-
Essay / Mystery of Myth - 1122
A myth is a popular term that is commonly misused by people. Many people have tried to explain what a myth is, but due to its fictional nature, it is not easy to explain what it is. The aim of this essay is to discuss this term, myth and study it in a deeper sense by revealing the complexity of the term and exploring the different meanings of the word. This will be done by distinguishing the different notions of myths, comparing the different uses of myths through the use of Roland's myths to that of Barthes and concluding by explaining how myths relate to religion and ideology. The examples in this essay will be taken from the X-Files episode titled Quagmire. Colin Grant in his book Myths we live by explains that there are two important meanings of myths. There is the personal sense, and the academic approach. He goes on to define a myth as something false, naive, outdated and a matter of ill-informed and gullible people. This can be accepted as the academic approach to the definition of myth. From a personal point of view, myths can be defined as stories that have been passed down from generation to generation and, therefore, are considered the truth. Grant goes on to add that a myth is a lie that is exposed as soon as its mythical nature is recognized. There are three approaches to myths; a journalistic myth, a scientific myth and a living myth (Preston, 2010). The journalistic approach to myth is that a myth must be exposed, which assumes that we do not notice it or see that it is false (Preston, 2010). Two characteristics of this approach. The first is that a journalistic myth ignores the broad influences and allegiances that shape our view of the truth. In the X-Files episode, despite the fact that there are people who actually believe in the middle of paper......e (Preston, 2010). This definition is similar to that of a myth because myths vary among different groups of people and cultures. Different cultures have different myths that they believe. Isaac Newton described the universe as a great machine and when he encountered a problem with his calculations in the observed moments of the planets, he concluded that God intervenes from time to time to readjust the orbits so that things go well (Grant, 1998). . Some people, for example scientists, believe that the world was created by an explosion, while others believe that God created the world. In conclusion, the idea of a myth is very diverse. They can be interpreted according to three different approaches. Different cultures are accustomed to the myths they grew up with, and this is naturally a continuous chain that is passed down from generation to generation..