How myths appeared. Where do myths and primary knowledge come from? Ancient Turkic mythology about how man appeared

Almost everyone knows the myth of the Minotaur. We all read legends and myths as children. Ancient Greece. At the end of the 80s of the last century, the encyclopedic two-volume book “Myths of the Peoples of the World” was published, which immediately became a bibliographic rarity.
The legend of the Minotaur begins with the misdeed of the king of the island of Crete, Minos. Instead of making a sacrifice to the god Poseidon (a bull was intended for the sacrifice), he kept the bull for himself. An angry Poseidon bewitched Minos' wife, and she committed terrible adultery with a bull. From this connection, a terrible half-bull, half-man called the Minotaur was born.
How did this myth arise?

The concept of “myth” is of ancient Greek origin and can be translated as “word”, “story”. These are ancient tales from before the beginning of time, and folk wisdom, and the energy of the cosmos, which flows into human culture.
But "myth" is different from ordinary word by the fact that it contains truth “having the power of the divine logos,” but which is difficult to grasp (as the ancient philosopher Empedocles said).

Myth is the most ancient form of knowledge transfer. It cannot be taken literally, only allegorically - as encrypted knowledge hidden in symbols.

Mythology forms the foundation of the culture of every nation. Myths existed among the ancient Greeks, Indians, Chinese, Germans, Iranians, Africans, residents of America, Australia and Oceania.
Myths existed not just in stories, but in chants (hymns - like the ancient Indian Vedas), in relics, in traditions, and rituals. Ritual is the original form of myth.

Myths are the most ancient form of human “philosophical” reflection, an attempt to understand where the world came from, what is the role of man in it, what is the meaning of his life. Only myth gives an answer about the meaning of human life in the aspect of history and metaphysical terms.

Previously people they lived, as it were, in two worlds: mythical and real, and there was no insurmountable barrier between them, the worlds were nearby and were permeable.

According to the formula of the French scientist Lucien Lévy-Bruhl: “ancient man participates in the events of the surrounding world, and does not oppose himself to it.”

The Swedish mystic scientist Emmanuel Swedenborg believed that ancient world the universal first man contained the memory of the deepest intuition of the unity of man and God.

Myths convey the idea that man is potentially immortal.
Myth-creating thought does not know dead matter; it sees the whole world as animated.
In the Egyptian Pyramid Texts there are the following lines: “When the sky had not yet arisen, when people had not yet arisen, when the gods had not yet arisen, when death had not yet arisen...”

Famous expert ancient mythology Academician A.F. Losev, in his monograph “Dialectics of Myth,” recognized that myth is not an invention, but an extremely practical and vital necessary category of consciousness and being.

What did ancient man fear most? Desecration of yourself! This meant spoiling the world created by the gods. Therefore, it was necessary to observe prohibitions (taboos) - developed through a long process of trial and error.

The French researcher Roland Barthes emphasized that myth is a system that simultaneously designates and notifies, inspires and prescribes, and is motivating in nature. According to Barthes, the "naturalization" of a concept is the main function of myth.
Myth is a “persuasive word”!

Ancient people believed myths unconditionally. Myths indicated what should be.
Doctor historical sciences M.F. Albedil in the book “In the Magic Circle of Myths” writes: “Myths were not treated as fiction or fantastic nonsense.”
No one asked the question of the authorship of the myth - who composed it. It was believed that myths were told to people by their ancestors, and to those by the gods. This means that myths contain primordial revelations, and people had only to preserve them in the memory of generations, without trying to change or invent something new.

Myths accumulated the experience and knowledge of many generations. Myths were something like an encyclopedia of life: in them one could find answers to all the main questions of existence. Myths told about ancient period in the history of mankind, which existed before the beginning of all time.

Professor of the Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg state university Roman Svetlov believes that “an archaic myth is a “theophany of truth”! Myth does not “construct”, but reveals the ontological structure of the Cosmos!
Myth is an image (cast) of primary Knowledge. Mythology is the comprehension of this primordial Knowledge.

