The Importance Of Mythology

Mikayla Leskey | Arts and Entertainment

All our lives, we’ve been taught about mythology. At least, for me, I was. I think it started in the second grade, with little folktales, which progressed to reading the Percy Jackson books in third grade, and then now in college, reading full books explaining different mythologies across cultures. But why? Why have we been learning about mythology since we were kids? Why was it deemed important enough for the curriculum?

Especially because for the most part, we don’t know when these stories started taking shape. There’s educated guesses, sure, but for the most part, we don’t know why or when mythology took over the world, or why it became what it is today. We know that the transition from beast-like gods started changing when Greek mythology came into play, but we don’t know much about the ‘before-times’ in Greek mythology. The dark ages, so to speak.

What separates Greek mythology from every other culture is that Greek Gods are framed after humans.“The sculptor watched the athletes contending in the games and he felt that nothing he could imagine would be as beautiful as those strong young bodies. So he made his statue of Apollo. The storyteller found Hermes among the people he passed in the street. He saw the god “like a young man at the age when youth is loveliest.” (Hamilton, Edith. “Mythology” pg. 7)) Humans started making Gods to be like themselves, to have the face of humankind, so they would no longer be scared. Human Gods made things feel more familiar.

It was like they could call the Greek Gods their friends or their entertainment. Zeus’ sexcapade became a funny story for people, and so did his fights with Hera. It made these omnipotent Gods more real. Why would you be afraid of someone who acts and looks like you? Or at least, that was the Greeks mindset; something so human can’t be terrifying. Greek Mythology paved the way for the mythology that came after it, and most of all, brought humanity out of the “dark ages.”

No longer scared of the unknown or beast-like Gods, humankind started doing whatever they pleased. They longed for divinity so much they made their Gods to be like them, a hope that maybe one day they’ll also reach the divine. Mythology is an early science, it’s proof of early humans trying to figure out and explain what’s around them. How the sun rises was coined by Helios, thunderstorms by Zeus, the seasons by Demeter, and so on. But there’s also tales and stories used purely for entertainment like The Golden Fleece or Orpheus and Eurydice. Again, this is one of the first times we see humankind creating something for pure entertainment and not just as a lesson.

The reason why, or at least, why I think we’ve been taught mythology since the beginning of our education is because it’s one of the first forms of storytelling. These stories have been passed down for generations, they’ve been changed and warped but they’re still ours. It’s our heritage. It’s knowledge of where we’ve come from, how far we’ve come, and how life was like during these periods.

Past civilizations didn’t make up mythology for the fun of it, they created it so they could put a name to all the things around them. “Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.” Humans by nature are curious, always pushing ourselves to the limit. Not being satisfied until we know exactly what goes on with our bodies and with our planet, and the universe herself.

Humans made Gods, mythology, to better understand the unknown. When Greek and Roman mythology came into play, with Gods that looked liked humans, it was human-kind’s way of saying they’re done being afraid. They want to learn and they want to- someday, be able to reach the same divinity as the Gods have.

Sources

Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. Edited by Steele Savage, Little, Brown, 1998.