Quote:
Originally Posted by jason taylor
I use "myth" primary to mean "Cosmic level tales told in an epic style" rather then "untruth".
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I agree with
myth not being synonymous with
untruth, despite the pejorative, contemporary aception of the term. One of the original meanings of
myth was related to (cognizable) mysteries, in the sense and context of the so-called "mystery cults" (and the innermost core of some religions, too). I'm saying this because the main goal of
myth -but not the only one- isn't to be just "a fantasy of power"
per se, but a bridge to attain transcendent knowledge: greek
gnosis, hindu
jnana, islamic
Al Maarifa, hebrew
wisdom . . .
In this sense, I liked to see that the adventure
"The Golden Geniza of Ezkali" included in this
Pyramid issue features
That is in line with "mythic patterns" and at the same time, why not, fits well with
Dungeon Fantasy.
On the other hand, since there are many ancient cosmogonic myths portraying the immense power of divine entities, it's not difficult to understand how someone can think about them as "Cosmic level tales told in an epic style", albeit that won't be applicable to all of them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jason taylor
Anyone who has the talent can rewrite the latest theory of physics that way and then it would be a "myth" even if it is true. Often a "myth" will have some figurative truth in it.
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BTW, reading this mention of
myth in relation to contemporary physics, made me to remember a related google+ entry,
Science and Myth: "One forgets that science too has its mythology, and that the so-called truths at issue are also in a way mythical."