There are different myths: 1\ “cosmogonic” – about the origin of the world; “eschatological” – about the end of the world, 3\ “calendar myth” – about the cyclical nature of natural life; and others.

Cosmogonic myths (about the creation of the world) exist in almost every culture. Moreover, they arose in cultures that did not communicate (!) with each other. The similarity of these myths amazed researchers so much that this myth was given the name “Prince Charming with a Myriad various persons».

IN primitive culture myths are the equivalent of science, a kind of encyclopedia of knowledge. Art, literature, religion, political ideology - they are all based on myths, they contain a myth, since they arose from mythology.

A myth in literature is a legend that conveys people’s ideas about the world, man’s place in it, the origin of all things, about Gods and heroes.

How did the myth of the minotaur originate?
The architect Daedalus, who escaped from Greece (from Athens), built the famous labyrinth in which the Minotaur, the bull-man, was settled. Athens, which had offended the Cretan king, in order to avoid war, had to supply 7 boys and 7 girls every year to feed the Minotaur. Girls and boys were taken away from Athens by a mourning ship with black sails.
One day greek hero Theseus, the son of the ruler of Athens, Aegeus, asked his father about this ship and, having learned the terrible reason for the black sails, set out to kill the Minotaur. Having asked his father to let him go instead of one of the young men intended for feeding, he agreed with him that if he defeated the monster, then the sails on the ship would be white, but if not, then they would remain black.

On Crete, before going to dinner with the Minotaur, Theseus charmed Minos' daughter Ariadne. A girl who fell in love before entering the labyrinth gave Theseus a ball of thread, which he unwound as he moved deeper and deeper into the labyrinth. In a terrible battle, the hero defeated the monster and returned along Ariadne's thread to the exit. IN Return trip he already set off with Ariadne.

However, Ariadne was supposed to become the wife of one of the gods, and Theseus was not at all part of their plans. Dionysius, namely, Ariadne was to become his wife, demanded that Theseus leave her. But Theseus was stubborn and did not listen. Angry, the gods sent a curse on him, which made him forget about his promise to his father, and he forgot to replace the black sails with white ones.
The father, seeing a galley with black sails, rushed into the sea, which was called the Aegean.

Ancient myths have come to us in a form revised by historians and writers.
Aeschylus created the tragedy “The Persians” based on a plot from current history, turning history itself into a myth.

Some believe that myths, fairy tales and legends are one and the same. But that's not true.
Myth is one of the forms of comprehension of primordial Knowledge. Literature can become a comprehension of primordial Knowledge if, like myth, it approaches the Source of Revelation. True creativity is not an essay, but a presentation!

But for modern writers characterized not by worship of myths, but free attitude to them, often supplemented by one’s own imagination. This is how the myth of Odysseus (king of Ithaca) turns into Joyce’s “Ulysses”.

It is from myths that scientists and artists draw inspiration. Sigmund Freud, in his teaching on psychoanalysis, used the myth of Oedipus the King, calling the phenomenon he discovered the “Oedipus complex.”
Composer Richard Wagner successfully used ancient Germanic myths in his opera cycle “The Ring of the Nibelung”.

When I visited Crete, I visited the Palace of Knossos. This outstanding monument Cretan architecture is located 5 km from Heraklion (the capital), among the vineyards on the Kefala hill. I was amazed by its size. The area of ​​the palace is 25 hectares. This mythological labyrinth had 1,100 rooms.

The Palace of Knossos is a complex jumble of hundreds of different rooms. It seemed to the Achaean Greeks to be a building from which it was impossible to find a way out. The word "labyrinth" has since become synonymous with a room with complex system location of rooms and corridors.

The ritual weapon that adorned the Palace was a double-sided axe. It was used for sacrifices and symbolized the dying and rebirth of the Moon. This ax was called Labrys (Labyris), which is why the illiterate mainland Greeks formed the name - Labyrinth.

