Myth: The Way We Were or the Way We Are?

“A traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, esp. one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature. Stories or matter of this kind: realm of myth. Any invented story, idea, or concept: An imaginary or fictitious thing or person (Dictionary.com 2008).”

“Do you tend to think about myth as the way we were, or the way we are?” I personally think of myth as the way we were, but myth also allows us to have the ability to imagine the impossible. Myths are who we are as children, but it is also something that many of us outgrow within our own lifetimes. The main reason I think myth is the way we were is because we don’t hear of any new heroic or imaginative stories. As Bidney states in the article by Michael Sexson, “Myth is an outdated and inauthentic form of religious expression.” Myths “are” becoming outdated. They are a thing of the past that are being past down from generation to generation. If myth is the way that we are now, we realize what is fictional and also what is the truth.

myth. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/myth (accessed: May 24, 2008).

Sexson, Michael W. “Myth: The Way We Were or the Way We Are?” chp. 3 Varieties of Religious Expression. Pg 34-45.