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Do Myths have any basis on Reality?


debmedia

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A very simple queston: are there any reality in any mythologycal story? We all know that they are fantasy stories. but i just wonder if there any sort of reality in them. I get a link in wikipedia on similar topic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_understanding_of_Greek_mythology

If any reality in any myth then explain. if there any website or any articles on this topic then do post here.

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A very simple queston: are there any reality in any mythologycal story? We all know that they are fantasy stories. but i just wonder if there any sort of reality in them. I get a link in wikipedia on similar topic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_understanding_of_Greek_mythology

If any reality in any myth then explain. if there any website or any articles on this topic then do post here.

I believe that myths do contain truth, yes. And even literal truth, occasionally. For instance, the deluge myth has been repeated so many times across the world that I believe that some real significant period of flooding did occur in the distant past. As for all myths being true, it would be very unwise of me to take such a position on faith. But when it comes to myths such as those recorded in the itihasa, those of the ancient Greeks, Chinese, and Japanese, to name a few, I do think that it is reasonable, based on the historical method, to reach the conclusion that the events recorded in the ancient myths might actually have occurred at some time in antiquity.

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I guess myths are stories invented long ago to keep children/people amused ,before modern inventions (radio/tv) maybe some have a ring of truth, but then they would become legends.

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All myths have a basis in reality, be it as an explanation for a physical phenomenon (how humans learnt to use fire, where lightning comes from etc) or as an exageration of genuine events (The destructuin of Troy for example probably involved less goslings and more death).

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can anybody give any example comparing a myth with reality? like, one i can tell you, if you read norse mythology, you can get that they belived in multi planet. as they thought there are 9 world. i wonder, how they even think about multi planets when no telescope must found. if there is no advance science, how all myths tells us the process of creation so similar to one we know scientifically?

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can anybody give any example comparing a myth with reality? like, one i can tell you, if you read norse mythology, you can get that they belived in multi planet. as they thought there are 9 world. i wonder, how they even think about multi planets when no telescope must found. if there is no advance science, how all myths tells us the process of creation so similar to one we know scientifically?

As I said, a decent example of a clear myth-meets-reality is the virtually universal flood myth.

Another good example is that of a war of the gods; the Titans .vs. the Olympians, the devas .vs. the asuras, the gods .vs. the giants, etc. Whatever the meaning of this myth is interpreted to be, it undeniably is common to most cultures of the ancient world, and thus likely contains some truth.

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Hi all I really like this topic :)

As far as myth goes I think that a whole lot of them may have basis in truth, stretched and changed and turned over the years much like broken telephone.

The nine world 9 planet thing I cant comment on as I have no info on it.

But then there are some myths that are just to far out there and some fanatics that try to hard and bend truth and reality to prove them, again i will mention the Adams calander and Sumerian gods myth, some guys here in South Africa are hell bent on making those 2 link but in all honesty I think they are very very wrong. Could be cool if they had serious proof but they dont.

So yes my opinion says some myths have basis in history but some are just people telling tall tales for entertainment or to prove a point. Then there are the extream more crazy people that like to porn off what they think and believe without any proof or basis and that just is a shame Only science and time can tell.

Have a great day all

Have a great day all.

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As I said, a decent example of a clear myth-meets-reality is the virtually universal flood myth.

Another good example is that of a war of the gods; the Titans .vs. the Olympians, the devas .vs. the asuras, the gods .vs. the giants, etc. Whatever the meaning of this myth is interpreted to be, it undeniably is common to most cultures of the ancient world, and thus likely contains some truth.

Im drawn to agree with you, if 1 person says something it cant be taken at face value BUT the story/statement holds more credibility when told to you by 10 different people for 10 different places, cultures and race.

Nice post

Peter

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Saying that all myths have a basis in reality because they're used to explain natural phenomena is a bit of a stretch. We simply don't know that all myths have a basis in truth, and probably will never know. But saying they definitely all do leaves the door dangerously open to a lot of pseudohistory.

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Saying that all myths have a basis in reality because they're used to explain natural phenomena is a bit of a stretch. We simply don't know that all myths have a basis in truth, and probably will never know. But saying they definitely all do leaves the door dangerously open to a lot of pseudohistory.

Agreed :) it is not possible for all myths to have basis in truth or history, here is South African the local tribes have myths of all kinds of things. Most of them are stories passed from generation to generation and if there was any truth in them i think its been lost thought the years.

So again thats why I think some Myth most def has its place and basis in truth and others are just stories :)

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I imagine that some do and some don't. I think most are just stories. Similar to Little Red Riding Hood. Probably not based off of true events, but a warning of the dangers if you venture into the forest.

