On_the_value_of_mythology

Since the dawn of humanity, humans have engaged in storytelling.
It helped them cope through

difficult times and uncertainty, bringing people together to learn about breathtaking stories of
heroes slaying dragons, powerful gods fighting titans and unimaginable worlds existing outside
of this reality.
Mythologies and religions are a part of storytelling which were created through generations of
retelling of folklore, compiled and handcrafted by various people during different eras. We have
an opportunity to take a look at the psychology of certain people who created a particular
mythology and see how they viewed the world through these stories and how they tried to
explain their own existence and natural events. The Greeks and the Romans named the planets
after their gods to symbolize their significance in their cultures, and the Roman names for the
planets are still used to this day.
The mythological symbolism is everywhere in today's world. From the names of the planets in
our solar system to video games, it has an enormous impact on the culture of the human race.
Our vast literature and cinematography, which in themselves are a cry of the soul yearning to be
heard in response to experiencing life, are largely inspired by mythologies along with playing a
huge role in their subtext.
Mythology has especially moved musicians for thousands of years, and they expressed the
emotions that flipped their existence upside down with their instrumental and vocal tools. An
example for that can be Richard Wagner’s musical drama Der Ring des Nibelungen, which is
based on Nibelungenlied and Germanic legends.
In the Sumerian tale The Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim survives a great flood by building an
ark and bringing his family together with animals into the said ark. There have been made
associations with the Judeo-Christian character Noah and the Biblical stories of the flood due to
his similarity with Utnapishtim. This shows us that myths do have universal themes. Most of
them also share the subject of creation that tells us how contrasting societies saw their origin.
In the book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell claims that most myths have
similar elements in common, and that there is a monomyth, which is a common ground and a
template for most myths with general themes.
The monomyth is The Hero’s Journey, where the hero is put through a set of trials and
completely new events in addition to meeting mentors that shape the main character into a new
form, and the hero returns into the previous world of the ordinary with new knowledge, skills, or
artifacts. While flawed, as well as not being the only way to tell stories, The Hero’s Journey can
give a general understanding of how myths work.
George Lucas’ famed masterpiece Star Wars was thoroughly influenced by Joseph Campbell’s
monomyth during its creation, and it has become a cult classic ever since it came out, giving a
new mold to the genre of science fiction and modern mythology.
JRR Tolkien had taken the idea for his immense high-fantasy world of Middle Earth from the
works such as The Bible, the Norse myth The Saga of the Volsungs, the Finnish epic The
Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot, and the Old English epic Beowulf. The character Boromir is believed
to be inspired by Roland from the French poem The song of Roland, where both characters are
depicted as strong warriors who blow into their horn. The philosophical themes of The Lord of
The Rings consist of having hope, going against temptation, being loyal to close friends and
remembering the comfort of home. The tale itself is an allegory for Christianity. His stories also
contain the main components of The Hero’s Journey.
The French-Algerian absurdist writer Albert Camus compared humanity’s search for meaning in
a meaningless and apathetic life to Sisyphus, who was eternally condemned to push a rock to
the top of the hill only for it to fall back down, never achieving his goal.
The Swiss psychiatrist and founder of psychoanalysis Carl Jung believed that archetypes and
personality traits are present in the collective unconscious of all humans. This sheds light on
what the mythological characters represent and why some societies celebrate them so dearly.
From the examples listed above, we can attest that mythology acts as an engine to create
allegories and new stories built upon previous ones, functioning as a form of much needed
guidance in a confusing life, social commentary and a source for positive role models.
Well, is mythology really that important?
My answer would be an obvious yes. Deeply reflecting on the human condition and ubiquitous
motifs through these stories opens up new perspectives that we never thought of before and
explores the silly position of humans in life. It expands our worldview and motivates us to create
new art portraying our fundamental emotions and innermost suffering, like Christ in the Desert
by Ivan Kramskoi. What even is life, anyway?
Questioning these stories can be life-changing for people by fostering critical thinking and
pushing us into the realization that what we were led to believe from childhood can be incorrect.
Exploring myths and mythology spurs us to appreciate ourselves and the world itself, assisting
us in self-expression and being passionate about storytelling. It really inspires us.
And, at the end of the day, learning is just simply fun.

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Since the dawn of humanity, humans have engaged in storytelling.

It helped them cope through

Well, is mythology really that important?

And, at the end of the day, learning is just simply fun.

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