Mythology

By

Kayla and Kaylee

Ms. Watts

4th Period Reading Class

March 2011

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What is mythology?

Introduction:

I. The word myth

1. Comes from Greek

A. Mythos- meaning “story”.

2. Not a collection of lies but a collection of truths.

3. Myths are stories that explore rather than explain.

4. Humankind has made myths from the dawn of history.

5. Ancestors play a very important role in mythology.

6. Myths are passed on by storytelling.

7. Passed on by word of mouth, writing, rituals, dances, dramas, and

artworks.

8. Many mythologies hope for life after death.

I. Creation of the World

1. Believed to be made as a deliberate.

9. Described as having originally been all oceans.

10. People say that two creators shaped the earth.

11. Vikings believed that the world started when the fire from the south

met the ice from the north.

12. According to the ancient Greeks, the Earth was thought to be a disk

floating on a waste of waters.

13. Scientists say that the world started with an explosion 13 billion

years ago.

14. The ancient Persians thought the earth began with 2 spirits, one

good and one evil.

II. The Cosmos

1. The world is often thought to have emerged from a cosmic egg.

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 15. People believed the egg vibrated and then a creator spirit came out.

16. A myth was that two people walked around the world and when

they met up they were old but they proved that fact that the earth was

round.

17. A myth told by the Inuit people of the Arctic tundra tells how two

families set out in opposite directions

18. They believed that humans created the world.

III. Sun and Moon

1. They are able to tell time says many myths.

2. American Cherokees said the sun is female and it tells the sadness of

when her daughter died from a rattlesnake bite.

3. The Cherokee made myths often about the sun and the moon.

4. Some believe that the sun and the moon take turns during night and

day to light up the world.

5. Some also believe that the sun cause polluting of the world because of

an old myth people used to tell involving the daughter of the sun.

IV. Making Humankind

1. All have different myths on how mankind was made.

2. One says man was from a pod of a beach pea. When he got out

ravens taught him how to make a clay wife that became real.

3. Another one says mankind was made from tears.

4. The Norse god Odin made the first man and woman from driftwood.

5. A myth telling how the Norse god Heimdall fathered the various

kinds of men.

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V. Supreme Beings

1. Most myths have one supreme God.

2. Most supreme Gods are essentially sky gods.

3. Greek God Zeus is essentially a sky god.

4. The supreme god is thought to have retired from the world.

VI. Floods and Storms

1. A flood that only the lucky few survived is a popular myth.

2. The earliest flood was in Mesopotamian.

3. A Greek god named Zeus was tired of mean humans so he sent a

flood to drown them all. The giant Prometheus warned his son who built

an ark to save his wife and him.

4. The giant Prometheus warned his son Deucalion who built the ark in

time to save himself.

VII. The Elements

1. Fire, Air, Earth, and Water are the “Four Elements”,

2. The Chinese have five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and,

Water.

3. The Elemental forces that form it have been the focus of myth

making.

4. Gods of the air and the sky have been so important that the names of

many supreme gods such as Greek Zeus simply mean sky.

VIII. The Natural World

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 1. All elements of the natural world: Animals, Flowers, Plants, and

Trees.

2. The Natural World elements are the gift of the gods.

3. Many cultures worshiped the Earth as a mother goddess.

4. Hunting societies believe that game is withheld or released by

divinities such as Sedna, the North American Inuit mistress of the sea

beasts.

5. In the forests of the northern Cameroon hunters prey to the Bedimo,

ancestral spirits, to release game from their divine stables.

