My Life as a Mythic Detective

I am a Bible-believing Christian. I do not consider the Bible to be another mythological work. It is the Word of God. Because I believe this, I obviously do not agree with much of the content discussed during class. I do not say this to rile up the class or cause dissension, but to be honest. Rather than arguing over disparity in our understandings, I hope to highlight how gaining a greater understanding of mythology will be advantageous for me in many different areas of my life. And even though I do not hold the same mythological worldview, I do see the value in knowing about mythologies, and knowing how they have influenced history and the world we live in today.

The greatest way in which mythological knowledge helps me is in studying literature. I am seeking a degree in English Education, and the more I read texts of all kinds from all different time periods, I recognize my inability to recognize the allusions to myth. The allusions within literature are so powerful because the use of one word or short phrase, such as Cupid or pan pipes, and an entire story with many details is alluded to in the text. We noticed this phenomenon in art as we looked at the painting by Pieter Bruegel that showed two legs floundering in the water, hinting to the drowning of Icarus. Apart from knowing about these mythological stories, richness and depth of the artwork and writing are a mere fraction of what they would be with the understanding of myth. Even with the prolific availability of texts, pictures, movies, and all of the information and information processing abilities we have, the stories of myths are perpetuated by the creative works of art made by people of all generations.

Mythological stories are also helpful in learning about the characteristics of people and relationships among people. In fact, the stories of myths capture these realities so well that they remain timeless. We gained a greater understanding of this by Professor Sexson’s versions of the myths, and by the stories we wrote by displacing a myth. Even the gods of the myths illuminate the nature of humanity in a more unrestrained, exaggerated way. The gods perform acts of adultery, revenge, deception, rape, argument, power struggles, assistance, mercy, disguise, and more. And this leads me to my last point.

In an education class this semester, I was required to read a book about writing narratives. The major point of the books was how narratives (or stories) are in all parts of our lives, and they help us to understand ourselves, others, ideas, and our world. It appears to me that during the time of Ovid and all the way to 2013, mythologies have been used for those purposes: to understand ourselves, others, ideas, and our world. Mythologies have been successful in doing so, and they are beneficial to use in other contexts for the same reasons. Having improved my critical lens of mythologies, I am now more competent in my reading, writing, communication, and understanding of the culture and society today.