iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Myths

Main article: Mythology


In the academic fields of mythology, mythography, or folkloristics, a myth (mythos) is a sacred story concerning the origins of the world or how the world and the creatures in it came to have their present form. The active beings in myths are generally gods and heroes. Myths often are said to take place before recorded history begins. In saying that a myth is a sacred narrative, what is meant is that a myth is believed to be true by people who attach religious or spiritual significance to it. Use of the term by scholars does not imply that the narrative is either true or false. See also legend and tale.

A myth in popular use is something that is widely believed to be false. This usage, which is often pejorative, arose from labeling the religious myths and beliefs of other cultures as being incorrect, but it has spread to cover non-religious beliefs as well. Because of this usage, many people take offense when the religious narratives they believe to be true are called myths (see Religion and mythology for more information). This usage is frequently confused with fiction, legend, fairy tale, folklore, fable, and urban legend, each of which has a distinct meaning in academia.

Urban myth is an alternate (not academic) term for urban legend

See also

The word mythology (from the Greek μύθολογία mythología, from μυθολογείν mythologein
..... Click the link for more information.
The word mythology (from the Greek μύθολογία mythología, from μυθολογείν mythologein
..... Click the link for more information.
A mythographer, or a mythologist, according to a strict dictionary definition, is a compiler of myths. Mythography is then the rendering of myths in the arts.
..... Click the link for more information.
Folkloristics is the formal academic study of folklore such as fairy tales and mythology in oral or non-literary traditions. It makes use of such methods as the Aarne-Thompson classification system or the morphology devised for Russian tales by Vladimir Propp.
..... Click the link for more information.
Mythos is a Greek word meaning "story, legend" and may refer to:
  • Myth or Mythology
  • Mythos (film), multi-part documentary on Joseph Campbell
  • http://www.myth-os.

..... Click the link for more information.
Story can mean:

A sequence of events

  • A narrative, more specifically:
  • A piece of literature (also known as a tale):
  • Novel or specifically, an epistolary novel

..... Click the link for more information.
legend (Latin, legenda, "things to be read") is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude.
..... Click the link for more information.
A narrative is a concept, composed and delivered in any medium, which describes a sequence of real or unreal events. It derives from the Latin verb narrare, which means "to recount" and is related to the adjective gnarus, meaning "knowing" or "skilled".
..... Click the link for more information.
Religion and mythology differ, but have overlapping aspects. Both terms refer to systems of concepts that are of high importance to a certain community, making statements concerning the supernatural or sacred. Generally, mythology is considered one component or aspect of religion.
..... Click the link for more information.
Fiction is the telling of stories which are not entirely based upon facts. More specifically, fiction is an imaginative form of narrative, one of the four basic rhetorical modes.
..... Click the link for more information.
legend (Latin, legenda, "things to be read") is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude.
..... Click the link for more information.
fairy tale or fairy story is a fictional story that usually features folkloric characters (such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, witches, giants, and talking animals) and enchantments, often involving a far-fetched sequence of events.
..... Click the link for more information.
Folklore is the body of expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, and so forth within a particular population comprising the traditions (including oral traditions) of that culture, subculture, or group.
..... Click the link for more information.
fable is a brief, succinct story, in prose or verse, that features animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized (given human qualities), and that illustrates a moral lesson (a "moral"), which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy
..... Click the link for more information.
urban legend or urban myth is similar to a modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. The term is often used to mean something akin to "apocryphal story".
..... Click the link for more information.
urban legend or urban myth is similar to a modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. The term is often used to mean something akin to "apocryphal story".
..... Click the link for more information.
In traditional societies, myth and ritual are two central components of religious practice. Although myth and ritual are commonly united as parts of religion, the exact relationship between them has been a matter of controversy among scholars.
..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter