The one of mythology is the term with which we call the set of legends and myths that deal with fascinating gods, heroes or characters, who belong or belonged to a community, culture or people.
Set of myths and legends that tell stories about gods, heroes or fantastic creatures
We must say that mythology consists of the worldview of a culture, that is, it brings together a series of stories and beliefs through which these people have been able to explain to their own and others the origin and reason of everything that exists and has happened in a timely manner.
It comes from oral tradition and tries to explain phenomena and causes of events
A good part of the aforementioned legends and myths are narratives, stories that come from oral tradition and also from the legend itself, and whose reason for being is generally associated with the need to explain the origin of the world, of some deity, of those phenomena that take place on the planet, or any other issue for which there is no simple explanation.
However, mythology also has myths and legends that have nothing to do with curious natural phenomena or deities and that narrate issues inherent to the culture in which they are transmitted and become myths because they have been transmitted from generation to generation.
It should be noted that mythology has a special presence in most religions, whether ancient or current, and mythology and religion have almost always gone hand in hand.
Most of the myths were born from a situation associated with the sacred and then, over the centuries, it becomes secularized and comes to be conceived as a rather fictional story that is linked to the one that was believed at the time in the that originated.
Greek and Roman mythologies, the most emblematic and popular
Among the most prominent mythologies we find the Greek mythology (undoubtedly the most popular and that brings together all the stories and legends of the Greek gods and heroes, their rites and cults), the Roman mythology (It is made up of the myths and legends that prevailed in times of Roman empire, meanwhile, draws heavily on the Greek), scandinavian mythology (does the same but with the beliefs and myths of the peoples of Scandinavian origin) and the South American mythology (It is made up of the myths and legends of the southern region of the American continent, being the indigenous people who built it and contributed more to it).
Greek mythology, which as we have already mentioned is undoubtedly the most emblematic, has known how to host very popular gods such as Zeus, the highest deity of Olympus and the earth, Aphrodite, goddess of love, Ares, god of war, Hephaestus, god of fire and the forge, Poseidon, god of the waters, among others.
Now, but what are the myths and legends, brand-new components of mythologies ...
Characteristics of myth and legend
The myth consists of a fantastic narrative that is led by gods, heroes and fantastic characters, and whose story is located outside of a historical time, while it deals with explaining certain events or phenomena.
Myths are an integral part of the belief system held by a given people or culture.
And together they form mythology.
Myths, generally, bring us explanations about the origin of the world, the gods, good and evil, the passage of man on earth and stories about the end of the world, among others.
They usually answer existential questions such as where we come from, who we really are, where we are going, and why we are in this world, among others.
All those answers that are given to these questions were systematized as a consequence of their oral transmission, from generation to generation.
For its part, the legend is a story of popular tradition that has a historical basis, that is, it can be identified in a time line and deals with accounting for natural or fantastic events.
It is in the middle of myth and reality and, as with myths, it was transmitted and persisted over time through oral tradition from generation to generation.
The main difference it has with respect to myth is that it addresses stories of archetypal characters such as heroes, bad guys, good guys, among others, while myth exposes stories of gods or fantastic creatures.
On the other hand, we also use the word to account for the group of characters, heroes, ideas and theories, among others, that make up mythology, and to designate the study of myths and legends.
