Mythology is Everywhere...

The study of the world's mythology has always been interesting, but throughout this course I personally have learned that it's more applicable to the "real world" than most people know. As the final weeks of our mythological experience come to an end, each student presents an application of the knowledge they've gained throughout the course by applying it to a piece of contemporary literature or media. Though I had a pretty good idea of how well Campell's "Journey of the Hero" could be fit to a fictional movie or novel for example, I found it quite intriguing how well it could be applied to an autobiographies or nonfiction works as well; the obvious difference being one is created with the intention of entertaining so it may not be as realistic, while the other is a record of "real life" events. Most people still associate the word myth with it's dictionary definition (obviously) as being "any fictitious idea accepted as part of an ideology by an uncritical group", and are so quick to judge, question, or try disprove myths from cultures other than their own, when selections like the Holy Bible for example is really no different. Myths just serve as basically a culture's set of morals, values, and/or code of conduct depicted through a narrative; though the characters and events of the story may be untrue, the values they represent are very real, almost making the myths themselves real. We must remember that mythology was based off observations of life as we once knew it, and the fact that cultures spread throughout the world have very similar myths with common themes, indicates the relevance, importance, and thus reality of these invaluable exhibitions of history and human life.