C haracteristics of Myths

1. Characteristics of Myths • Used to explain the ORIGINS of the universe, earth, seas, people, animals, fire, wind (natural world), etc. Technical term: Cosmogony (from Greek Kosmos [universe] + gonos [offspring]) Pronounced like mahogany= the creation or origin of the world or universe. Compare to genealogy. • May include nonhuman characters (gods and goddesses, spirits, animals). • Might take place in an unformed, bare version of the world before living things were created. • Tend to include archetypes: the hero, the trickster, the orphan, the caregiver, the rebel… • They sometimes ask reader to accept strange or supernatural occurrences as a normal part of the story (magic realism). • They address life’s big questions: Who are we? Why are we here? What is our purpose? • They include moral elements: Examples of right and wrong behavior. • They attempt to make sense of opposites (dualities like light/dark, summer/winter, mortality and immortality, being and nothingness). • Because we name things to help give order to life, myths tend to include lists of names for plants, animals, etc. • Myths may be stories that are used as part of rituals or ceremonies. Source: http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~mmagouli/defmyth.htm