Theories of Myths

Theories of Myth

Myths attempt to answer continuing and essential questions to inform humans why the world, humans, and universe exist, how humans are suppose to act in the world through roles, values, and behavior, and consequences for human behaviors. Myth is a word that comes from the Greek word mythos translates into English as word or story. "For two and a half millennia, debates over the importance and meaning of myth have been struggles over matters of truth, religious belief, politics, social custom, cultural identity, and history" (Leonard & McClure, 2004, pg. 5). Theoretical approaches emphasize field research, literary approaches read and explain cultural events, Volkish theories assume that language brought loyalty to humanity, and myth-ritual theories connect myths to religious rituals; these approaches and theories are used by scholars to decipher "Amma and Nummo: Prepare the World " and "Genesis: The Creation Account".

Scholars use a variety of theoretical approaches to understand mythology. Folklore and anthropological approaches to myths emphasize field research, the significance of real-world situations, and relate their theories to lived incidents. Literary and cultural critic approaches to myths started with reading and explaining cultural events to connect them, and grew more sophisticated. Joseph Campbell proposed a spiritual passageway called "living mythology", so human beings gain a feeling of spiritual and social purpose and society may return to ease and moral ethics. Structuralism approach structured main beliefs in literature. "It [structuralism] is the search for the undergirding steel that holds up the buildings of all human artifacts and endeavors, including those of meaning-making through myth and literature" (Leonard & McClure, 2004, pg. 18). Comparative approach to myths attempt to recognize comparable themes and distinctiveness from different cultures. Comparative mythology use similarities between different myths to trace the development of cultures and religions. Psychological approaches to myths suggest that myths from different cultures reveal comparable forces in those cultures.

Volkish, myth-ritual, and monomyth are interesting theories of mythology. Through comparative approach to myths, Volkish theories assume that language brought devotion and loyalty to humanity and human character through romanticism. Romanticism is the view that connection to soil and natural elements produce desirable Volk whose language obtains strength and meaning not found in city people. Human environments shape myths, cultures, language, bodies, and characters. This theory of mythological thinking caused political consequences and racism. Myth-ritual theory, a short-lived research, connected myths to religious rituals performed by ancestors who make scripts of these rituals. Monomyth theories present