An Introduction to Mythology

Many are the hypotheses and systems advanced to account for the origin and existence of myth. It will greatly assist our comprehension of these and our ability to discern those...

It is now time to review briefly the great mythic systems of the world and to examine and analyse as far as practicable their nature and outstanding figures. This _résumé_ is ad...

The efforts of man to account for his existence and that of the world in which he lives--in a word, for the origin of Heaven and earth and all that is in them--are among the mos...

Among the most important sources of our knowledge of myth are ancient books, which, purporting only to set down the annals of a people, contain numerous important passages conce...

The function of mythology is the investigation and explanation of myths or tales relating to the early religious and scientific experiences of mankind. It throws light upon the...

A place of reward and a place of punishment are ineradicably associated with mythology. The idea that the human soul must betake itself to a realm of brightness and bliss, where...

There are certain objections against giving 'departmental' names, such as 'god of fire,' 'god of wine,' to deities, but in certain stages of religious evolution these 'departmen...

Folk-tale, and indeed folklore of every description, is worthy of study by the student of myth; for not only will he often find that the principles which govern it are identical...

As we have seen (pp. 58-59), Tylor considers that man first attained the idea of spirit by reflection on experiences such as sleep, dreams, trances, shadows, hallucinations, bre...

Creation myths (creation of the earth and man). Myths of the origin of man. Flood myths. Myths of a place of reward. Myths of a place of punishment. Sun myths. Moon myths. Hero...

Manannan mac Lir, lord of Irish Hades, 263, 295 Manawyddan, British deity, 263, 295 Mandan Sioux Indians, creation myth of, 182 Mani, Polynesian god, myth of, 142 Mannhardt, his...

Ritual is worship organized, the detail and circumstance of adoration. The study of ritual is one of the branches of the science of comparative religion, but much light is often...