Sunday, January 31, 2016

Are Myths Invaluable?

Based upon your Cosmogony account readings and background Greek Mythology information, what do you view as the reasoning behind or value of myths?  Please argue, critique, explain, and justify your response to this prompt.  If you can infuse quotations within your response, please do so.  This blog response should be completed by 2:30p.m. on February 2, 2016.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think the reasoning for myths is to explain a way of life or tradition I also think that many myths are the same with changes in place and character but have the same plot or theme this shows that man is more connected than we think and that myths are very valuable into connecting us with our past

Anonymous said...

I think that myths are valuable. They answer questions that many people have. Yes they might be a little unrealistic but that is another great thing about myths! What would life be without a little creativity? Some of the questions that myths answer are not easy questions but somehow they answer them.

Anonymous said...

I believe that myths were created to explain the unexplainable. Just like religion, myths are not commonly shared by everybody in the world. Myths are valuable to only the population that created them. For example, while I find mythology interesting and entertaining to learn about, it has no value to me because there is scientific proof that supports the real way the world works. Back in ancient Greece, it was completely reasonable that there were divine beings responsible for the weather, and natural occurrences. As civilizations evolve, so does the wealth of knowledge, and that knowledge shapes new myths and legends.

Anonymous said...

I think myths are based upon ideas and people views on civilization. Whether it's the sun or water or corn they all have something that can connect to everyday life . I personally don't believe in myths but I can see where they come from when they say oh the water God because there is no rain for crops or sun when there is to much rain. It's sort of superstition and paranoia because they rely on these gods so much to take care of their every need.

Anonymous said...

The reasoning behind most myths is to explain how the world was created along with people and to explain early sciences. They help people understand things that were unknown.

Anonymous said...

The reasoning behind myths even existing is to teach literature and history. Most myths are analysed by experts just to figure out what daily life was like for our ancestors. Most myths come with some kind of moral to the story that teaches a lesson possibly told to little kids. Other myths could have just been campfire stories but are still pretty cool.

Anonymous said...

The reasoning behind myths is to tell a story. The story could be about war or creation or how the 4 seasons came to be, each culture has different stories that makes them unique. Myth's are very valuable, they hold secrets of the past. Many cultures have stories that tell the world about themselves. Greece would be very confusing without any of their myth background. Most people recognize Greece by their myths. Therefore Myths are very valuable, not only to the people of the culture but to the world.

Anonymous said...

I believe that myths play an important role in our society, they show the history of humanity. I believe this to be true, because it shows how man once thought we were all created by gods and that the gods were punishing and cruel, but could also be kind and caring. People believed this to be true, and they created these myths to show or explain the events that they couldn’t understand. It was their way to feel comfortable with the world they lived in and the phenomena of events that happened in this world. Myth is important because it shows our roots as people and where the stories of our creation began.

Anonymous said...

Myths are valuable to the base of society. They are important from the lessons they teach referring to interactions (good/bad), why there is evil in the world, why the sunsets and moon rises at night. It gives people room to believe what they want, creating sort of freedom of belief. It also helps to explain life in a less serious way.

Anonymous said...

Myths hold value because they are inherently timeless, because myths deal with questions that people still have today; where did we come from? How the world was created? What our role in life is? Myths attempt to answer these questions for us in a way we can understand; through stories. Myths work much in the same way as any short story or literary work does in that it attempts to teach the reader a certain moral or lesson on how to live life or what life is to us. These questions we have will most likely never be answered, and in our hopes to answer them we have turned to the minds of the past for guidance. Myths are still around today because they have value, and they have value because their messages are still relevant today.

Anonymous said...

The reasoning behind myths is to let the mind think creatively and freely. Not all myths are proven true, so they just allow for imagination to play a role in your thinking. One of the values behind myths is to acknowledge and remember your past generations. Myths are passed down over time so the longer they are kept around the longer certain heritages and cultures are remembered. Lastly the reasoning behind myths is being able to question certain things, and make you think about things you usually don't.

Anonymous said...

I believe the reasons behind myth in any given culture is because people have the need to know why. These myths were created to address that issue. Having something to believe in is a great way to rationalize things.

Anonymous said...

Myths, like any other story are very valuable.Myths explain the mysteries in the world, for both past and present. Myths explain why the sun shines, why there are thunder and lightening storms, why people fall in love- this all helps explain to people why the world is the way that it is. Myths are the backstories people tell their children because they want their children to behave or learn a lesson or understand how the world came to be. Myths are valuable to the world because it gives us hope about our worlds past and possible future or an understanding of the causes in our world

Anonymous said...

