myths

Instead, the term parable, or illustrative tale, is used.

But these typical folktale themes occur also in stories normally classified as myths, and there must always be a strong element of arbitrariness in assigning a motif to a particular category.

Parables have a considerable role also in Sufism (Islamic mysticism), rabbinic (Jewish biblical interpretive) literature, Hasidism (Jewish pietism), and Zen Buddhism.

A myth is symbolic narrative, usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional, that ostensibly relates actual events and that is especially associated with religious belief...

Examples of folktale motifs are encounters between ordinary, often humble, human beings and supernatural adversaries such as witches, giants, or ogres; contests to win a bride; and attempts to overcome a wicked stepmother or jealous sisters.

excerpted from http://www.crystalinks.com/mythology1.html by Ellie Crystal

The story of humanity is replete with myths and legends.

Just as the distinction between folk and aristocracy cannot be transferred from medieval Europe to tribal Africa or classical Greece without risk of distortion, so the importing of a distinction between myth and folktale on the later European model is extremely problematic.

The term mythology denotes both the study of myth and the body of myths belonging to a particular religious tradition.

Myths are specific accounts of gods or superhuman beings involved in extraordinary events or circumstances in a time that is unspecified but which is understood as existing apart from ordinary human experience.

The word fable derives from the Latin word fabula, which originally meant about the same as the Greek mythos; like mythos, it came to mean a fictitious or untrue story.

Mythological characters often are representative of entities that lived on the Earth thousands of years ago.

Unlike myths, however, fables almost always end with an explicit moral message, and this highlights the characteristic feature of fables--namely, that they are instructive tales that teach morals about human social behavior.

All of mythology has a basis in the creational myths of each culture...

Myths, by contrast, tend to lack this directly didactic aspect, and the sacred narratives that they embody are often hard to translate into direct prescriptions for action in everyday human terms.

The term fairy tale, if taken literally, should refer only to stories about fairies, a class of supernatural and sometimes malevolent beings--often believed to be of diminutive size--who were thought by people in medieval and post medieval Europe to inhabit a kingdom of their own; a literary expression of this belief can be found in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

A typical myth, on the other hand, will be likely to identify by name the god or hero concerned in a given exploit and to specify details of geography and genealogy; e.g.,

excerpted from http://www.crystalinks.com/mythology1.html by Ellie Crystal

The story of humanity is replete with myths and legends.

Instead, the term parable, or illustrative tale, is used.

Just as the distinction between folk and aristocracy cannot be transferred from medieval Europe to tribal Africa or classical Greece without risk of distortion, so the importing of a distinction between myth and folktale on the later European model is extremely problematic.

A typical myth, on the other hand, will be likely to identify by name the god or hero concerned in a given exploit and to specify details of geography and genealogy; e.g.,

Parables have a more subservient function than myths.

A myth is symbolic narrative, usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional, that ostensibly relates actual events and that is especially associated with religious belief...

Just as the distinction between folk and aristocracy cannot be transferred from medieval Europe to tribal Africa or classical Greece without risk of distortion, so the importing of a distinction between myth and folktale on the later European model is extremely problematic.

They may clarify something to an individual or a group but do not take on the revelatory character of myth.

Myths, by contrast, tend to lack this directly didactic aspect, and the sacred narratives that they embody are often hard to translate into direct prescriptions for action in everyday human terms.

Every culture has its myths about pantheons of gods - good vs. evil , duality, reflected in each story...

The modern concept of the fairy tale seems not to be found earlier than the 18th century in Europe, but the narratives themselves have earlier analogues much farther afield, notably in the Indian Katha-saritsagara (The Ocean of Story) and in The Thousand and One Nights.

A myth about a prince, by contrast, would be likely to name him and to specify his lineage, since such details might be of collective importance (for example, with reference to issues of property inheritance or the relative status of different families) to the social group among which the myth was told.

Thus, some writers on the Iliad would distinguish between the legendary aspects (e.g., heroes performing actions possible for ordinary humans) and the mythical aspects (e.g., episodes involving the gods).

The term fairy tale, if taken literally, should refer only to stories about fairies, a class of supernatural and sometimes malevolent beings--often believed to be of diminutive size--who were thought by people in medieval and post medieval Europe to inhabit a kingdom of their own; a literary expression of this belief can be found in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

As with all religious symbolism, there is no attempt to justify mythic narratives or even to render them plausible.

Every myth presents itself as an authoritative, factual account, no matter how much the narrated events are at variance with natural law or ordinary experience...

This definition of folktale introduces a new criterion for distinguishing between myth and folktale--namely, what class of person tells the story--but it by no means removes all the problems of classification.

excerpted from http://www.crystalinks.com/mythology1.html by Ellie Crystal

The story of humanity is replete with myths and legends.

Every myth presents itself as an authoritative, factual account, no matter how much the narrated events are at variance with natural law or ordinary experience...

Thus, stories such as the Märchen ("Tales") collected by the Grimm brothers in Germany are folktales because they were told by the people rather than by an aristocratic elite.

