myths :: essays research papers

Myths are entertaining stories; they cover the basis from Heroin adventures, tales of heroism, passionate love stories, Monsters, Gods and much more. In their time myths would serve many important functions for the society and culture that believed in them. Myths attempt to explain the unanswerable questions to provide reasons that things are the way they are. Classical myths are terrific entertaining stories, the most common are of the Greek and Romans. For the ancients, they had a religious significance. They explain the creation of the universe, the condition of the natural and social words, the authenticity of Kings or the beginning of religious rituals. Myths had various functions in society, one of them was religious function, and stories that concern themselves with the nature and actions of Gods and the way they relate to the human race. The myth would inform the Romans and the Greeks which Gods they should petition for specific types of help. Some Gods were Goddess Hestia, for the safety of house and family. Athena, for wisdom and courage, Demeter for an abundant harvest and Zeus for Justice and military might. Myths, also explore all aspects of life. Love can be painful as in the night of Echo and Narcissus, both Echo and Narcissus remain solitary tragic figures, cursed with loneliness and tormented by a love they can never have. Myths can serve to justify or validate social standing or political power in the world. The Romans for example used mythology to establish lineage for the rulers. Roman myths showed their line of Kings and later emperors to be descended not only form great heroes, but from the gods themselves. The cosmological function of myths is to help us understand more fully who we are, Questions like who am I? How am I to conduct my self, where am I going? How can I best serve this world? The shaman was the one person that you could go to get answers to things that where unknown. Most of the time he was the old wise man that knew a lot, he was like a teacher to the people, his role was a mediator between people and spirits, they were historians they kept most of the stories and happenings of the community and would pass them on the future generations. Today this person is called a Scientist, they play that same role they give us answers to the unknown and they keep records of it and pass on to future generation and