I believe that myths hold a lot of value. They give us a look into a culture and a look into what the people of that culture valued. Myths are also a good look into how advanced a civilization was, as we can see how scientifically ahead those people were. For example we can see that although the Greeks were a very advanced civilization they were still unable to figure out things like the ocean or lightning. For these things they chose to explain through the use of God's. Myths are also extremely valuable currently as we see that humanity hasn't changed that much and all humans throughout the ages are connected in some way.

Anonymous said...

I believe that Greek myths have great value in the world today because so much of our culture is dependent on the reference points provided by Greek myths, instead of making biblical references sometimes it is much easier to make a mythological reference to get your point across to a vast array of people. Which explains the reasoning behind the Greek myths, which is ultimately to teach, for example Icarus flew too close to the sun, and much like the Tower of Babel, he was struck down to earth. These stories are very much parallels for the same lesson which teaches modesty in the face of God or the gods or even just a higher power, the Greek translation is just a more widely and culturally known version due to its non discriminating nature of being part of a dead religion. Once again to reiterate Greek mythology has value in our society because its main reasoning is to teach.

Anonymous said...

There are some good values to myths because although they are fictional, they have human qualities. For example, when Dionysus loses Persephone, she goes under a really bad depression, which, if that were to happen to an actual person today they would have the same or similar reactions. Even when it comes to power, it is similar to the real life. Authority is a privilege and power.

Anonymous said...

I think the reasoning behind myths is to give people something to explain the unknown. One of the biggest questions in human history is how were we created? By who or what? And why? Different cultures throughout time have struggled with this question and so through their observations of the world they created stories to explain their existence. Theorist Euhemerus believed that "....all myths are based on historical facts." The characters or situations that occur in myths have happened or lived during that cultures time or history they have recorded. Theorist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor believed that "...myths began through man's efforts to account for unexplainable occurrences in dream." I think it is a combination of both. They struggle with the unexplainable and also the strange things that happen to them. Myths are valuable in the sense that they give rest to questions and wonderings of people and provide stories to be passed down to generations to come.

Anonymous said...

After reading, I think that the value and reason behind myths is that they explain how the earth was made, why the earth is the way it is, and why people are who they are. Almost all of the myths explain how one or multiple gods arose from chaos or just nothingness. Most of these myths also describe a very peaceful creation. Though some of the creation stories weren't peaceful, they all try to solve major questions that could not be answered by the sciences of that time.

kateb2017 said...

Myths exist because people needed to explain important occurrences (like the seasons, ex: Persephone, Demeter, and Dionysus). They're valuable because they allowed people to live their lives with an understanding of the world around them. It's important for one to be able to understand the world around them in order to live a comfortable life. At the time they were created, myths were completely reasonable and believable, and therefore important to society back then.

Anonymous said...

I believe that the reasoning behind myths is to provide an explanation for things that we are not completely sure how they came to be. (Creation, seasons, gods, and etc.) In each of the cosmogony readings, they provide their own take on how the earth and man was created. This shows that myths have differences but are ultimately able to try and explain something that is difficult to prove.

Anonymous said...

Myths and mythical gods always seem to be an explanation to actions or happenings not done by man. Each god is known for a certain natural occurrence that many people look to for hope. Like religion, they are beliefs of many people shared from generation to generation. I do not believe in myths but can see how many people do.

Anonymous said...

Myths, just like any folktale or science, are valuable. Myths are an early science; they explain our world and actions when there was no other way to do so. They are passed down as tradition. Myths provide a window to look into the lives of ancient societies. The also provide hope for man. Myths are stories of heroes and tales of overcoming hardship, but also of failure and dealing with loss. Some believe myths are rooted in fact, while others believe they are representations of nature. We are constantly discovering a new side or aspect to these ancient civilizations through mythology and what they left behind.

Anonymous said...

I think myths are quite valuable. They help us try to understand how the world works and also help us have a little bit of light in all of the seriousness of history. Myths can be misleading if you aren't educated on them but if you know what you are reading, you can actually learn quite a bit from myths.

Anonymous said...

I think myths are valuable. They are a creative and fun way of viewing the world differently. I think it is important that there was a way for people to have an understanding for why things might occur. But I don't think that myths are just for answers, they are also for lesson. And I think they very important because some people can learn from some of these stories.

Anonymous said...

I think that the value of myths are to explain the explainable. They tell stories about the different seasons and things that go on so that humans can understand. I believe that they are very important because they do help us learn more about the world and spark people to want to find out more about the world and find out what really is going on.