The word "myth" comes from the Greek word mythos, which means a spoken or written story.
The purpose of a myth is to explain human experience. Many events in a myth are not realistic or
based on fact, since the message communicated by the story is more important than telling about
an actual event. Because all groups of people have myths, and often myths are associated with
religion, the stories have been passed down through the ages to become the basis of a society. A
collection of myths is called a "mythology." People study mythology because the stories provide
a way of understanding ancient cultures.
Ancient civilizations, such as the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Aztecs, and Mayas, created myths
to explain many aspects of life: how they came into existence as a people; the reasons for good
and evil; the seasons; the weather; and the movements of the sun, moon, and stars. In many
respects, mythology was like an early form of science.
The term "mythology" sometimes refers to the study of myths and sometimes refers to a body of
myths.[1][2] For example, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from
different cultures,[3] whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece. The term
"myth" is often used colloquially to refer to a false story;[4][5] however, the academic use of the term
generally does not refer to truth or falsity.[5][6] In the field of folkloristics, a myth is conventionally
defined as a sacred narrative explaining how the world and humankind came to be in their present
form.[7][6][8] Many scholars in other academic fields use the term "myth" in somewhat different
ways.[8][9][10] In a very broad sense, the word can refer to any traditional story.[11][12][13]
The main characters in myths are usually gods or supernatural heroes.[14][15][16] As sacred stories, myths
are often endorsed by rulers and priests and closely linked to religion.[14] In the society in which it is told,
a myth is usually regarded as a true account of the remote past.[14][17][18][15] In fact, many societies have
two categories of traditional narrative—(1) "true stories", or myths, and (2) "false stories", or
fables.[19][20] Myths generally take place in a primordial age, when the world had not yet achieved its
current form.[14] They explain how the world gained its current form[21][22][8][23] and how customs,
institutions, and taboos were established.[14][23]
One of the foremost functions of myth is to establish models for behavior.[43][44] The figures
described in myth are sacred and are therefore worthy role models for human beings.[44] Thus,
myths often function to uphold current social structures and institutions: they justify these
customs by claiming that they were established by sacred beings.[45][46]
Another function is to provide people with a religious experience. By retelling myths, human
beings detach themselves from the present and return to the mythical age, thereby bringing
themselves closer to the divine.[17][47][44] In fact, in some cases, a society will reenact a myth in an
attempt to reproduce the conditions of the mythical age: for example, it will reenact the healing
performed by a god at the beginning of time in order to heal someone in the present.[48]