IX. Fertility and Birth

1. Pacha Mama the name of the Inca Fertility goddess.

2. Hittite God is of farming, and telepinu.

3. Birth and fertility were not exclusively the reserve of goddesses.

4. Frey was the Norse god of fertility a role given in Egypt to the gods.

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Kayla and Kaylee

Ms. Watts

4th Period

March 4, 2011

It was a freezing, and chilly night and it was Storm’s bed time. So he
asked his mother if she could read him a book so he could fall asleep faster.
She decides to read him a story. The mom picks out a book about
mythology.
The mother started with where the word myth came from. She said
that the word myth came from the word mythos that came from the Greek.
Storm wanted to know what that meant and she told him it meant story.
Storm told his mother that myths are a bunch of dumb lies. She said no, they
are they are a collection of truths. His mother told him he was going to tell
him a myth. She also told him that myths are passed on by storytelling and
he could pass this on by telling his friends this story. One of the oldest myths
ever told was how the Earth was made. Some believe people came out of an
egg and started the world. People also say that God got angry with human
kind and he wanted to destroy it. So he told one pure person to take one of
every animal and he and his wife would go onto an ark and be saved. He
wanted all of human kind to die so he could restart.
Some people even believed in elements. The “four elements” were
fire, air, earth, and water. The Chinese had five elements that were wood,
fire, earth, metal, and water. Gods of the air and the sky have been so
important that the names of many supreme gods such as Greek Zeus which
simply mean sky. Another crazy myth is they believed that only gods could
have kids.
So Storm asked his mom if she was a god she said no it’s just a myth
that only gods can have kids. So then Storm’s Mother went on to a different
but interesting myth that was about the “Natural World. Storm’s mother tells
him there are Elements of the Natural World. Storm had asked his mother
what are the elements. She replies and tells him the elements are animals,
plants, flowers, and, trees. She goes on and says that these elements are a
gift from God. But many cultures worshiped Earth as a mother goddess.
Storm gets really interested in Mythology and nicely asks his mother
to go on to the next chapter. So she moves on the Fertility and Birth and
reads on about how Birth and Fertility were not exclusively reserve of

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goddesses. She also explains how Frey was the Norse god of Fertility a role
given in Egypt to the gods. She also tells Storm that Pacha mama the name
of the Inca Fertility was a Goddess.
After that Storm’s mom told him it was time for bed but Storm wanted to
hear more myths. His mom told him maybe tomorrow. She left the room and
turned off the light and shut the door behind her and Storm dreamt of myths
all night.

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 WORKS CITED
Philip, Neil. Eyewitness books Mythology. 1st. New York City: DK
Publishing Inc., 2005. 8-26. Print.

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Checklist

1 The outline
 The introduction states the main topic or idea of the outline, and the
conclusion summarizes it.

 Each sub-topic describes the main idea for a paragraph.

 Supporting information and details for a sub-topic are listed under the
sub-topic, with each piece of information listed separately.

 When supporting information is listed under a sub-topic, there are at

least two pieces of information listed. If there is only one piece of
information to support a sub-topic, the information is included in the
sub-topic.

2 The paper
 The paper follows the organization of the outline.

 Each paragraph in the paper matches a sub-topic in the outline, and

presents the information and details listed under the sub-topic.

 Each paragraph includes a topic sentence that summarizes the main

idea of the paragraph.

 Every sentence begins with a capital letter.

 Every sentence ends with a period, question mark, or exclamation

mark.

 All words are spelled correctly.

 There are no missing words.

3 Works cited
 Every source has a specific reference in the paper. Include only the
sources that are mentioned in the paper.

 Each entry follows the correct format for the type of reference.

 Entries are listed in alphabetical order, according to the author’s last

name.

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 Tips for Writing Your Report

1 Create a schedule
 Identify the tasks you need to do.

 Arrange the tasks in the order you’ll need to do them.

 Estimate how long each task will take. Be sure to allow enough time
for editing and making changes.

 Identify the date the report is due, and then set a schedule showing
what work you’ll need to do each day in order to have your report
ready on time.

4 Add interest
 Use graphs and charts to illustrate an idea.

 Add a picture, photo, or drawing.

 Include a map.

 Find a quotation and use it to make your point.

5 Make every word count

 Choose words your reader will understand. Remember that you want
to communicate your ideas to the person reading your paper.

 Avoid clichés.

 Use a thesaurus to replace overused words and find new ways to

express your ideas.

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