Mythology is the traditions that have been passed down orally, among a culture, for many generations. Myths can include several different elements, often varying slightly. Most include fantasy or unnatural characters, such as monsters, dragons, gods and goddesses. Myths generally tell a story which is the basis for many beliefs among a culture. Greek and Roman myths encompass the gods that the cultures worship. Myths often serve to teach a lesson or play on superstitions. The origin is unknown and because it has been handed down orally, there are variations in the story. The story often travels around to other cultures also. This leads to similar myths among cultures. Similar situations and characters appear in several myths. An example of this is the Greek myths Io, Arachne, and Daedalus and Icarus. Although these stories are unrelated, they have similar aspects. They all use the transformations between people and animals and have a common theme of jealousy. A psychoanalysis of these myths shows deeper connections behind the stories. In Greek mythology Io was an Argive princess and the daughter of the river god Inachus. She became the object of Zeus’ affection, who changed her into a white heifer to protect her from his jealous wife Hera. Hera still suspected that the cow was really Zeus’ mistress, so she asked for it as a gift from Zeus. She also requested that is be guarded by the 100-eyed monster Argus. This way Io would not be able to escape because the monster never slept with all of his eyes closed. Zeus then sent his son Hermes to rescue Io. Hermes managed to put all of Argus’ eyes to sleep with a series of boring stories. He then killed the monster. Hera was still angry and sent a gadfly to torment Io, who wandered the earth in misery. Io told this tale to Prometheus while he was bound to a rock. He told her that her future would be full of hardships but she must go to Egypt where Zeus...
