The Importance of Mythology

 by Tony Liu 4F

 

Before starting the article, I should first offer a definition of the term ‘mythology’. ‘Mythology’ refers to the collection of myths, which are sacred narratives mostly related to gods and religion.

 

  

Nowadays unfortunately, they may just refer to traditional stories. In this article, I want to emphasize the significance of mythology, which has greatly contributed to creating our culture, or even more importantly, our thinking.

 

First of all, mythology colours our history and makes it more appealing to study. If myths hadn't existed, history would be dull and bland. The ancients recorded their experiences in the form of myths - stories created in their own imagination which also gave them satisfaction.

In the past, when most countries were still feudal, the rulers held all the power, thus people at that time were forced to obey. However, they were not born to do so, they had their own thoughts, dreams and desires of freedom, but in those days individual freedoms were suppressed.  In order to compensate for their discontent and anger, people had to find someone even more powerful than their rulers, and so gods and in turn myths were created. With the support of religion and rich sources for ideas such as the historic events, a number of myths were created to fascinate others while giving free rein to their imaginations.
 

If we take war as an example, war was very common in history. In the Bible, Samuel (1 Samuel 17), Goliath the giant was defeated by the young David; we don’t know if David was really blessed with the power of God, yet it is believed he was.  The Trojan Horse in  Greek mythology is also mixed with the idea of gods; war really existed, but was there an Athena to help Odysseus?  There is actually no evidence for this.

  

I don’t mean to challenge any of the myths mentioned above; the point I want to make is simply that myth is a kind of history, mixed with people's emotions.  If the history we are learning can show evidence of being true, then the myths we know show the  world through the eyes of the ancients. Myths are valuable for historical research, especially when we are studying the reality of past societies.

Secondly, mythology is closely related to religion; a myth is usually based on religion.  It gives us hope and has long-term positive effects. Think about it - if there were no myths, no heroes and no gods, how would society be today? Mythology sometimes cannot be explained or proven, but who cares?  Who has ever been able to prove the existence of Noah?  What we want to gain from myths is a power that motivates and recharges us, so that we can use our imagination.   Moreover, mythology helps build  our culture; it is the compound of our thoughts and values. According to Bruce Lincoln, professor of History of Religions at the University of Chicago, myth is defined as "ideology in narrative form".  True, I agree with him. If life is formed by gathering molecules, then culture is formed by gathering thoughts. To express these in a more impressive way, myths are synthesized and gradually build up a huge net connecting all of us and coiling inextricably round our cultural experiences.
 

To conclude, no matter which religion mythology belongs to, it always brings a positive message and carries the great value of history. Mythology is important for us to learn and appreciate, since it conveys religious or idealized experiences, and also to establish behavioral models.Finally, the last thing to remember is that we should learn morals from myths instead of slavishly believing them word for word.