Myth in the Ancient World

Running head: MYTH IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
MYTH IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
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1MYTH IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
As stated by Plant (2012), myth can be seen as a genre of folklore which generally
consists of different kinds of narratives, tales, fairytales and others that are commonly accessible
to all the members of a particular society. Stein and Stein (2017) are of the different myths form
an integral part of not only the societal framework of the different nations but also its cultural
landscape as well and is often considered to be the distinguishing factor between two cultures or
for that matter societies. More importantly, it had been seen that the different myths of a nation
or a culture not only celebrates its diverse legends but also upholds the unique features of the
concerned nation or the culture (Pyne 2016). This in turn had given rise to the idea that in order
to understand a particular culture the individuals are required to effectively understand the
different myths which had been created by it (Harding 2017). This becomes even more important
from the particular context of the ancient culture which formulated plethora of myths and also
because of the lack of reliable evidence or knowledge regarding the same the scholars have to
depend mainly on their created myths. The purpose of this essay is to understand the knowledge
that can be derived about the ancient cultures through an understanding of the myths created by
it.
Lamberton and Keaney (2019) are of the viewpoint that the different ancient myths have
as their characters the ancient Gods, Demi-gods, superhuman creatures, devils and others which
in turn might be seen as the caricatures or for that matter the hyperboles of the human beings of
that time itself. Adding to this, Da Silva and Tehrani (2016) have noted that the majority of the
ancient myths show the superhuman creatures or the Gods fight against different menaces or for
that matter the powers of evils and the ultimate victory of the good or the virtuous over the evil is
being celebrated by them. For instance, the different Biblical myths wherein the different Saints
fight against the temptations of Satan or the devil is an important example of the theme of the

2MYTH IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
victory of the good or the virtuous over the evil with which the various myths are redolent with
(Hamilton 2017). On the other hand, it had been seen that the different Egyptian, Greek and the
Near Eastern myths also show the extensive usage of similar themes and thus this particular
aspect had become the characteristic feature of the different ancient myths (Mac Sweeney 2015).
As discussed by Middleton (2017), the prevalence of this particular theme in almost all the myths
of the ancient world highlight an important of the way of life or for that matter the cultural
traditions followed by the people of the ancient times. In this relation, it needs to be said that the
widespread usage of this particular theme in almost all the ancient myths that are known to the
modern human beings clearly indicates the firm belief of the people regarding the goodness of
virtue and the evil of malice or temptation (MacKenzie 2017). As a matter of fact, it had been
found that even the pagan myths showcase the same theme and thereby highlight the firm belief
of the people of those that no-matter how strong the evil powers or for that matter the devil
seemed ultimately the good or the virtuous people win (Preziosi 2014).
According to Von Franz (2017), an important feature of the different ancient myths is the
fact that they not stress the importance of having various virtues but at the time show the
negative connotations of malice, evil and others as well. McConnell and Hall (2016) are of the
viewpoint that the primary objective behind the formulation of the different myths was to teach
the people regarding the way of life that they needed to live and also the codes or for that matter
the principles that they needed to follow in their life. For example, the ancient Greek myth of
Arachne becomes especially important in this regard. In the ancient Greek mythology, Arachne
had been described as a very “famous and talented weaver” who was reputed all over the
kingdom for the superior art that she possessed (Hirt 2014). However, the only negative flaw or
for that matter the error in her character was very excessive pride or hubris which in turn leads to