4.5: Myths

The oral tradition took the form of what we call today myths. Before we continue, we need to discuss the term "myth" and its meanings. In contemporary society, people use "myth" to refer to an idea or belief that is known to be false, yet it is widely believed. For example, "My cousin thinks Big Foot and the Loch Ness monster are real, but I don't believe in those myths." It is important to remember in the context of religious studies, this is not the definition of "myth."

A myth can take the form of a story, song, or poem that tells us about important persons in the history of that culture or religion, and about important events in their lives. Myths tell us, for example, how a culture or religion believes the world was created, why there is evil, sickness and death, and how these things can be overcome. They may describe things that really happened, or they may not. Or they may have happened, but not exactly in the way the myth describes them: that is not important. What is important is that the basic story became so important in the minds of the believers it took on a central place in their lives. It became one of the most important reasons why they belonged to that culture or religion at all.

This is important to know because the five major world religions began in the premodern era: Hinduism (between 2300 and 1500 BCE), Judaism (approximately 2000 BCE), Buddhism (approximately 480 BCE), Christianity (approximately 30 -33 CE), and Islam (approximately 610 CE).

To people living in our global age, learning this can be a shock. After all, today people often use the word “myth” to mean an untrue story or false rumor, as mentioned earlier. For example, if one person asked: “Is Friday the 13th an unlucky day?” another person might answer: “No, that is just a myth.” To approach understanding myth, let us use etymology, as we have with other terms.

For the ancient Greeks, the word mythos (μῦθος) was simply a story. It was not important whether the story was true or false; what was important was the fact that the mode of speech was that of a story: the oral tradition. The Greek word "logos" (λόγος), does not mean "word" as many believe. It means a rational explanation or analytical statement. These two words, mythos and logos, point to two different kinds of speech, corresponding to two different ways of thinking. One was not considered more important than the other; they were just different. Put the two words together: mythos + logos = mythology. And “mythology” is the explanation or the analytical study of myths.

A good way to think about myths is that they lie beyond proof. In our global age, we are driven to fact check and verify everything. For example, we can count the number of people at that high school football or measure the calories in the wedding cake. Myths lie beyond proof because they cannot be proven true nor can they be proven false. These stories may or may not have happened: that is not important. The ideas and truths they represent are important because they reflect truth and timelessness. This is why they have been preserved for thousands and thousands of years and are the foundation for many world faiths.

The recording and passing of myth

A good way to think about myths and how people in our premodern past recorded and passed them on is to think about a family reunion or gathering that happens once a year, such as on Thanksgiving or another holiday. The different generations of the family all come together to eat and, more importantly, to talk. News is shared of recent events, such as a new family member's job promotion, and the older family members, such as great grandfather, are given center stage to retell important events in their lives, such as fighting in the Gulf War. In addition, stories are retold from great-great grandfather and others who have died. The children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren hear these stories each year.

When great-grandfather dies, do his stories die with him? No. His stories are remembered and repeated by those who remain. They live on.

But what happens to the telling and retelling of these stories? If you were to record your great-grandfather's stories and compare them year after year, you would find each telling and retelling is different. Likewise, after his death, when his son or grandson would retell the story, it would change again. However, the core truths would be the same: his serving in the war, experiencing battle, showing courage, and surviving against the odds.

The same is true for myths in our premodern past. Each telling and retelling of that story or poem would be different. Little details would change. However, the core truth of the story would not change. In case you are curious, myths are also the basis for classics of the ancient world: The Iliad and the Odyssey, Beowulf, Gilgamesh, and many others. These works all derived from our premodern past and the oral tradition, and each contains the mythology of its culture. And if you are wondering were there differences when these epics were collected and finally written down, you are correct!

Types of myth

Scholars have found there are many different kinds of myth, including creation myths, foundation myths, and end-time myths.

Creation myths tell us about the creation of the world. Creation myths usually start with the creation of the world, but they usually go on to tell how human beings were created soon afterwards. This is still considered to be part of the creation myth.

In Judaism, for example, there is a well known creation myth that the world was created by God in seven days. You will find it in Genesis 1 in the Bible. A variation of the same myth, which is read less often, is found in Genesis 2. Most religions have creation myths; in ancient Scandinavia, it was believed that the world emerged from "a grinning gap" when three gods killed a giant and created the world from his body.

In Hinduism, creation is the work of Brahma, the Absolute, who dreams the world into existence. Hinduism recognizes three aspects of the supreme god Brahman (collectively called the Trimurti), and these are often pictured and worshipped as separate gods, even though technically speaking they are not. Brahma creates the world. Vishnu keeps the world going, and Shiva is responsible for the destruction of the world. This destruction is not seen as a bad thing: it is only because the old is destroyed that there is room for Brahma to create new worlds!

Creation of the animals from Islamic text

Not all religions take creation myths seriously. In Buddhism, there are a number of such myths, but none of them is considered very important, because in Buddhism it is the present that matters, not the past. Buddhists do not focus on who created the world, but they do focus on how they should react to the world in which they find themselves. So even though Buddhist creation myths exist, and one can go and read them, they are not the central point of that tradition.

Other religions disagree: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, for example, are unanimous that it makes a great deal of difference whether or not the world and everything in it was created by God. But let us take a look at two other kinds of myth.

