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| '''Mythology''' refers variously to the collected '''myths''' of a group of [[people]] or to the study of such myths{{mdash}}their body of [[Narrative|stories]] which they tell to explain nature, [[history]], and [[custom]]s.<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', {{nowrap|3rd ed.}} "myth, ''n.'' Oxford University Press, 2003.</ref> It can also refer to the study of such myths.<ref name=Kirk>Kirk, p. 8; "myth", ''Encyclopædia Britannica''</ref><ref>Kirk, G.S. 1973. ''Myth: its meaning and functions in ancient and other cultures''. Cambridge University Press.</ref>
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| A '''myth''' is a [[story]] which is not true. It means it is still subject to [[debate]]. Myths may be very old, or new (for example: urban myths). There may not be [[record]]s or other [[wikt:proof|proof]] that they happened, but at least some parts of myths may be true. We know about them from older people telling them to younger people. Some myths may have started as 'true' stories but as people told and re-told them, they may have changed some parts, so they are less 'true'. They may have changed them by mistake, or to make them more interesting. All cultures have myths. Stories about the [[Greece|Greek]] and [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[Deity|gods]] and goddesses are myths.
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| Many people once believed in [[legendary creature]]s and [[animal]]s. The animals and legendary creatures may have control or has power over a part of human or natural life. For example, the [[Greece|Greek]] god [[Zeus]] had powers over lightning and storms. Whenever Zeus wanted to, he could make a storm, and he made storms to show his anger. Similarly, in [[Hindu]] mythology, [[thunderstorm]]s were said to be the wrath of [[Indra]], the chief of all gods. His most powerful weapon was the ''Vajra'', or 'thunderbolt'. It was said that no one could survive after an attack from this weapon. Another example is the [[Religion of Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] god, [[Atum]], who was said to be the [[creator]] of everything in the [[world]].
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| ==Content of myths==
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| All cultures have developed their own mythology over time. Mythology includes the [[legend]]s of their history, their religions, their stories of how the world was created, and their heroes. These stories have great symbolic power, and this may be a major reason why they survive as long as they do, sometimes for thousands of years.
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| The main characters in myths are usually [[gods]], [[demigod]]s, or [[supernatural]] humans,<ref name = Bascom>Bascom, William. 1984. The forms of folklore: prose narratives. ''Sacred narrative: readings in the theory of myth''. (ed) Alan Dundes. Berkeley: University of California Press, 5–29.</ref><ref name = "mythfolk">"myths", ''A Dictionary of English Folklore''</ref><ref>O'Flaherty, p.78: "I think it can be well argued as a matter of principle that, just as 'biography is about chaps', so mythology is about gods".</ref> while legends generally feature humans as their main characters.<ref name= Bascom/> Many exceptions or combinations exist, as in the ''[[Iliad]]'', ''[[Odyssey]]'', and ''[[Aeneid]]''.<ref name=Kirk/> Myths are often endorsed by rulers and priests and closely linked to religion or spirituality.<ref name = Bascom/> In fact, many societies group their myths, legends, and history together, considering myths to be true accounts of their remote past.<ref name = Bascom/><ref name="mythfolk"/><ref name = "eliademyth">Eliade, Mircea.1963. ''Myth and Reality'', transl. Willard R. Trask. New York: Harper & Row.</ref><ref name=Petta/>
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| [[Creation myth]]s take place in some early primordial age when the world had not reached its present form.<ref name = "eliademyth"/><ref name = "dundesintro">Dundes, Alan 1984. ''Sacred narrative: readings in the theory of myth''. Berkeley: University of California Press, Introduction, p 1.</ref> Other myths explain how the society's [[custom]]s, [[institution]]s and [[taboo]]s were established and sanctified. A separate space is created for folktales,<ref name=Bascom/><ref name= "eliademyth"/><ref name=Petta>Pettazzoni, Raffaele. 1984. The truth of myth. in ''Sacred narrative: readings in the theory of myth''. (ed) Alan Dundes. Berkeley: University of California Press,98–109. pp. 99–101</ref> which are not considered true by the people who tell them. As stories spread to other cultures or as faiths change, however, myths can come to be considered folktales.<ref name=Bascom/><ref name = "doty">Doty, William 2004. ''Myth: a handbook''. Westport: Greenwood, p. 114.</ref> Sometimes myths and legends get merged. Their divine characters get recast as humans or as demihumans (such as [[giant]]s, [[elf|elves]], and [[faerie]]s).<ref name = "mythfolk"/>
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| [[Creation myth]]s describe the "official" belief as to how world was created. These myths differ greatly between societies, as any collection of myths clearly shows.<ref>Fraser, James. 1906–1915. ''The golden bough: a study in magic and religion''. Macmillan, 12 volumes plus an index volume.</ref> Over the last three centuries, the power of myths over the minds of people has been challenged by the growth of science.<ref>Watson, Peter 2009. ''Ideas: a history, from fire to Freud''. Folio Society, London 2009; Watson, Peter 2009. ''Ideas: a history, from Wittgenstein to the word wide web''. London: Folio Society.</ref>
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| ==Historians' views on myths==
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| Although myths are often considered to be stories of events that have not happened, many historians think myths are about actual events that have become connected with strong symbolic meaning, or that have been changed, or shifted in time or place, or even reversed. One way of thinking about this process is to imagine 'myths' as lying at the far end of an imaginary line. At one end of the line is 'dispassionate account', and 'legendary occurrence' or 'mythical status' is near the other end. As an event progresses toward the 'mythical' end of this line or continuum, the way people think, feel and say about the event changes. It may gain greater historical significance while the 'facts' become less important. By the time one arrives at the mythical end of the line, the story has "taken on a life of its own" and the facts of the original event have become almost unimportant.
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| ==References==
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| {{reflist}}
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| ==Related pages==
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| {{wiktionary|mythology}}
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| * [[Mythology (book)]]
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| * [[Social psychology]]
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| [[Category:Mythology| ]]
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| {{simple-Wikipedia}}
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