Chapter 1.4 - Myths and Legends

Myths narrate events that are believed to have taken place in ancient times within the superhuman plane. They deal with things of the past. Some of them are indeed stories about gods. Mythology is actually the study of myths and not a collection of various myths. According to the Greek authors of repute, myths are heavily prone to imagination rather than to truth. But this does not mean that all myths are untrue. The ancient people had a lot of respect for their myths and they strongly believed in them. They did not take the tales about their gods as mere fiction or the products of wild imagination.

Myths are to be differentiated from the fictitious accounts of historical persons. Such accounts are rightly called legends. The legends imitate myths. They can be some kind of mythical accounts of real persons. Patterns of mythical narration are mixed with heroic tales, artful and fictitious accounts of persons, places and events. Irrationality is inherent in a myth. It is only imaginative, but supported by blind faith in traditions and it indicates inquisitiveness and often supplies answer to the multifarious riddles of life and everyday living.¹