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Urisk, on 06 January 2013 - 01:07 PM, said:
So perhaps yes, some myths may stem from truth- but more often than not it's only half-truths. The Cyclopes would be another example. The ancient Greeks found old elephant skulls, and the large hole wherethe trunk extends from was mistakenly identified as a singe lage eye. That's a myth- In this case it stems from something that was tangible, but it was way off the course; we know there are no Cyclopean giants. Kelpies stem from strong under-currents in pools and rivers, perhaps the thermocline in large bodies of water like lochs. As far as I'm aware there are no water horses swimming around in Scottish waters. More people would die unexplainable deaths otherwise.
You are right. Ancient wanted to describe something they didnt knew what was so they use explainations from their own. That depends on writter history, characther, beliefs,education. As in today world.
But Myths were not Fairies. There are two different students for each thing. One is Anthropologists. Other study Comperative literature or Languages or Journalism perhaps.
Tolkien wrote fantasy. Homer obviously didnt.
