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Running head: MYTHS FROM DIFFERENT TRADITION 1

Myths from Different Tradition

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MYTHS FROM DIFFERENT TRADITION 2

Introduction

Every ethnic community in the world has its own mythological story to tell. The

difference between these myths depends on the value of lessons or moral worth within the myths.

However, there are many similarities among these mythological stories, always portraying the

better side of the community. While it is important to be aware of these stories, it is also very

crucial to perceive the background morality in them. It is from this perspective that the ancient

storytellers were old people, especially grandparents that were involved in telling the younger

segment of the community about the mythical stories. This paper compares and contrasts the

Philippine and the Greek mythical story while extracting morality of value from the ancient

cultural elements.

The Greek Myth (Zeus the King of Gods)

Among the mythological stories told in the world, the ancient Greek had the most and

famous myths that are either celebrated directly or indirectly. Most their mythological elements

involved deities, stars, and spiritual segments that could only be understood from their own

context. One of the mythical heroes ever told in the Greek kingdom was Zeus. Stories have been

told about Zeus and different versions of names have been given to him. However, one sharp

case about all these stories and their different versions is that Zeus was a powerful being. Despite

the fact that there is no proof about his existence and everything, they say about him, there is

astrong inclination in ancient Greece and their modes of worship that are dedicated to Zeus to

date.

According to Dowden (2014), the northern segment of Greece had a mountain called

Olympus that was very high and almost all its top sections were covered by snow. It is said in the

MYTHS FROM DIFFERENT TRADITION 3

story that this mountain was covered wrapped in the cloud with sides sweeping the vast land that

it eclipsed. It is also said in the story that the mountain had thick forests of oak and beech trees

within its steep sides. As usual among very many ethnic communities living close to mountains,

the Greeks believed that their gods had palaces in this mountain, especially at the top of the

mountain that was covered with snow and in clouds. This happened in their faith so that their

gods could be far from the reach of men as gods are not supposed to live among men, hidden

from their view by the clouds. It was also believed among the Greeks that in this mountain, the

gods used to meet in what seemed to be their own counsel, held their own feasts, and would

discuss their issues, mostly concerning human beings, the affairs that affect the world or would

affect the world in the future.

Among the gods of the Greeks, Zeus was the most powerful and the strongest one, mostly

considered as the king of the gods. The Greeks believe that he was very generous and since even

the strongest of all the gods put together could not match his, people who lived by then loved and

feared him, thus calling him father. The strength of Zeus among the gods was compared to the

oak tree that was strongest among the trees in the vast forest of in the mountain of Olympia. As a

result, the oak tree was thought to be sacred and the lower section of the mountain that had oak

trees, priests of the gods used to stay there.

The Greeks dedicated so much to their gods, especially Zeus, and most places of worship

the deities like Zeus have separated apart from people. Temples, synagogues, and churches were

established where they brought gifts of gold, silvers and other precious stuff in honor of the gods.

This they did to show their appreciation for protection of the gods and bountiful harvest. Based

on the myth of the Greeks, championed by the story of Zeus, the cultural heritage and the moral

MYTHS FROM DIFFERENT TRADITION 4

principles of Greece were built. Most of these principles and heritage are still present with the

people to date.

The Legends of Filipino

One of the silent legendary stories told in the world today is the Filipino legends.

According to Sonsona (2015), the oral literature of the Filipinos has fascinating tales of their

ancient heroes. In their mythological context, they tried to explain how the earth came to exist.

These myths were used to entertain, sometimes scare, inspire, and teach the Filipinos within the

cultural context of the society. The most popular legendary story among the Philippines is the

story of the moon. As told by Krawczyk-Wasilewska (2016), there was a day when the sun and

moon were married to each other at the time when the universe was still young. The sun being

the husband to the moon and it kept watch over their children that were somehow sleeping.

Since the sun could not bend to kiss their children for fear of causing them to melt, a

problem in the family began as the moon began to be cold to him. Eventually, their children

started developing deformities because of the heat of the sun and the moon blamed the sun still

for being self-centered since the whole universe was revolving around the sun. because of the

constant nagging of the moon, the sun struck the moon leaving the moon with eternal scars.

From that day on, moon and her children were cursed and only showed up at night.

Comparisons and contrast

The two myths were told from the heroic and natural cause of culture. The Greeks and

the Philippines had a direct and indirect faith the existence of a being that was more powerful

than human beings were. For the Greeks, Zeus was very powerful and they developed their

origin from him. In the same way, the Philippines also had faith that the Sun and the moon were

MYTHS FROM DIFFERENT TRADITION 5

gods and the Sun was the most powerful one. All these faiths show that the two ancient

communities had a sense of natural and creative origin from a powerful being. The difference

was only based on the cultural background and the natural phenomena that manifested itself

around the people.

In conclusion, these myths and their similarities across the communities of the world tell

the cultural heritage and origins of the people. These myths also tell the modern society. Today,

these stories seem vague since they can be accessed from books, internet, and history as taught in

classes. The fact is, a myth is a legendary or traditional story telling the story of a community

using heroism and events using factual, real, or imaginary explanations. In most cases, the

concerns raised in the stories involved deities that were used to describe some rites, practices and

natural occurrences.

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References

Dowden, K. (2014). Death and the Maiden (Routledge Revivals): Girls' Initiation Rites in Greek

Mythology. Routledge.

Krawczyk-Wasilewska, V. (2016). Folklore in the Digital Age.

Sonsona, D. R. P. J. V. (2015). The Manifestation Of Filipinos' Religiosity In Their Oral

Literature. English Studies International Research Journal, 3(2), 165-169.

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