Folklore

The appropriation of Greek myth in modern narrative fiction has increased in the last ten years, specifically in the young adult genre. Book series such as Oh. My. Gods. and The Goddess Test draw young girls into the world of classical myths, while Percy Jackson and the Olympians captivated an entire generation and introduced them to the complexities and themes of the poll of mythic traditions from Ancient Greece. These new stories that incorporate the mythos help "[re-introduce] an audience…

Have you ever stopped to think and wonder what is mythology? Well mythology is a cluster of traditional stories that expresses the beliefs or values of a group of people who are telling the story. These stories often focuses on human qualities such as good and evil. These stories are often considered to be sanctified and explains how things came to exist. The myths in these stories gave human emotions and qualities to the super-natural beings who were the heroes of these stories. The need to…

You always hear about great legends, no matter where you are from. All my life I had heard about a great monsters who used to roam The Great Plains in Texas, but none of the stories matched the monster I had found. I lived in a small quaint house right outside of a town in the middle of the Texas Plains. Most of the townsfolk were superstitious. My mother was a carefree and spirited woman who let me roam the flat land, not troubled by the hideous monster myths. Many people thought my mother was…

At the base of these rites lie myths which help us to understand the teaching aspect of religious rites. Myths provide background and insight into the meaning of rites and behind these rites lie the realities of past struggles and events and the myths recount these events. Without these myths to help support the rituals and rites, the people will eventually let it die out or lose its true essence over years and years of interpretation. These rites help transfer the religious tradition from one…

Fairy tales and folk tales, such as “The Fisherman and the Jinnee” from The Thousand and One Nights, are common in human culture because they provide hope in dark situations and reveal the inherent fear of death. Humans try to look for positivity in even the darkest of times just as in “The Fisherman and the Jinnee.” For example, even when the fisherman is not having any luck catching anything, on the last cast, he brings in a golden lamp, giving him hope for a better daily income. Another…

In the stories “How Stories Came to Earth”, Coyote Steals Fire”, and “Master Cat” they all have a trickster. A trickster is a mischievous person or animal that often uses cleverness, humor, and helpfulness to contribute to the story. In the story “How Stories Came to Earth” there was a trickster named Kwaku Anansi, he was a spider who had a quest to get the stories from the sky god. He used cleverness by tricking the hornets to fly in his trap so he could keep them and use them to pay for…

Compare and Contrasting “Old Ironsides” and “the Village Blacksmith” An American myth is a story about a remarkable character who does incredible or heroic deeds. They also teach an important message. Two examples of an American myth are “The Village Blacksmith” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and “Old Ironsides” by Oliver Wendell Holmes. “Old Ironsides” is a poem about an old battleship that was supposed to be scrapped. “The Village Blacksmith” is another poem about a model citizen who works as…

In David A. Lemmings book, The World of Myth, I learned more about the importance of the many gods and goddesses. Lemming explains the relationship between the stories of gods and humanity. He states that “their relationship is a human relationship, their family is a reflection of our families, their hierarchies mirror ours” (Pg. 87). Lemming believes that the deities are there to help us learn how to get over problems that we face in our own realities. He also believes that mythology give…

Stories have been verbally told by people since the beginning of mankind to explain the things that people cannot understand and to also teach us valuable life lessons. Oral mythologies were/are a way to explain the cruelty and the greatness of the world and to teach people how they should act and react to their surrounding situations. World Literature today still does these things. By studying literature, we can better understand those things that aren't easily understood such as, pain, love,…

On Wednesday in our first lecture, Dr. Salmon dissected the terminology of the words “oral” and “literature”. Oral meaning the transference of knowledge and literature often being described as writing and books, but overall meaning stories. Using the information, we got from this discussion during the lecture we are able to see why in 1991s the historic court case of the Gitxsan’s “people of the Skeena” or “people of the river of mist” Delgamuukw et al v The Queen is a monumental case for…