According to Webster's
Dictionary, a myth is a "traditional story of ostensibly
historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view
of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon."
However, a myth is much, much more than that. A myth is a story
of the gods, of how the world began, a sacred story from the past,
an early form of history, a primitive science, an ancient philosophy.
People looking at the world around them saw something so wonderful
it could not just be there by chance. So they creatd the gods
and their stories to tell how things came to be.
"Therefore, even
the lover of myth is in a sense a philosopher; for myth is composed
of wonders." -Aristotle
"The myth
does not point to a fact; the myth points beyond facts to something
that informs the fact." -- Joseph Cambell
Below on the left is a
listing of interseting myths from various mythologies. On the
right are some common themes that are found in almost every mythology.
What
is a myth?