MurrayEnglish 385MythologyMid-TermEXPOSITION OF MYTHOLOGYSince the beginning of time people have found great interest in the study of mythology and its origin. For the past five weeks I have been studying this deep and complex issue and have come to the conclusion that without myths history would not be the same. In this paper I will discuss what myths are and how scholars have broken them down. Scholars such as Joseph Campbell go into great detail to explain mythology and how it effects the human life. First you must determine what a myth is? Webster's New Riverside Dictionary defines a myth as, "A traditional story originating in a preliterate society, dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serve as primordial types in a primitive view of the world." Through class discussions and the viewing of the films I would define a myth as, a sacred story involving gods, kings, and heroes. Myths usually tell some type of story of how the gods created man and all that he knows. It is believed that myths were created to give the people some type of guidelines to live their life by. Myths have been handed down throughout generations so people would know what gods to worship and praise. It was common for the Egyptians and Greeks to build altars and monuments for their gods. The Athenians built the Parthenon to celebrate their superiority over the Persians and to give praise to their goddess, Athena. Through study and research it has been determined that Athena was the goddess of wisdom and war. The ancient Greeks built the Alter of Zeus as a reminder of his role as a supreme ruler. The Greeks saw Zeus as the ruler of the sky and as the god of lightning.Mythology can be traced all the way back to prehistoric times during the Paleolithic Era. Some of the first signs of mythological belief as shown in the video can be found in the cave paintings in Lascaux, France. The Hall of Running Bulls is just one example were the artist of...