The Knossos Palace was created over several centuries in the 2nd millennium BC. It had no analogues in Europe for the next 1500 years.
The palace was the seat of the rulers of Knossos and all of Crete. The ceremonial premises of the palace consisted of large and small “throne” halls and rooms for religious purposes. The supposed women's section of the palace contained a reception room, bathrooms, a treasury and various other rooms.
The palace had a wide sewer network made of clay pipes of large and small diameters, serving swimming pools, bathrooms and latrines.

It is difficult to imagine how people were able to build such a huge palace city, in some places numbering five floors. And it was equipped with sewerage, running water, everything was illuminated and ventilated, and it was protected from earthquakes. The palace housed storerooms, a theater for ritual performances, temples, guard posts, halls for receiving guests, workshops, and the chambers of Minos himself.

Architectural style The Knossos Palace is truly unique, despite the fact that it contains elements of Egyptian and ancient Greek architecture. The columns were unique and were called “irrational” in art history. They did not expand downwards, as in the buildings of other ancient peoples, but narrowed.

During excavations in the palace, over 2 thousand clay tablets with various records were found. The walls of Minos' chambers were covered with numerous colorful images. The sophistication of the profile line of a young woman in one of the frescoes and the grace of her hairstyle reminded archaeologists of fashionable and flirtatious French women. And therefore she was called “Parisian”, and this name has remained with her to this day.

Excavations and partial reconstruction of the palace were carried out at the beginning of the twentieth century. under the leadership of the English archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans. Evans believed that the palace was destroyed in 1700 BC. the explosion of the Thera volcano on the island of Santorini and the subsequent earthquake and flood. But he was wrong. Cypress beams, laid between the huge stones of the walls of the Knossos palace, dampened the tremors of the earthquake; the palace survived and existed for about 70 years, after which it was destroyed by fire.

Some criticize Evans for restoring the details of the palace in his own way, giving free rein to his imagination. In place of a pile of stones and several floors that were preserved but covered with earth, courtyards and chambers reappeared, newly painted columns, restored porticos, restored frescoes - the so-called “remake”.

Modern research methods are gradually destroying a beautiful fairy tale Evans. Mr. Wunderlich, who conducts research at the intersection of geology and archeology, believes that the Palace of Knossos was not the residence of the Cretan kings, but a huge burial complex like the Egyptian pyramids.

(CONTINUED IN COMMENTS)

© Nikolay Kofirin – New Russian Literature –http://www. Nikolaykofyrin. ru

Show previous comments (showing %s of %s)

(CONTINUATION)

But where did the minotaur, this bull-man, come from?
I am sure that the basis of the myth is real story. Now it is not known for certain how bulls got started in Crete. One can guess that they came to Crete along with a wave of settlers from the Middle Eastern civilization, who built palaces on Crete.
But why did the Cretans, who lived not by agriculture at all, but by maritime trade, worship bulls?
They invented the God of the Sea, named him Poseidon, and dressed him in the image of this very bull.

The ritual of worship of Poseidon in the form of a bull was arranged with the grace characteristic of Crete, and was reminiscent of “dancing with a bull.” Young dancers were recruited from mainland Greece. But not at all in order to kill the bull (as is done in the Spanish bullfight), but in order to play with the bull. Unarmed, well-trained dancers jumped over the bull and deceived him.
These young dancers were recruited to bring the culture of Crete to the Greek mainland. This is a proven historical fact!
But the mainland Greeks, who paid tribute to Crete, thus formalized their dissatisfaction with the tribute paid into the myth of the “monster” minotaur.

Or maybe this is how they really dealt with enemies in the Knossos Palace, leaving them alone with the bull?

All our lives we are captivated by myths. And even when we die, we believe in the myth of immortality!
Myths, hopes, fairy tales, dreams... How to break out of the captivity of illusions?
The truth is distorted without even meaning to.
What motivates the creation of a myth?

