Components of Myths Argumentative Essay

The word myth is derived from a Greek word "mythos," and it refers to a traditional tale concerning the history of a group of people and it often involves a supernatural being or supernatural events. Myths are continuously retold by the group of people over one generation to another to reinforce their belief.

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Additionally, myths were created to formulate a system of beliefs about a people's origin, their natural occurrences, and their cultural practices. They are not necessarily true, but they contain some traces of cultural values and beliefs concerning where the named people came from. The overall application of myths is guided by particular elements that are often similar across different mythology. Such factors include themes, characters, and patterns repeated across myths. These components are important because they help communicate and develop the central idea of a legend. The main themes repeated in almost all myths include the tension between two supernatural forces, the quest for power between supernatural beings and the origin of the world among others. In this assignment, I will discuss how Greek mythology demonstrates other aspects of mythology. I have chosen this mythology because many arguments are surrounding it. First, some people argue that Greek myths are just entertaining stories about Greek superheroes while others say that it only reflects on culture from which the Greeks supposedly came from. However, I will say that there are different components of Greek mythology that can teach today's world a lot, especially about character attributes such as heroism, obedience, patience, envy and morality among others.

People have heard about and read about Greek mythology time and time again, but it is still unclear why it is still an important subject in the world today. Most people think that it is a waste of time because they look at Greek mythology as nothing but stories from centuries ago. Others who have watched numerous movies and read a lot of literature on the same thing that the Greek mythology is so fascinating that the world cannot get enough of it. However, I believe that Greek mythology is not told to amaze people but to teach them. People still use it in literature to educate people about several aspects of life. Greek culture is very progressive, thus using its mythology as an educational tool is a wise idea because it can cover a lot. For instance, the myths help people in the world today understand how people thought in the past and what they considered important and unimportant as well as their morals, traditions, and beliefs. Greek mythology is also important because it has contributed to modern literature in forms of symbols in ways other mythologies have not.

For instance, one key component of Greek mythology is etiological stories. Similar to other cultures in history, Greek myths explain events and natural occurrences. One tale that explains Greek events is the myth of the bird Nyx. It demonstrates that the world was created from space. According to the legend, Nyx sat on an egg for a long time until it hatched and separated into two halves which are today considered as heaven and earth. Also, the tale of Pandora explains why it is good and evil in the world. According to this myth, Zeus, who are the supreme Greek gods, were angered by human beings for accepting the gift of fire from Prometheus, a charity that was only meant for the gods. For this reason, Zeus gave the first mortal woman who was known as Pandora a box and warned her never to open it no matter what happened. After a long time, Pandora was overpowered by curiosity, and she opened the box releasing the malicious concepts from the table.

This myth is similar to the Christian tale of creation where God created man and woman and told them not to eat the fruit of the tree at the center of the garden of Eden. Out of curiosity, the woman convinced the man to taste the fruits of that same tree unleashing the concept of evil and evil, hate and envy. People who just read these myths for the sake of it take its meaning at surface level. Such people do not care to interpret the meaning of the etiological stories. Thus they may think that they are just stories. However, the etiological stories hold more meaning than that because they teach the world today about moral values. From the myth of Pandora, people can learn that a lot of curiosity is not a good trait because it can cause misery to a lot of people. The tale also teaches on the virtue of obedience and patience because had Pandora adhered to the instructions given by Zeus, she could not have unleashed the malicious contents of the box. Also, had she been patient, her curiosity would not have caused misery to the Greek community.

Additionally, studying these myths can help people think better about the things they do or at least control their actions. Most of them are stories about how human stupidity arrogance put them in trouble. Looking at these myths from a different perspective may serve as a warning to people about what they should do and what they should not do. The irony is that just like the people used in these myths chose to make bad decisions, people today still do unacceptable things even after reading these myths and watching their illustrations in tones of movies because they take their meaning at face value.

Consequently, Greek mythology is a series of great tales about goddesses and gods doing the impossible. They look at the myths as stories of people who deal with the gods and goddesses and an illustration of what happens to those people. In some instances, the people win, and in other cases, the gods turn them into animals or trees. People who look at these stories from a shallow perspective will, of course, think that they are old tales told by old storytellers to scare away the people or make them feel inferior to the gods and goddesses. However, a more in-depth look at the myths will give you a broader perspective than that. They are not just stories about legends and gods, but they are stories with a more significant purpose to the world. Looking deeper into the myths will confirm that they are lessons about morals, warnings, and philosophy among other things.

For instance, like many other myths, Greek mythology offers explanations about human choices and human nature. A more in-depth look at the tale of Pandora will clearly show you that apart from her inability to control her curiosity, Pandora was driven by pride, which in turn led to an automatic tragedy. People are motivated by human pride in the world today, which is among the many causes of the natural disaster. People cannot follow simple life rules because they feel bound by the rules, which to them makes them feel inferior. They end up breaking the rules and are punished for it. For instance, in almost every state, abusing hard drugs is illegal, but people still abuse them because they want to feed their ego. Prohibiting hard drugs is a precautionary act by the government to avoid inevitable consequences such as dependence, deaths caused by overdose and destruction of essential organs like the liver and kidneys. People who break this law end up getting addicted to the drug and others end up dead to an overdose.

Again, Greek mythology has moral lessons because, in the myth of Bellerophon, the gods favor the just people and punish the unjust people. In the tale, Bellerophon rejected a married woman, and in turn, he received favor from the gods as seen in his overflowing riches and happiness. Some people may interpret the myth as a tale about a man who rejected a married man, but in essence, it educates that those people who refuse evil prosper.

Also, Greek mythology mostly does not have a happy ending like most entertaining stories do today. The reason for this is because Greek mythology is not merely designed for entertainment purposes only. These myths were intended for a higher use than that. They help people have a glimpse of the life led by Greeks in the past, which may seem u=outdated and unimportant to some people but others will notice that there are numerous Greek influences in the world especially in basic things like literature and arts. For instance, most Greek myths have common character types focusing on heroic figures. For example, in the tale of Prometheus, he creates human beings and gives them fire for their survival. However, he is chained on a rock and subjected to a torturous eagle until he dies. These heroic figures are role models for Greeks in the world today as they have influenced a lot of great literature about wealth Greeks that are braved and endangered in their hounding of more knowledge and wealth.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are many Greek myths, and people have different arguments regarding the tales based on how they interpret them. Some people argue that Greek mythology is just stories about superheroes while others say that it is an explanation of where Greeks originated. However, Greek myths are not only baseless entertaining stories, but they bear a purpose and direction for people in the world today especially about people's character traits such as justice, religion, patience and envy among others. People who look at Greek myths, or essentially any other myths on face value may not relate to them, and they may not understand why they are an important subject in the world today, but those who look into the broader meaning may capture one or two things about human nature and attributes that may guide them in their undertakings.