understand a culture. While the stories don't make the picture clear, they dust off the cobwebs and spark the imagination.
       "The Epic of Gilgamesh" being a prime example, is the earliest known writen story, over 4,500 years old. To read this epic poem of the journey of life and mortality is outline the basic framework's of Sumerian government, religion, social strucutre, man's relationship with nature, coming to terms with mortality, and a plethora of other cultural information that lays an outline for our own Jude-Christian society.
       Although mythology was once people's truth, it has now become a footnote in high school english and underfunded in college, seemingly deeming the subject as a unimportant, focusing primarily on Greek mythology, as the only one worth pursuing, and at best for scholarly leisure. Though underappreciated, the vital documents of history offer up more theories and possible answers to quetions posed long ago.
       The tales of religion are important in dechiphering the past. Ancients cities, though amazing in scope, are in crumbling ruin. Mummified bodies, while interesting, don't give us a listen to the mentality of ancient peoples. Only with what is written to give a physical voice to those gone with the dust.The importance of these stories in further understanding the genus homo sapien sapiens, begins with understanding how a people think the world took shape.

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      keiranthapaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      You have an  interesting premise here and as someone commented could be worked into a good hub. All the best!

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   ASHWINSPGAposted 14 years ago

   why dont you make this a hub complete with nice pictures and videos? its a good article.

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   Faybe Bayposted 14 years ago

   Hi! I see you are new and have no hubs up. This would make a fine hub. In forums we generally gather to talk. Hubs are where the articles are written. Welcome to HubPages.
   
   In the forums you can ask all sorts of questions about this place, but if this post gets no answers it will slip to the bottom of the stacks and never be seen again.
   
   When you write your hub and publish it it is available for the world to see, while forums will only be seen by members.
   
   You make money from hubs, but unfortunately not from forums as there are no ads here.

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   M. T. Dremerposted 14 years ago

   I agree, I think this would make a great hub. And you're right about Mythology not getting the respect it deserves, not only from the past but in the present as well. A lot of people don't realize that mythology is an ongoing presence, visible in modern religions and customs. I'm always fascinated by these stories that were designed to explain the unexplained. Greek mythology is still the most prominent (and for good reason, it's fascinating) but I've read a handful of gems from other cultures that I really think people should be reading more of.

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   Cly Walshposted 14 years ago

   Mythology is rather important in many aspects of education in the world today. For example, without the study of Christian mythology one cannot understand much of western society, it's people, events, artwork and literature, their laws and culture to name just a few for the past 2,000 or so years.

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   Flightkeeperposted 14 years ago

   I agree with you thelestro about mythology. It's a great way to look at how society's mores are intrepreted in mythology and says a lot about how people interact.  You should make a hub about it and even a niche if that's your preference.

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   philip carey 61posted 14 years ago

   Anything by Joseph Campbell is a fantastic and scholarly read on this topic.

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   Flightkeeperposted 14 years ago

   Yes! Joseph Campbell is incredible, I wouldn't have known about him if it weren't for those PBS series.

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      ceciliabeltranposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      love campbell. I have all his book.s

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   Trish_Mposted 14 years ago

   Yes, post this to a hub!
   It's very interesting.
   Mythology is a sort of archaeology of words

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      ceciliabeltranposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      nicely said.

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    ceciliabeltranposted 14 years ago

    Finally somebody who knows mythology. I felt so alone here until you came along!

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    Jael Turnerposted 13 years ago

    I think that we trample all over mythology as if it is just a collection of quaint stories. These were peoples beliefs and ways of understanding a world that can never real be understood. To take them at less value is equivalent to assuming that ancient cultures were less rich than ours. jael

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    MartieCoetserposted 13 years ago

    Sumerian mythology explained a lot. Once you’ve got it, you’ve got IT. Then you’ll be able to move out of the little cage of dogma, spread your wings to discover a magnificent universe, and you may return to the cage, not to get inside again, but to build yourself a nest on the roof where you can calm down your loved-ones who are still stuck inside the cage where they can’t realise the grandeur of the Alpha and the Omega.

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       starvagrantposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I have a special place in my heart for mythology, but I must take note of the fact that traditional mythology can be rather inaccessible. There wasn't any mass media to standardize things so trying to create a mythological universe is quite difficult. Take Greek mythology. First there are the gods that arose from Chaos. Those gods were beat by the Titans who were then beaten by the Olympians. This is probably resulted from more recent Greeks co-opting the stories of the peoples they displaced and the result is a mess. You might want to consult an expert first. Joseph Campbell is definitely a good place to start.

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