Rose Perkins: Myth in Life (Topic of my Own Choosing)

    What does myth mean in every day life? I saw other blogs asking this question and it made me pause. When we were younger, myths were very prevalent in life. From the fairy tales and nursery rhymes we were read as children, to ancient myths we grew up with, many beliefs were formed around these stories. Some may say that myth has faded from our lives. However, this is not the case, especially for myself.

    As a Classical Studies major with a focus on Ancient Greece, my life revolves around mythology. I developed this interest in elementary school when I read the Percy Jackson series. I then taught myself the Greek alphabet, read as many Greek mythology tales as I could find, and took a mythology class when I got to high school. It has been my main interest for over ten years. For a while, I did not know it was something I could major in. However, once I discovered it, I have not changed my mind since. I wake up thinking about myth. I fall asleep thinking about myth. I compare myth and find mythological themes and archetypes in everything that I do. Mythology is my life. 

    Though myth is especially prevalent in my life, it does not mean that it is not present in everyone's life. Myth shapes reality. We normally think of myth as the ancient stories we hear about from various cultures. This is a part of myth, but it is not what it is. Today, we think of myth as a word that means "falsehood." This is not true either. Myth, as I learned in multiple classes in the last couple semesters, is a story. Just a story. In this sense, myth defines life. Myth helps individuals find the meaning of life. We would not have the life we have without myth. It would be a miserable, pointless life. We have art, literature, government, music, and many other things because of ancient culture and myth. The periods where the necessity of myth has been doubted caused chaos. There have been times where scientists claimed logos (logic) was the only way. This caused people to try to live their lives with logic but without myth. This caused people to lose life's meaning. It caused chaos. Without myth, the cosmos would fall into chaos.

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