The consciousness of people is mythological. They love fairy tales and cannot stand the truth. And therefore it is dangerous to deprive people of the myths by which they have lived for a long time.
Having visited Israel in the places where Jesus of Nazareth was born, lived and preached, I became convinced that his life had been turned into a myth. And someone is making good money from this myth.

As a child, I was raised on myths about heroes of civil and great Patriotic War, and, of course, believed that this was the truth. But after perestroika the truth came out. It turned out that Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was just an arsonist peasant houses, where the Germans spent the night; Alexander Matrosov’s feat was not accomplished by Alexander Matrosov; and Pavka Korchagin did not build a narrow-gauge railway, because such a railway did not exist in nature.
The myth of armed uprising and takeover Winter Palace was created later in the film "October". Eisenstein’s masterpiece “Battleship Potemkin” is also a myth. There were no worms in the meat, there was a well-prepared rebellion. And the execution on the stairs is the same invention of the brilliant Eisenstein, as is the memorable stroller with a child.

Today, the main laboratory of myth-making is cinema. In the recent program “Meanwhile,” the question of how the art of cinema creates myths was discussed. Alexander Arkhangelsky believes that life with myths is no less significant than life with realities.
Doctor philosophical sciences ON THE. Pin believes that no propaganda state machine can create a myth that will dominate the consciousness of the masses. We now live in post-ideology conditions. This vacuum needs to be filled. But with what? Creating myths? People want to believe. But I can't believe it. Today dominates private person. No myth will live on a private individual. Today a person does not have ethical and semantic navigation. He doesn't know why he lives. We live in an era of market totalitarianism. When an idea turns into an ideology, it becomes official dogmatism. And it becomes powerful when it grows in the consciousness of the masses.

Director Karen Shakhnazarov believes that the point of cinema is to create myths. Why was Soviet cinema capable of this? Because the country had an ideology. Ideology is the presence of an idea. Cinema without ideology cannot produce myths. No ideology - no idea - you can’t create anything. To destroy one myth, you need to create another. In the Soviet Union there was ideology, there was an idea, there was cinema. IN modern Russia We are experiencing a restoration. Restoration is an attempt to return to the pre-revolutionary state, to an ideology that has essentially already disappeared. The restoration always ended. Bold ideas will appear that will captivate the masses. Because humanity is what it was and will remain so. There will be more revolutions and great upheavals. They will be there even if we don't want them to.

I AGREE with Karen Shakhnazarov - we went around in a circle and again returned to the fork. We used to scold ideology, but now we yearn for it. But before, at least there was an idea. And now they’ve reduced it all to the belly. They exchanged spirituality for dollars. Yes, the shops are full - but the souls are empty! No, before we were purer, more naive, kinder, we believed in ideals that seemed false to some.

After the destruction of communist ideology, a new ideology of restored capitalism was required. There was an order from the authorities to create a Russian national idea. But nothing worked out. Because ideas are not invented, but exist objectively, as Plato said.

The national idea of ​​Russia has been known for a long time - YOU CAN ONLY BE SAVED TOGETHER!
But it is alien to the ideology of restored capitalism, where everyone is for himself.
An idea that does not have roots in reality and the hearts of people will not take root.

No one can now accuse the communist idea of ​​being false and fruitless. The successes of communist China prove that the idea of ​​communism is not fruitless, it has a future. Communism won in one country. Unfortunately, not in Russia, but in China. It's time to learn Chinese...

Ancient myths and today's are not the same thing. Ancient myth- this is a sacred message filled with metaphysical depth, which encrypts knowledge about the world and its laws (in modern terms, this is a metanarrative).
And today's “myths” are “ bubble", false images (simulacra) that have little in common with reality and its laws; their goal is to manipulate public consciousness.
Among modern “myths” one can name the “myth of freedom”, “myth of democracy”, “myth of progress” and others.

Historical myths are ordered by politicians. Myth about bad Russia to Peter comes from Peter himself, as a justification for the reforms he carried out.

