Why We Can't Stop Reading Myths

Before literature, there is myth. At least, that’s what the history books say. Mythology, which often takes the form of poetry, oral stories, and epic works, explains something great; it explains why things are - socially, naturally, or spiritually. Some might say that a rise in mythology, specifically in ancient cultures, marks the dissolution of ancient civilization into a modern one. When literature comes along, myth meets written record to embalm a culture forever. Mythology’s goal of creating or explaining meaning eventually will morph into the records of the state, literary stories, and organized religion. The era of literature in a culture marks the evolution of society into something a bit more modern, perhaps scientific.

And yet, we continue to read these myths.

Myths explain to us the brightest star, the shape of a flower, the whisper that a breeze carries. Myths, unlike religion or fiction, have inherent wisdom to their structure in the way it explains between the space between the lines of the natural world and how inexplicable it can be. These stories are ancient, powerful, and outrageous.

Author J.R.R. Tolkein was fascinated by myths; he believed they were modes of telling the truth. In the biography of Tolkein, Humphrey Cameron wrote,

You call a star a star, and say it is just a ball of matter moving on a mathematical course. But that is merely how you see it. By so naming things and describing them you are only inventing your own terms about them. And just as speech is invention about objects and ideas, so myth is invention about truth.

Not only do myths provide an explanation to the ephemeral, but they provide a cast of characters. These characters reflect the values of the culture from which the myths are born. Take Zeus for example, a patriarchal leader with a ton of power and freedom who had tons of sex. He was a great reflection of the thinkers of the era, of a culture of democracy and the bacchanal. These famous writers, like Aristotle and Plato, used the cast of characters to explain literary devices to us: catharsis, a hero’s fatal flaw, and more.

And so the Greeks and their ways have been immortalized, that portion of history has been embalmed. As a child, I was fascinated by the ancient stories of Egypt and Greece. But now I wonder, what myths could I have learned about my own home? Who is looking over the creeks, prairies, and lakes? Is there a greater reason for our passive-aggressive nature here in Minnesota? What truth could be named, explained, through myth? The only stories that explain our lands are those of Native Americans. I remember stories of turtles whose backs formed islands, wise coyotes, and great spirits.

Myths provide us with a great deal of knowledge and with a deeper sense of truth. While historians may mark them as a product of a downturning society, myths are far deeper and more prescient than they are given credit for. Our current culture is shifting in a lot of ways from organized religions. People are turning more and more to astrology, yoga, spiritualism, as a source of comfort. And as those take from many different cultures and ancient knowledge, perhaps it is time to start turning again to myths as a source of truth.