Thus, some writers on the Iliad would distinguish between the legendary aspects (e.g., heroes performing actions possible for ordinary humans) and the mythical aspects (e.g., episodes involving the gods).

The latter view is taken by the British classicist Geoffrey S. Kirk, who in Myth: Its Meaning and Functions in Ancient and Other Cultures (1970) uses the term myth to denote stories with an underlying purpose beyond that of simple story-telling and the term folktale to denote stories that reflect simple social situations and play on ordinary fears and desires.

As with all religious symbolism, there is no attempt to justify mythic narratives or even to render them plausible.

The latter view is taken by the British classicist Geoffrey S. Kirk, who in Myth: Its Meaning and Functions in Ancient and Other Cultures (1970) uses the term myth to denote stories with an underlying purpose beyond that of simple story-telling and the term folktale to denote stories that reflect simple social situations and play on ordinary fears and desires.

There is much disagreement among scholars as to how to define the folktale; consequently, there is disagreement about the relation between folktale and myth.

In this sense the authority of a myth indeed "goes without saying," and the myth can be outlined in detail only when its authority is no longer unquestioned but has been rejected or overcome in some manner by another, more comprehensive myth...

Indeed, it would seem to be a basic constituent of human culture.

Myths, by contrast, tend to lack this directly didactic aspect, and the sacred narratives that they embody are often hard to translate into direct prescriptions for action in everyday human terms.

The word fable derives from the Latin word fabula, which originally meant about the same as the Greek mythos; like mythos, it came to mean a fictitious or untrue story.

Just as the distinction between folk and aristocracy cannot be transferred from medieval Europe to tribal Africa or classical Greece without risk of distortion, so the importing of a distinction between myth and folktale on the later European model is extremely problematic.

Just as the distinction between folk and aristocracy cannot be transferred from medieval Europe to tribal Africa or classical Greece without risk of distortion, so the importing of a distinction between myth and folktale on the later European model is extremely problematic.

Examples of folktale motifs are encounters between ordinary, often humble, human beings and supernatural adversaries such as witches, giants, or ogres; contests to win a bride; and attempts to overcome a wicked stepmother or jealous sisters.

A typical myth, on the other hand, will be likely to identify by name the god or hero concerned in a given exploit and to specify details of geography and genealogy; e.g.,

Some of these entities were referred to as creator gods who seeded this planet creating the environment in which we experience in the magic and illusion of time and emotion.

The term fairy tale, if taken literally, should refer only to stories about fairies, a class of supernatural and sometimes malevolent beings--often believed to be of diminutive size--who were thought by people in medieval and post medieval Europe to inhabit a kingdom of their own; a literary expression of this belief can be found in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

From that period until the middle of the 19th century, many European thinkers of a nationalist persuasion argued that stories told by ordinary people constituted a continuous tradition reaching back into the nation's past.

The term fairy tale, however, is normally used to refer to a much wider class of narrative, namely stories (directed above all at an audience of children) about an individual, almost always young, who confronts strange or magical events: examples are "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Cinderella," and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

Examples of folktale motifs are encounters between ordinary, often humble, human beings and supernatural adversaries such as witches, giants, or ogres; contests to win a bride; and attempts to overcome a wicked stepmother or jealous sisters.

Unlike myths, however, fables almost always end with an explicit moral message, and this highlights the characteristic feature of fables--namely, that they are instructive tales that teach morals about human social behavior.

In particular, because of the assumed link between legend and historical fact, there may be a tendency to refer to narratives that correspond to one's own beliefs as legends, while exactly comparable stories from other traditions may be classified as myths; hence a Christian might refer to stories about the miraculous deeds of a saint as legends, while similar stories about a pagan healer might be called myths.

But these typical folktale themes occur also in stories normally classified as myths, and there must always be a strong element of arbitrariness in assigning a motif to a particular category.

A myth is symbolic narrative, usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional, that ostensibly relates actual events and that is especially associated with religious belief...

Just as the distinction between folk and aristocracy cannot be transferred from medieval Europe to tribal Africa or classical Greece without risk of distortion, so the importing of a distinction between myth and folktale on the later European model is extremely problematic.

Just as the distinction between folk and aristocracy cannot be transferred from medieval Europe to tribal Africa or classical Greece without risk of distortion, so the importing of a distinction between myth and folktale on the later European model is extremely problematic.

Mythology is linked to Philosophy, Creation, Prophecy, Religion, Sacred Geometry, Ancient Civilizations, Anthropology, and other systems.

The term myth is not normally applied to narratives that have as their explicit purpose the illustration of a doctrine or standard of conduct.

In particular, because of the assumed link between legend and historical fact, there may be a tendency to refer to narratives that correspond to one's own beliefs as legends, while exactly comparable stories from other traditions may be classified as myths; hence a Christian might refer to stories about the miraculous deeds of a saint as legends, while similar stories about a pagan healer might be called myths.

As with all religious symbolism, there is no attempt to justify mythic narratives or even to render them plausible.

Myths are specific accounts of gods or superhuman beings involved in extraordinary events or circumstances in a time that is unspecified but which is understood as existing apart from ordinary human experience.