“History is a collection of myths! A complete hoax! She reminds me of a broken phone. We only know what has been rewritten many times by others, and what we can only believe. But why should I believe? What if they are wrong? Maybe things were different. We look for meaning in history, relying on the facts we know, but the emergence of new facts forces us to take a fresh look at the pattern historical process. And what about the lies of historians, demagoguery, disinformation?.. And these endless rewritings of history to please the rulers?.. It’s already difficult to understand where the truth is and where the lies are...
But there is something eternal in a person that allows us today to imagine the life of people of the distant past. If it was all about culture, then we would not be able to understand the ancient sages without knowing the peculiarities of their life. But it is thanks to sensory empathy that we understand them. And all because a person is essentially unchanged.”
(from my true-life novel “The Wanderer” (mystery) on the New Russian Literature website)

Welcome to new world– beautiful crazy illusory endless dual mythical world virtual reality!

P.S. Read my articles with videos: “Heaven is Crete”, “Visiting the Volcano”, “Saint Irene of Santorini”, “Spinalonga: Hell in Paradise”, “Sunset on Santorini”, “The City of St. Nicholas”, “Heraklion on Crete” ", "Elite Elounda", "Tourist Mecca - Thira", "Oia - Swallow's Nest", "Knossos Palace of the Minotaur", "Santorini - Lost Atlantis", and others.

© Nikolay Kofirin – New Russian Literature –

This category contains the most interesting things from the field of history. Various facts, articles, stories will tell you about how human evolution took place, how he achieved more and more new heights in the field of technology and science. In general, read and learn a lot of useful things and then you can show off your knowledge...

View document contents
“How and why myths appeared”

How and why did myths appear?

Each nation has its own stories, which tell about the origin of the Universe, about the appearance of the first man, about gods and glorious heroes who performed feats in the name of goodness and justice. Similar legends arose in ancient times. They reflected ideas ancient man about the world around him, where everything seemed mysterious and incomprehensible to him.

In everything around him - in the change of day and night, rumbles of thunder, storms at sea - the man saw manifestations of some unknown and terrible forces- good or evil, depending on the influence they had on his daily life and activities.

Gradually, unclear ideas about natural phenomena took shape into a clear system of beliefs. Trying to explain what was incomprehensible, man animated the nature around him, endowing it with specific human traits. This is how the invisible world of the gods was created, where the relationships were the same as between people on earth. Each specific god was associated with one or another natural phenomenon, such as thunder or a storm. Human fantasy personified in the images of gods not only the forces of nature, but also abstract concepts. This is how ideas about the gods of love, war, justice, discord and deception arose.

The works invented in Ancient Greece were distinguished by a special wealth of artistic imagination. They were named myths(the Greek word “myth” means story), and from them this name spread to similar works of other peoples.

IN different countries nameless folk singers composed stories about significant events, about the exploits and deeds of the leaders and the heroes they invented. The works were passed on by word of mouth for many generations. Centuries passed, memories of the past became more and more vague, and reality increasingly gave way to fantasy.

For a long time It was believed that such works were fantastic fiction, but it turned out that this was not entirely true. As a result archaeological excavations Troy was found, and exactly in the place mentioned in the myths. Excavations confirmed that the city was destroyed several times by enemies. A few years later, the ruins of a huge palace on the island of Crete, which was also told in myths, were excavated.

Thus, stories about natural phenomena and the gods who control these forces, and stories about real heroes who lived in ancient times. Ancient legends have become myths. Their images continue to live today, in works of painting, literature and music. Although the images mythical heroes and came from the distant past, their stories continue to excite people in our time.

Mythological images are also found in language. Yes, from Greek mythology expressions came: “Tantalum’s torment”, “Sisyphean labor”, “Ariadne’s thread” and many others.

Myth is a legend that periodically appeared in preliterate society. They tell about the life of the first ancestors, the exploits of heroes, the deeds of gods and spirits. The very concept of myth has Greek roots and comes from the word “mytos”, which means “legend”.

