Myth Definitions

Mythology Definitions

1.) Myth-A myth is a traditional story accepted as history. It serves to relate and explain the world’s views on a culture and its people. An example would be the myth of Hercules.
2.) Hero-A hero is the founder of something new; a new age, era, religion. He contains one or more unique characteristic that sets him apart from regular people. An example of a hero is Atalanta.
3.) Hero Journey-The hero journey is the road of trials battles and obstacles that the hero goes through, such as the journey the ultimate battle, companions along the way, the call to adventure, initiation, transformation, death and rebirth, and the boon brought back. In the myth of Hercules, he encounters many trails and battles, the 12 labors of hercules, and the boon was security and safety for the people.
4.) Universal- Universal means that something applies to everyone in some way. It is a representation of every man, and everyone can somehow relate to that idea. It is the “big picture.” Hercules is universal because even though he is a hero, he still has his flaws and he still is human. Hercules has a very bad temper, and lacks self confidence, which many can relate to in some way.
5.) Archetype-Archetype describes structure, a type or kind of something. It is the foundation or the original model. The creation archetypes are void, watery abyss and the egg. For example in the Egypt myth, everything starts out in a dark watery abyss called Nun.
6.) Cyclical-Cyclical refers to a cycle or a constant pattern with repetition. The pattern is unbroken and it is whole. Every myth follows the cyclical pattern with the Hero Journey, starting with call to adventure, collecting companions, the initiation, the journey, ultimate battle, boon, transformation, death and rebirth, the boon is shared, and then it starts all over again in the same pattern.
7.) Duality-Duality means double or opposites, you have one with the other. With duality there is a sense of two-ness and separation division. For example there is yin and yang, there is good and evil, light and dark, land and water, moon and sun, male or female, and many others that come with life and stories.
8.) Creation-Creation means the starting point or the beginning, the origin or the first. For example in the Chinese myth, then there was an egg, and inside there was Pangu.
9.) Life from Death-the term life from death refers to the idea that for something or someone to live, another must die, and that death creates life. For example in the Egypt myth there is death and then out of that death the sweat creates the sungod, the tears create the humans and so on.
10.) Matriarchal-Matriarchal means the foundation of female power where the mother or woman rules. For example there is Mother Earth.
11.) Patriarchal-Patriarchal means the foundation of male power where the father or man rules. For example Father Sky.
12.) Sacrifice-Sacrifice means the tribute, or the giving up of something for something else or the common good. It can be an offering or a gift. For example in the myth of Demeter and Persephone, Demeter sacrifices Persephone for six months out of each year.