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can anybody give any example comparing a myth with reality?

Not exactly what you wanted, but what about Brigadier General Douglas Haig. Legend has him as the Butcher of the Somme who mercilesly sent men to die to seize metres of land, who cared not a jot for the men under his command.

The reality of the man was thay he was fighting a 20th century war with a 18th century mindset, a failing for sure but he was as innovative and radic#l as his and his fellows' mindaet would allow. After the war he was responsible for the Returned Servicemeen's League and other groups tha looked out for servicemen and their families like Legacy.

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can anybody give any example comparing a myth with reality? like, one i can tell you, if you read norse mythology, you can get that they belived in multi planet. as they thought there are 9 world. i wonder, how they even think about multi planets when no telescope must found. if there is no advance science, how all myths tells us the process of creation so similar to one we know scientifically?

I don't know why they thought there were 9 worlds... but Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn ( and sometimes Uranus if you have extra good vision) are visible without a telescope. If they also thought of the sun and moon as "worlds" then along with earth , that makes 9.

We can see that planets move, as they orbit the sun, stars and galaxies appear to be motionless.

"planet" is Greek for "wanderer".

Also in Norse mythology, It was said they used some sort of stone to guide them across the ocean.

It is now known that they did possess "sunstone" crystals which are capable of polarizing light , allowing the vikings to locate the sun even on overcast days.

The Hittite empire, the only evidence of which was in the Bible, until physical evidence was found.

My guess is that many myths have some basis in fact.

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Read Plutarch's books he states opposing ideas of different myths from rome and greece

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Read Plutarch's books he states opposing ideas of different myths from rome and greece

That will help me, I just want something like that. thanks. and also mention if there any particular books you can remember.

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Plutarch's lives, Volume 1

Skip all the intros and such until you get to Theseus. the books about famous people from Greece and Rome but does show arguments about these heroes and there authenticity.

Edited by Ever Learning
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I would say a lot of myths are based on an event, they become myths once the story telling of the original event embellishes the original story so that it is almost unbelievable. As well as this I believe many Myths may be based on coincidence, one event coincides with another these events are then linked together through ignorance and a myth is born.

Unfortunately being Myths we can never really prove this.

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A very simple queston: are there any reality in any mythologycal story? We all know that they are fantasy stories. but i just wonder if there any sort of reality in them. I get a link in wikipedia on similar topic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_understanding_of_Greek_mythology

If any reality in any myth then explain. if there any website or any articles on this topic then do post here.

I think a lot of myths have a grain of truth to them. I don't think they all do though.

It's not mythology.. But ghost and critter legends vs true crime and real critters, one of my fave areas of research. Sometimes a real crime lies behind the myth, but the story has been skewed over the years. Or sometimes a killer described as a beast becomes a beast of non-human nature in enough retellings. Sometimes a real animal is retold into mythic proportions as a generation or two goes by. And sometimes when you dig into a legend, you find there is nothing behind it at all, and it is just simply a legend. Or sometimes you find a hoax behind the legend. Occasionally a mistelling will spawn off a whole different legend that gets passed on.

I bet mythology is a lot like that.. A bunch of different reasons why the legends take root, some based in truth, some just made up. But since that was many centuries ago, and we humans have a fondness for destroying our own records... Probably unlikely we will ever be able to dig the truth out of a lot of mythology.

Kind of makes me wonder... In a thousand years from now, what will Jack the Ripper be? A foul killer of a human- or some sort of mythic critter that stalked the night streets, kind of akin to the minotaur and his maze? In a couple thousand years, what will the legend of WW2 be retold as- if it's even retold at all?

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I believe most or all myth is simply a misunderstanding of ancient writing.

Up until about 2000 BC man used a "natural language" that was similar to com-

puter code in the way ideas were expressed but language was becoming far too

complex to continue to express ideas this way. A man from Babel, Sumeria in-

vented a new way to use words and engraved them on a building or tower. This

new way to use words was wildly popular and it spread across the face of the

planet very rapidly.

It is only dimly remembered but the story is told in numerous languages and ev-

en appears in the new world. I Corinthians 14 might be a look at the troubles

engendered by the change early on. Certainly the new language was "confused" and

where scientific predictions had been made just by using proper grammar it now

was a lost art.

Religion arose to try to save ancient knowledge and myths were the people's man-

gled understanding of important history, science, and technology of the past.