First mentions of myths

The set of myths in ceremonial rituals acquired a verbal form, acting as one of specific ways systematization of information about the surrounding reality. On the other hand, stories about nature and man in it performed a number of important functions: religious, ideological, philosophical, historical, scientific.

The features of myths include an arbitrary approach to plotting, personification and zoomorphism.

The appearance of ideas about supersensible principles coincides with the appearance of the first burials. Thanks to ancient burials, many elementary forms of fine art have been found.

History of the origin of myths

IN Upper Paleolithic there is a stable formation of a syncretic complex: myth - image - ritual. Maintaining this structure throughout speaks to its versatility. For many centuries it reflects both the rational principle and the irrational cultural core.

Paleolithic images were myths, and their creation was rituals. “Signified” and “signifier” in myths primitive people existed in absolute unity.

Myth concept

Many sciences have various interpretations the concept of "myth". The meaning of the word is formulated from different positions, which leads to the presence of many vague and contradictory definitions. Among them are the interpretations given in encyclopedic dictionaries, calling fantastic stories of folk origin myths.

There are also expanded modernized versions that say that myth is a syncretic understanding of the surrounding world, expressed by sensory-specific personifications and animate beings that are identified with reality. Philosophical views The interpretation of this concept is based on the understanding of myth as a figurative diagram of the world that explains and prescribes a specific algorithm of actions.

What does the word myth mean? This question can be answered by synthesizing the meaning-forming components from different approaches. This is exactly how we can formulate the complete and precise definition this concept: myths are texts and images that demonstrate a syncretic reflection of the surrounding reality in different eras development of humanity. Moreover, each culture has its own uniqueness, emphasizing numerous aspects of the development of a particular society.

Typology of myths

IN school curriculum includes myths that can easily be called ancient, biblical or other ancient tales. They tell about events related to the creation of the world and the commission of ancient acts (mainly by Greek and heroes).

Researchers of historical mythology note that in a great variety of works of different nationalities, many basic themes and motifs are repeated. That is, the origin of myths does not completely determine their content. For example, some of the most ancient and primitive tales are tales about animals. The earliest of them only naively describe the characteristics of fauna representatives. And in ancient Australian myths, for example, the theory of the origin of animals from humans is widespread. But other peoples of the world, albeit not so clearly, spread in their legends the mythological idea that man was once an animal. Examples of myths of this kind: ancient Greek tales about the girl-nymph Daphne, about the hyacinth, about the narcissus and others.

The origin of the heavenly bodies was also often sanctified in myths. In the so-called solar, lunar and astral legends, the Sun, Moon and stars were often depicted as people who once lived on Earth and, for various reasons, subsequently rose to heaven. Such a myth is an alternative to the formation of the Universe invented by the people. Another common plot is a description of the process of creating the Sun in some way. supernatural being. In this case celestial body was not spiritualized.

The central place in the totality of myths of many countries was occupied by works describing the creation of the world and the Universe, as well as man. Otherwise they are called cosmogonic and anthropogonic, respectively. Culturally backward peoples wrote little about these topics. In particular, the Australians only casually mentioned that the Earth's surface used to look different, but questions about its appearance were never raised.

Polynesians, North American Indians, peoples Ancient East and the Mediterranean considered cosmogonic processes from two points of view. One of them was based on the idea of ​​the creation of the world (creation), the other - on the idea of ​​its development (evolutionary). According to creation theory, the world was created by a creator, god, sorcerer, or other supernatural being. In myths built on evolutionary theory, the world systematically develops from some kind of primitive existence. It could be chaos, darkness, darkness, etc.

There are also many mythological stories about sea creatures (monsters) that were seen by sailors, travelers and fishermen.

Modern myths and science

The essence of this problem is that talking about a myth as a scientific fact difficult. It is safe to say that it is a component of mythology. Moreover, it belongs to the secondary level of consciousness, which covers ideologically, culturally and scientifically processed information. In this context, a myth is a legend artificially created by man, which is based on assumptions and legends that gradually change under the influence of ideological and scientific factors.