Foundation myths (or origin myths) describe the foundation of the religion itself. In religions that have historical founders, this involves the founder's life and works. For Christianity, this is the life of Jesus; for Islam, the life of Muhammad; and so on. Even in religions that do not have a single historical founder, certain individuals take on such an important role that we can see their life stories as foundation myths. In Judaism, for example, the story of the life of Abraham or Moses is central to what it means to be a Jew. In Hinduism, the life of Krishna plays the same role.

End–time myths (or eschatological myths) are the other side of the creation myths. They describe the end of the world. Some religions, like Hinduism believe that ours is just one in an endless succession of worlds. As one world dies out, a new one is created to take its place. Such religions do not have end–time myths in the true sense of the word, though they may have stories that tell the details of the recreation of worlds. Other religions, like Judaism, Christianity and Islam, say that the world was created at a specific time, and that it will end at a specific time, and that this will be for keeps: no new world will be created afterwards. The details of this event vary from one religion's end–time myth to the other.

The Language of Myths

When we talk about language and its use, we can divide it into connotative and denotative language. We use both types every day. Connotative language deals with the implied, or figurative, meaning of a word. If you have ever checked the mail on a hot summer afternoon and stepped back inside to announce, "It's burning up outside!", you used connotative language. After all, nothing was actually burning or on fire. That is just an expression to let people know it is really hot outside. Denotative language deals with the literal, or dictionary, meaning of a word. If you have ever gone outside on a cold winter's day, found your birdbath frozen and stepped back inside to announce, "It's freezing outside!", you used denotative language. Why? It is really freezing. If not, there wouldn't be ice in the birdbath. Everyday we move freely between connotation and denotation when we talk, and our listeners are able to discern the meaning.

However, in the premodern past, things were different. The stories and poems used in making myths were built with connotative language, just as stories and poems today. Any time a simple phrase such as "is like" is used, it is connotative in nature. For example, if someone was to say, "the warrior stood like a mountain," the speaker conveys not only the size, but also the sense of someone being steadfast and unmoving in battle.

Part of connotative language involves symbols and symbolism. Broadly, symbolism is a system that uses known objects to help explore and understand something much bigger and often hard to truly comprehend. Our lives are built with symbols and often it escapes our notice. For example, married couples exchange rings, and the wedding ring is a symbol of their marriage. Using symbolism, we have to take the qualities of the known, the wedding band, and use it to help understand that is is larger and unknown, marriage.

A wedding band is a circle, which is different from a line in that it has no beginning or ending. This represents how the love in a marriage is endless and transcends time. A wedding band is also made of gold or silver, which represents the great value of a marriage. Wedding bands are also given as gifts during the ceremony; this represents that love is a gift and cannot be earned. This is how symbols and symbolism works.

In religious language and usage, several symbols can also be identified. These symbols play an important role in conveying information and messages of a religious nature. Religious symbols often serve as a binding factor in the sense that they create a feeling of solidarity and community between followers of that particular religious tradition. There are a few that will immediately be recognized as religious symbols:

Star of David

The Star of David is a case in point because this symbol, recognized by all Jews as referring to the religion of Judaism, serves to create a sense of identity and belonging.

Religious symbols have come to represent certain things.

Crescent Moon and Star

When one for instance see a crescent moon with a star in it, depicted on paper, cloth or even on a wall, there is not the slightest doubt that that symbol represents the religion of Islam.

Eight-Spoked Wheel

Similarly, a picture or drawing of the eight–spoked wheel reminds us of the Buddha and his teachings of the eightfold path and thus becomes a symbol of Buddhism.

AUM

The AUM sign, which is actually a written syllable in the Sanskrit and Tamil languages and which is used as a chant during meditation, has become widely accepted as a symbol for Hinduism.

Crucifix

In Christianity, the cross, whether on paper, made from wood in differing sizes, as jewelry and so on, serves as a symbol of the death of Christ. Jesus Christ, so Christians believe, died on the cross for the sin of humanity. In fact, the plain cross is a simplified version of the crucifix, which shows a more or less realistic representation of the crucified Jesus. In other words, a cross is a symbol of a symbol!

Alpha and Omega

The letters Alpha and Omega, being the first and last letters respectively of the Greek language, have also become Christian symbols. According to the Christian New testament, Jesus of Nazareth referred to himself as the “Alpha and the Omega.”

PBUH

In the case of the Prophet Muhammad, one could also say that the letters PBUH behind his name, especially in Muslim writings, are symbolic because they refer to the words “Peace Be Upon Him” which is the English rendering of the original Arabic.

Symbols of a religious nature are of course not confined to formal religious acts or institutions. At the top of the building in Washington,

USA, that houses that country's Supreme Court, a row of the history's lawgivers have been sculptured. with Moses and the Ten Commandments in the middle. In this case, Moses is depicted as a symbol of law and justice. A religious symbol has thus been used in a secular context

Symbols are of course not just represented in drawings, sculpture or wood but very much also by actions. From the adherents’ perspectives, of course, these activities are more than symbolic: they are deeply meaningful activities that connect them to the most important aspects of their religion. An example of a symbolic action would be a worshipper entering a Roman Catholic church dips his or her finger into Holy Water and makes the sign of the cross: forehead, chest, left shoulder, right shoulder. This instance also involves an additional symbol: the Holy Water serves as a symbol that reminders worshippers or their baptism.