Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes. For example, scholars have used the relationships between different myths to trace the development of religions and cultures, to propose common origins for myths from different cultures, and to support various psychological theories.
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Jan 17, 2019 · Comparative mythology is important to the study of myths because they tell the stories from a world before anything existed and since we, humans, are always trying to. Comparative mythology is important to the study of myths because they tell the stories from a world before anything existed and since we , humans , are always trying to. Echave 3 find …
It is important because first, we understand the similarities and differences between several societies, and it then helps us understand the cultures at play from which the myth is based. The myth gives us a baring to understand the culture and what they value most as a community. Secondly, comparative mythology helps us compare myths from different societies or …
Answer & Explanation. All tutors are evaluated by Course Hero as an expert in their subject area. *comparative mythology from the word comparison of myths from different cultures and characteristics. It is important to social sciences because it provides a key to a human society as a matter of historical events.
Why is comparative mythology important to the study of myths? It is important because based on similarities and differences it is possible to have a better understanding of the culture from which the myth is based upon. Moreover, comparative mythology gives the possibilities to draw evidence from different myths and discover new possible historic events.
Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes. For example, scholars have used the relationships between different myths to trace the development of religions and cultures, to propose common origins for myths from different cultures, and to support various psychological theories.
The term mythology may either refer to the study of myths in general, or a body of myths regarding a particular subject. The study of myth began in ancient history. Rival classes of the Greek myths by Euhemerus, Plato, and Sallustius were developed by the Neoplatonists and later revived by Renaissance mythographers.
We study mythology because it teaches us about different cultures, beliefs, subjects, and knowledge about the world. Mythology also teaches us important life lessons that can change our view on life in a positive way.Dec 12, 2021
Ultimately, studying mythology gives us context into our world, our literature, and our own beliefs. The significance of these myths should not be overlooked, and even a foundational level of study will prove beneficial.Apr 26, 2017
Human cannibalism. See also. Comparative mythology is the comparison of myths from different cultures in an attempt to identify shared themes and characteristics. Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes. For example, scholars have used the relationships between different myths to trace the development ...
Some scholars look at the linguistic relationships between the myths of different cultures. For example, the similarities between the names of gods in different cultures. One particularly successful example of this approach is the study of Indo-European mythology. Scholars have found striking similarities between the mythological and religious terms used in different cultures of Europe and India. For example, the Greek sky-god Zeus Pater, the Roman sky-god Jupiter, and the Indian (Vedic) sky-god Dyauṣ Pitṛ have linguistically identical names.
In many cases, the flood leaves only one survivor or group of survivors. For example, both the Babylonian E pic of Gilgamesh and the Hebrew Bible tell of a global flood that wiped out humanity and of a man who saved the Earth’s species by taking them aboard a boat. Similar stories of a single flood survivor appear in Hindu mythology as well as Greek, Norse mythology and Aztec mythology.
In the Greek myth of the Titanomachy, the Olympian gods defeat the Titans, an older and more primitive divine race, and establish cosmic order. Similarly, the Celtic gods of life and light struggle against the Fomorians, ancient gods of death and darkness. This myth of the gods conquering demons – and order conquering chaos – is especially common in Indo-European mythologies. Some scholars suggest that the myth reflects the ancient Indo-Europeans’ conquest of native peoples during their expansion over Europe and India.
Beliefs about dragons vary drastically by region, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, four-legged, and capable of breathing fire. Whereas dragons in eastern cultures are usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence.
It is speculated that like genes, myths evolve by a process of descent with modification. The striking parallels between biological and mythological evolution allow the use of computational statistics to infer evolutionary relatedness and to build the most likely phylogenetic tree for a mythological family. Mythological phylogenies constructed with mythemes clearly support low horizontal transmissions (borrowings), historical (sometimes pre-historic) diffusions and punctuated evolution. Additionally, the protoversion could be statistically reconstructed. Mythological phylogenies also are a potentially powerful way to test hypotheses about cross-cultural relationships among folktales
Originating in ancient Egyptian iconography, the Ouroboros or uroborus is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The Ouroboros entered western tradition via Greek magical tradition.
The anthropologist C. Scott Littleton defines comparative mythology as "the systematic comparison of myths and mythic themes drawn from a wide variety of cultures". By comparing different cultures' mythologies, scholars try to identify underlying similarities and/or to reconstruct a "protomythology" from which those mythologies developed. To an extent, all theories about mythology follow a comparative approach: as the scholar of religion Robert Segal notes, "by definition, all theorists [of myth] seek similarities among myths". However, scholars of mythology can be roughly divided into particularists, who emphasize the differences between myths, and comparativists, who emphasize the similarities. Particularists tend to "maintain that the similarities deciphered by comparativists are vague and superficial".
In the Greek myth of the Titanomachy, the Olympian gods defeat the Titans, an older and more primitive divine race, and establish cosmic order. In Hindu mythology, the devas (gods) battle the asuras (demons). And the Celtic gods of life and light struggle against the Fomors, ancient gods of death and darkness.
One such myth from New Guinea tells of a miraculously-conceived girl named Hainuwele, whose murdered corpse sprouts into the people's staple food crops. The Chinese myth of Pangu, the Vedic myth of Purusha, and the Norse myth of Ymir all tell of a cosmic giant who is killed to create the world.
For example, many myths describe a great tree or pillar joining heaven, earth, and the underworld. Vedic India, ancient China, and the ancient Germans all had myths featuring a "Cosmic Tree" whose branches reach heaven and whose roots reach hell. Template:See also
A number of scholars have suggested that hero stories from various cultures have the same underlying structure. Otto Rank, a follower of Sigmund Freud, argued that the stories of heroes' births have a common Oedipal structure. Other scholars, including Lord Raglan and, more recently, Joseph Campbell, have also suggested that hero stories share a common structure. Some comparative mythologists look for similarites only among hero stories within a specific geographical or ethnic range. For example, the Austrian scholar Johann Georg van Hahn tried to identify a common structure underlying " Aryan " hero stories. Others, such as Campbell, propose theories about hero stories in general. According to Campbell's " monomyth " theory, hero stories from around the world share a common plot structure. Because of its extremely comparative nature, the monomyth theory is currently out of favor with the mainstream study of mythology. Template:See also