Almost no ancient writing survived because it was unintelligible. Little attempt

was made to preserve ancient texts. There might have even been political reasons

to destroy much of it since anyone might come along and reinterpret the very foun-

dations of your belief system. But usually even copying it was out of the question

since it simply wasn't comprehended.

Man has been on a confused 4000 year detour.

  • Confused 1
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I believe most or all myth is simply a misunderstanding of ancient writing.

Up until about 2000 BC man used a "natural language" that was similar to com-

puter code in the way ideas were expressed but language was becoming far too

complex to continue to express ideas this way. A man from Babel, Sumeria in-

vented a new way to use words and engraved them on a building or tower. This

new way to use words was wildly popular and it spread across the face of the

planet very rapidly.

It is only dimly remembered but the story is told in numerous languages and ev-

en appears in the new world. I Corinthians 14 might be a look at the troubles

engendered by the change early on. Certainly the new language was "confused" and

where scientific predictions had been made just by using proper grammar it now

was a lost art.

Religion arose to try to save ancient knowledge and myths were the people's man-

gled understanding of important history, science, and technology of the past.

Almost no ancient writing survived because it was unintelligible. Little attempt

was made to preserve ancient texts. There might have even been political reasons

to destroy much of it since anyone might come along and reinterpret the very foun-

dations of your belief system. But usually even copying it was out of the question

since it simply wasn't comprehended.

Man has been on a confused 4000 year detour.

I certainly agree to some extent. The Dark Ages in particular may have acted as a significant loss of the meaning of myths; for instance, I have contemplated as to whether all cultures had "gods" in the modern sense, or whether it was a mistake of medieval scribes which resulted in our thinking that today. I am not certain that all myths are true (some might just have been campfire stories), but many of them do seem to be well-corroborated accounts of what might have actually occurred in the ancient past.

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A very simple queston: are there any reality in any mythologycal story? We all know that they are fantasy stories. but i just wonder if there any sort of reality in them. I get a link in wikipedia on similar topic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_understanding_of_Greek_mythology

If any reality in any myth then explain. if there any website or any articles on this topic then do post here.

I believe that myths do contain truth, yes. And even literal truth, occasionally. For instance, the deluge myth has been repeated so many times across the world that I believe that some real significant period of flooding did occur in the distant past. As for all myths being true, it would be very unwise of me to take such a position on faith. But when it comes to myths such as those recorded in the itihasa, those of the ancient Greeks, Chinese, and Japanese, to name a few, I do think that it is reasonable, based on the historical method, to reach the conclusion that the events recorded in the ancient myths might actually have occurred at some time in antiquity.

I also believe many myths have a basis in fact. The Biblical Deluge seems to originate in the flooding of the Black Sea. And over time these myths travel with the merchants and soldiers, and are slowly changed to fit into the local history and cosmology.

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can anybody give any example comparing a myth with reality? like, one i can tell you, if you read norse mythology, you can get that they belived in multi planet. as they thought there are 9 world. i wonder, how they even think about multi planets when no telescope must found. if there is no advance science, how all myths tells us the process of creation so similar to one we know scientifically?

Well one thing is that the Norse mythology is relatively new. It is not known before the 11th century. So it was most likely a local flavor edition of a hodge podge of various religions, including Roman, Celtic and Christian. All of which were over 1000 years old at the time. The concept of the 9 layers of hell had been estabished at that time, so the 9 worlds of the Norse could possibly be drawn from that.

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"Legend, fable, myth refer to fictitious stories, usually handed down by tradition (although some fables are modern). Legend, originally denoting a story concerning the life of a saint, is applied to any fictitious story, sometimes involving the supernatural, and usually concerned with a real person, place, or other subject: the legend of the Holy Grail. A fable is specifically a fictitious story (often with animals or inanimate things as speakers or actors) designed to teach a moral: a fable about industrious bees. A myth is one of a class of stories, usually concerning gods, semidivine heroes, etc., current since primitive times, the purpose of which is to attempt to explain some belief or natural phenomenon: the Greek myth about Demeter."

Just thought I would add a def as I was unclear about the distinction between the words legend, fable and myth and thought maybe others might be too....

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Certainly they do.

For indeed, in these verses, and in what he said of the Cyclopes, he speaks the words of God and nature; for poets are a divine race and often in their strains, by the aid of the Muses and the Graces, they attain truth - Plato.

http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/laws.3.iii.html

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I wonder when I find the similarities between myths from many different culture and race, like, there are similarities in creation myth both in Mayan and Egyptian myths. how it is possible? one from Africa, one from America. totally different region. I wonder how there are so many similarities all over the world's myths.

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