Two directions of development of mythology

The appearance of myths is associated with the emergence, formation and development of a nation. This is how people form their individual origin stories. Later in myth-making there appear works intended for the masses (which are created by the elite), and tales created by the people themselves. Thus, we can talk about two directions in the development of mythology: closed and open.

Since ancient times, people have thought about many things. How does the world around him work? When and from what was the Earth created? Why do mountains and rivers, swamps and forests exist on it? Why does the sun shine, the stars shine, does it rain, and thunder roars? What is man and where did he come from? Why do people die, and what happens to them after death?

Who could answer these questions? Probably the man himself, or rather the myths created by him. So, let's turn to the myths. Let's get to know Chinese myth"Birth of Pangu"

** « In China, it was believed that when the earth had not yet separated from the sky, the entire Universe was an egg filled with chaos. In this egg Pangu was born and grew by itself. He curled up in a ball and fell asleep for eighteen thousand years because he didn’t know what to do next. While Pangu was sleeping, a chisel and a large ax spontaneously appeared next to him and began to press him in the side. Pangu woke up, but felt nothing but sticky darkness. His heart was filled with longing. He took the ax and hit the chisel with all his might. There was a deafening roar, which happens when mountains crack, and... the egg split! Everything light and pure - yang - immediately rose up and formed the sky, and everything heavy and dirty - yin - sank and became earth. Thus, thanks to the blow of the ax, heaven and earth were separated from each other. And Pangu’s melancholy went away because he did a good job.

But fear immediately took the place of melancholy: what if heaven and earth unite again! Pangu rested his feet on the ground and supported the sky with his head. Every day he grew by one zhang. And zhang is three meters. The sky moved away from the earth by the same distance. Next to Pangu, a tree grew just as quickly, the roots of which were firmly in the ground, and the branches did not want to leave the sky.

Another eighteen thousand years passed. The sky rose very high. The earth has become thick. Pangu's body also grew extraordinary. And the tree became as tall as the giant. This worried Panga very much. After all, he did not want earth and sky to be connected. He began to hit the trunk with a chisel and an ax until he cut the tree down.

“So I’ve finished my work, now I’ll rest,” Pangu thought.

But his strength was completely exhausted. He fell to the ground and died, devoting his whole life to work.

His last breath became wind and clouds, his cry became thunder, his left eye became the sun, and his right eye became the moon. Pangu's torso turned into five sacred mountains, arms and legs - to the four countries of the world, blood - into rivers, veins - into roads, skin and hair became forests and grasses, teeth and bones were transformed into gems and metals, and the spinal cord became the sacred stone jade. And even the sweat that appeared on his body, seemingly completely useless, turned into raindrops and dew.”

This is how the Chinese explained the appearance of mountains, rivers, underground wealth, and heavenly bodies.

Thus, with the help of myths, people unscientifically and naively explained the picture of the world order. Every nation has its own system of myths. They reached us ancient greek myths about the Olympian gods, Scandinavian myths about the Ases, ancient Indian mythology set out in the Vedas, and myths of other peoples.

What is mythology? This word, if literally translated from Greek language, means “statement of legends.” From the point of view of scientists, mythology is, first of all, “an expression of a special form public consciousness, a way of understanding the world around us, inherent in people at different stages of development.” Myths are ancient stories in which people tried to explain various phenomena of life. First and main reason The origin of the myth is the belief that all objects in nature are endowed with a soul. Scientists call the animation of nature animism. The sun and stars, trees and rivers, clouds and winds become animated beings that live like people, communicate with each other, perform certain functions, and have their own character. The personification of nature occurs, that is, endowing objects of nature with their own face.

These ideas are based on humanizing the world around us. The first creatures understandable child, there are human beings (mom, dad, himself) who have personal will. Therefore, the child endows the objects around him with this will. Thus, the child takes the first step along the path of myth-making, trying to imagine that “something is someone,” all objects come to life and act independently. Remnants of primitive communal consciousness have survived to this day, for example, we can hit an object that caused us pain; or in Ancient Greece, objects (a stone or a tree branch) that caused death to a person were subject to trial if it was proven that a person did not participate in this. Condemned items were thrown outside the city.

