Myth DQ2
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University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) *
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Course
351
Subject
Arts Humanities
Date
Jan 9, 2024
Type
docx
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Uploaded by GrandReindeerMaster147
1.
Discuss the meaning of the term
mythology
and provide a definition
,
preferably in your own
words. If you find an unusual definition that you wish to share, please share it and cite your
source--but also discuss why you find the definition worth sharing for our purposes.
2.
.....
3.
Discuss the significance of the term
mythology
to our class. Questions you might consider could
include the following: Is there anything about the nature of mythology that makes it difficult to
provide a comprehensive definition of it? Is there a specific way by means of which myths should
be interpreted? (Please do not feel limited to these questions--any relevant points are welcome.)
Mythology is a means by which cultures attempt to explain the things they don’t
understand. Stories, poems, and illustrations come together to tell tales involving gods
and higher beings controlling people or events in the human world. In myths, gods
appear to humans or intervene in their lives only when they choose to, therefore giving
explanation to the seeming randomness of everyday life. It’s historically documented in
human nature to want to know how or why things happen to us. When something
happens that we have no way to explain, because our technology has not evolved far
enough to interpret it, it is common for people to present the idea that a higher being
has caused that something to occur.
In discussing a specific way myths should be interpreted, I think the question “how are
we going to explain that throughout the world myths do resemble one another so
much?” put forth by Levi-Strauss in The Structural Study of Myth
, is particularly apt.
When we study mythology and compare stories from different cultures and times, we
have to take into account the level of technology available to those societies. I think in
most cases we will find that the reason cultural myths resemble one another so closely
is because they are all trying to explain the same unknown phenomenons like weather
or death, and using the same means, namely the existence and involvement of gods.
Do you think we can make assumptions about a society's level of technology based on
the mythology of that culture?
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