Personal mythology essay

Personal Mythology Essay Mythology is defined as a set of stories, traditions, or beliefs associated with a particular group or the history of an event, arising naturally or deliberately fostered (The American Heritage 2006). All cultures have some type of myths. Different cultures have there own myths that are passed down from generation to generation. When I think of mythology, I think of all of the different gods and goddess that ruled different parts of ancient people’s life. Even though many myth stories are centuries old, a lot of ideas can be apply to present day situations. One particular culture that I associate with the notion of myth is the classical mythology of the ancient Greeks. Greek mythology is familiar to most people because it is often read in school and reproduced for entertainment purposes. Greek myth stories sometimes contain mythical characters such as heroes, gods and monsters. The oldest myths can be traced to three main sources: Homer, Hesiod and The Homeric Hymns, (Stewart 2005). Over the last couple of years there has been an explosion of different mythology movies. One my myth that I am very familiar with is the Trojan War. The war was fought between the Greeks and Trojans with their allies, upon a Phrygian city of Troy (Ilium), on Asia Minor. The war lasted for ten years and it has been traditionally dated from 1194 to 1184 BC (Joe 1999). Another Greek myth that I am familiar with is the myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece. This is one of the oldest myths that are about a hero’s quest. Jason and the Golden Fleece is a story of betrayal and vengeance and like many Greek myths it has a tragic ending. It begins when Jason’s Uncle Pelias kills Jason’s father, the Greek King of Iolkos, and takes his throne. Jason’s mother brings him to Cheiron, a centaur (half man, half horse) who hides him away and raises him on the Mountain of Pelion (Jason 2007). Many people take the lessons learn in myths and apply it to everyday situations. In some cases I do believe that mythology has had an effect on some of my personal and professional decisions. One common myth that I often apply to certain situations is the story of David and Goliath. I do not base all of my decisions from myths but I do keep in mind of the different effects that people in the myths have experienced. Even though many cultures have there own myths, the each have valuable life stories that can be passed on from generation to generation. References Jason. Encyclopedia Mythica. Retrieved November 13 2007, from Encyclopedia Mythica Online. http://www. pantheon. org/articles/j/jason. html Joe, Jimmy Timeless Myths: Arthurian Legends, 1999. http://www. timelessmyths. com/ Arthurian. Retrieved November 13, 2007. Mythology. (n. d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved November 13, 2007, from Dictionary. com website: http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/mythology Stewart, Michael. ” Origins of Greek Mythology”, Greek Mythology: From the Iliad to the Fall of the Last Tyrant. http://messagenet. com/myths/essays/origins. html (November 14, 2005)