The importance of mythology is great. Myths became the cradle from which literature, art, religion, and science grew. Your peers, fifth grade students, have also followed the path of myth-making. Check out some of the myths created by fifth graders. Perhaps you too would like to create a myth. Go for it!

What are myths? In the everyday understanding, these are, first of all, ancient, biblical and other ancient “tales” about the creation of the world and man, stories about the deeds of ancient gods and heroes - Zeus, Apollo, Dionysus, Hercules, the Argonauts who were looking for the “Golden Fleece”, Trojan War and the misadventures of Odysseus.

The word "myth" itself has Ancient Greek origin and means precisely “tradition”, “legend”. To the European peoples up to the XVI-XVII centuries. Only the famous Greek and Roman myths were known to this day; later they became aware of Arab, Indian, Germanic, Slavic, Indian tales and their heroes. Over time, first to scientists and then to the wider public, the myths of the peoples of Australia, Oceania, and Africa became available. It turned out that the sacred books of Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists are also based on various mythological legends that have been processed.

What is surprising: it was discovered that at a certain stage historical development almost everyone had a more or less developed mythology known to science peoples that some plots and stories are repeated to one degree or another in mythological cycles different peoples.

So the question arose about the origin of the myth. Today, most scientists are inclined to believe that the secret of the origin of myth should be sought in the fact that mythological consciousness appeared oldest form understanding and comprehension of the world, understanding of nature, society and man. The myth arose from the need of ancient people to understand the natural and social elements surrounding them, the essence of man.

The features of this way of understanding the world will be discussed below, after we consider the issue of the content of mythical tales.

Among the whole multitude of mythical legends and stories, it is customary to highlight several most important cycles. Let's call them:

• - Cosmogonic myths - myths about the origin of the world and the universe;
• - anthropogonic myths - myths about the origin of man and human society;
• - myths about cultural heroes- myths about the origin and introduction of certain cultural goods;
• - eschatological myths - myths about the “end of the world”, the end of times.

Let us dwell in more detail on the characteristics of these mythical cycles.

Cosmogonic myths are usually divided into two groups:

Very often these motives are combined in one myth: detailed description the original state ends a detailed story about the circumstances of the creation of the Universe.

Anthropogonic myths are integral part cosmogonic myths. According to many myths, man is created using a wide variety of materials: nuts, wood, dust, clay. Most often, the creator creates first a man, then a woman. The first person is usually endowed with the gift of immortality, but he loses it and becomes at the origins of mortal humanity (such is the biblical Adam, who ate the fruits of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil). Some peoples believed that humans descended from an animal ancestor (monkey, bear, raven, swan).

Myths about cultural heroes tell how humanity mastered the secrets of crafts, agriculture, sedentary life, the use of fire - in other words, how certain cultural benefits were introduced into their lives. The most famous myth this kind- An ancient Greek legend about Prometheus, the cousin of Zeus. Prometheus (in literal translation- “thinking before”, “foreseeing”) endowed with reason pathetic people, taught them to build houses, ships, engage in crafts, wear clothes, count, write and read, distinguish the seasons, make sacrifices to the gods, tell fortunes, introduced government principles and rules life together. Prometheus gave fire to man, for which he was punished by Zeus: chained to the Caucasus mountains, he endures terrible torment - an eagle pecks out his liver, which grows again every day.

Eschatological myths tell about the fate of humanity, the coming of the “end of the world” and the onset of the “end of times”. Highest value In the cultural and historical process, eschatological ideas formulated in the famous biblical “Apocalypse” played a role: the second coming of Christ is coming - He will come not as a victim, but as a Terrible Judge, subjecting the living and the dead to Judgment. The “end of times” will come, and the righteous will be predestined to eternal life, and sinners to eternal torment.