Is there a logical explanation for what we term as myths?

Question

How did so many cultures develop similar stories concerning fairies, elves, gnomes, leprechans, devas, etc?

Why do so many popular children's stories include dragons, fairies, etc?

Is there any underlying truth to any of the stories?

Answer 1

Tony D's answer is very good. As Joseph Campbell poins out, there are very similar myths in cultures that never had the chance to interact. There are certain basic 'rules' and 'explanations' that needed to be taught to the next generation. Storytellers  developed ways to pass the important 'rules' on.

Wouldn't that be nicer tha memorizing facts in school?

Answer 2

what call "myths" were at one time religion (greek myths).

a possible explaination for the common themes among myths from different cultures may be because at one time all these different groups of people belonged to one large group. as this one group of people split (into the different groups leading to the differnt cultures we have today) they would have taken their stories, from then oral tradition, with them as the people's diverged. as seperate groups, time has allowed for similar themes to be written into the many versions we have (origin myths, season myths...).

also, another theory suggests that myths are codes--for example, the greek myth of hephestus and his "the net" is a cleverly disquised alchemy recipe: "the net" is the first step in creating the "philosopher's stone".

also (again), what we term "monster" in a myth may acutally be describing a real animal, that has since gone extinct or is hard to locate--for example, the giant panda was once thought a mythical creature.

furthermore, "fairytales" are not necessarily meant for children.

or i could be completely BS-ing you =P

Answer 3

I like MysteriousBob & TonyD's answers,What man believes governs what he does. Irrespective of whether a myth or legend is literally true of not, if people believe it to be true, this will play a part in shaping their activities. Belief in some myths is relatively harmless.like for example;the legend concerning Robin Hood who, according legend, robbed the rich to give to the poor, although it might be argued that type of myth encourages the concept of the Welfare State. Realists will object to this view, pointing out that every individual suffers in some way at the hands of the Modern State.one of the logical explanations will then be ,it is used as a manner to expose the truth of a given situation ,in history,

societies,groups,religions and so on..

Answer 4

Its not about the creatures in the stories but more of the message the story sends. All fairy tails and myths have a point to the story like dont put all your eggs in one basket for example. And for many cultures having similar stories that due to oral story telling. Some tells a story then the people who heard it travel somewhere to trade and they tell the story there but slightly different and so on and so on.

Answer 5

Maybe there true!

Answer 6

There's always some truth behind the mythology. Plato's story of Atlantis for instance, or the story of the Trojan war, almost certainly have some basis in fact. Even Odysseus' wanderings have been traced ( see Henriette Mertz - The Wine Dark Sea). Stories of Dragons are the most fascinating however, because they are mentioned by so many different cultures, on so many continents. There are stories of Dragons in Greek, Norse, and Chinese mythology. Even Christianity has a dragon slaying hero - St George. The explanation given by Patois about digging up old dinosaur bones is interesting, except that there are no dinosaur remains in Greece at least.

One myth, which has fascinated mankind for ages though, is the myth of the werewolf. I have just recently stumbled across a passage in Herodotus, The Histories (Penguin Classics translation, Book 4), from which I quote.

"It appears that these people practice magic, for there is a story current amongst the Scythians and the Greeks in Scythia, that once a year every Neurian turns into a wolf for a few days and then turns back into a man again. I do not believe this tale, but all the same, they tell it and even swear to the truth of it."

I had always believed that this myth appeared in Europe, in the Balkans - and more specifically, Romania.

Answer 7

From the begining of time there have been story tellers... One person with a vivid imagination... Who spoke a story to someone, who became inspired by the words they heard... Who told someone else, who was to be inspired... who told someone else.. and so on and so on... -smiles- If you tell your children... something like... "there is a creature called the grundle.. who lives behind a tree out in the backyard... and they can grant your wishes ONLY on a full moon eclipse"... and they take that into consideration, and then write a story about it... you've just made grundles... at least.. within the life of a book.. have its own soul...-smiles-

Answer 8

You might find the books "Myths to Live By" by Joseph Campbell and "Man and His Symbols" by Carl Jung very interesting and enlightening on the subjects of myths.

I also believe there is an American Folklore Society that could be helpful to you.

Michael John Weaver

Answer 9

The greeks and romans or whoever made the myth needed reasons for things like "why does the sun go across the sky?" "oh, it's apollo's chariot" or "why does my voice repeat when i yell into a canyon?" "oh, that's echo , a nymph that was punished by hera and can only repeat words she hears"

Answer 10

many myths do use a common theme take the Noah story it comes from the Gilgamesh story one of the oldest written found,a Greek tale that is very like the Noah story.Other deluge tale's exist a Celtic poem,a Hindu tale and two north American tale that I know of.,and of course Atlantis.These tales can now be proved human hunted in the north sea what is called doggerland after the dogger banks fishermen/dredges bring up spear points and other relics.the English channel was once marsh area.The med and black sea you can still find  structures under the sea,All these stories have a base in fact just need researching.A word of warning what happen once can happen again  with global warming a sudden  melt of the ice caps and we'll have our own deluge.

Answer 11

There is typically an underlying truth to myths. However, that doesn't mean dragons are real. Scientists suspect that dragon myths have developed from encounters with real animals, including one snake that spits poison.

On the other hand, maybe dragons or something similar were real once. I'm not about to pass judgement, but don't dismiss either possibility.

I would like to point out that the Eastern dragon is VERY different from the stereotypical Western dragon. They were givers of knowledge and rulers of water. They could be good or evil, but were usually benevolent or at least benign. I find it curious that both cultures have flying lizard-things, but they are still so different.

I personally believe or at least suspect that these legends have a significant basis of truth to them, but I will NOT try to convince you. It's your mind; YOU decide your opinion, not me. Research it, look it up, consider the evidence for both sides, and don't let your refusal to be open or desire to prove a myth get in the way!

Answer 12

If they happened, there was a logical explanation.  Otherwise, they didn't happen.  That's how reality works.

Answer 13

Long ago, when people dug into the ground to make roads and buildings, they occasionally unearthed old dinosaur bones. Can you imagine what they must have thought?  They called them dragons and entertained themselves at work and after evening meal with wonderful stories about what dragons must have been like . . .so BIG . . .so toothy and dangerous and mysterious. Through the years, the stories were embellished and grew fanciful.  As for "little people", originally there were numerous species of humans, oftentimes coexisting.  Many of our fanciful stories, embellished through the years, hail from those times, just passed down through hundreds of generations. Also, recent evidence in Europe found that some sort of "little people" actually did live there, co-existing with Neanderthal and Cro magnon humans. Their species apparently died out in some chronic disease that plagued them.

Answer 14

My 10c:

It is Jung's archetypes. It could be that since at the primitive time our brain was lucid and we were trancelike in a state of zombie state we could more easily affect reality or as many may say we were one with it. Thus it could be because of our strong beliefs they were 'real' in one sense. It's kinda like the Buddhist tulpa which are only in existence as long as the meditator wants it to be.

Dunno much about my response being 'logical' though.